Lack Of

This is going to be a post about the lack of sleep in our household. (Clay doesn't seem to be affected, Casey is not affected - not directly, but it's debatable whether or not he is affected indirectly by my mood - but oh, how I am affected.) This will be the one (and only) post complaining about this because we have had it so easy thus far. And for that I am so thankful, but I feel the need to write this post (possibly as a disclaimer for my mood and possibly as an apology in advance for my short attitude) to explain where we are right now!

Recently - in the last 3 weeks - Clay has been going to bed at 9, waking up at 12am and just about every hour following that. He wakes up at 12am starving, so, I feed him. And then he wakes up just about every hour thereafter to eat, or having a dream that wakes him up (which subsequently wakes me up), or just waking up to wake up. I'm not sure what started this, but I am sure what has made it continue. Me. I cannot do what Dr. Weed suggested - "just let him to cry it out." We will never practice that method in our household. Never. (I believe that there are stages of development that must be obtained to progress to the next stage and one of the first stages is trust vs. mistrust. He needs to trust that we are here and that we will meet his basic needs. Always. Without fail.) So, when he wakes up in the middle of the night hungry, scared, or just needing comfort - I will be there. At all costs. (Yes, even at the cost of sleep.) I have a feeling this stage will not last long, but I am prepared to endure (and even love it) it while it lasts. (Like I said, this will be the one and only post complaining about a lack of sleep.)

I have (on occasion) gotten up and been in a less than happy mood the last three weeks though. I am a morning person and function well with little sleep, but I have seen that over time it will take it's toll on my mood. So, I am working on that. I have started taking naps occasionally during the day with him. Actually laying down in the bed, letting him breastfeed, and sleeping while he does. Even if it is just 20 minutes, it makes a difference in my overall mood. I want to enjoy every minute I have with him so I am figuring out ways to better my mental health while functioning on little sleep. I have to add that he does nap (somewhat) well during the day. He usually gets up at 7, takes a nap from about 830 to 10am, and then takes another nap from about 3pm to 4ish. So, I technically get at least a nap a day. (Alright, reading that makes me feel bad for complaining!)

He is laughing hysterically at the cat right now because Taylor jumped down in the pack and play with him and is stuck and Clay thinks it is the greatest thing! I need to go save Clay. Scratch that. I need to go save the cat!