Wednesday, January 14, 2009

a night in the life

True story.

6:45 pm - Silas falls asleep with practically no coaxing or tears.
7:15 pm - Asher finishes his bedtime routine and goes to bed with practically no requests for extra books or special treats.
7:16 pm - I say to Brian, "That was too easy."
9:00 pm - I finish what I needed to do for the evening (householdy things) and sit down with my book. Brian settles in, too.
9:10 pm - Asher starts talking. I go to him, tell him it's bedtime, close his door.
9:15 pm - I doze off.
9:16 pm - Asher begins calling, "Mama! I NEEEEED you!"
9:30 pm - I give him some Motrin (he's still recovering from the bronchitis/ ear infections/ sinus infection/ croup crud, so maybe that's why he's having trouble sleeping). Put him back to bed.
10:05 pm - I doze off again.
10:06 pm - "Mama! I NEEEED YOU!"
10:20 - I relent. "Asher, what do you need?" No response. I put him in cooler pajamas. Maybe he's hot.
Now I'm awake. I watch a little tv, read a few blogs, settle back down.
11:00 - I doze off.
11:20 - "Mama! I NEEEEED YOU!"
I'm not going back in there. He doesn't need anything. So he continues to call. Not crying, just yelling for me.
11:35 - I relent. "Asher, it's night-night time. Lie down. Go to sleep."
It gets quiet.
12:05 am - I doze off.
1:15 am - "Mama? Where'd Mama go? Mama, I NEEED YOU!"
I stare at the ceiling and wait.
1:30 am - Brian says, "Maybe we should just go through the whole bedtime routine again." It's as good idea as any. We get Asher out of bed, give him a small snack, cuddle, tell stories, watch the theme song to West Wing. Tuck him in.
1:45 am - Quiet. Brian says, "Maybe now you can sleep."
3:15 am - Silas starts to cry. Then cough. Then cry. I get up, feed him, fall asleep with him on the couch.
4:45 am - I put Silas back in his bed. He is sound asleep.
I think, both kids have been awake tonight, both will sleep until at least 7. I'm going back to bed.
5:30 am - I realize that I'm not just dreaming, Silas really is crying. And crying and crying and crying. I get him up, he keeps crying. Cough, then cry. I rock him, I walk him around, I turn on the light, I sit him up. Still crying. Maybe if I give him a snack, I think, it will help him settle down enough to sleep.
5:45 am - I make a 4 oz bottle, change his diaper, feed him. He's congested, but I don't want the fight of cleaning his nose (or to wake him up by using the little bulb, because that would definitely wake me up).
6:00 am - He finishes his bottle. Mostly asleep, he starts to cry. Then gag. Then throw up the entire bottle on both of us - down my shirt, in my hair, on two quilts, all over himself. We both needed a bath when it was over.

That's how my day started. It can only get better from here.

6 comments:

Laura Mielke said...

i really hope it isn't RSV. RSV is a bitch (x2 at my house).

Stephanie said...

No it's not RSV. It's croup turned into ear infections (and bronchitis for Asher, not Silas). Sorry to hear you guys have it, though.

Anonymous said...

i sure hope your day got better!!! At least they took turns, right? =) and it wasn't both at the same time. I'm always glad when my girls decide to take turns torturing me instead of ganging up on me. They're so merciful. =)

amanda said...

The question though, Stephanie, is did you make time for yourself? Did you stop in the madness and say "dear, sweet Asher I must go take care of myself in this moment, never mind that you are so ill." And don't tell me that today you didn't read at least 1 page of a book without fallilng asleep. Because you know what they say...if you don't read when your kids are two and under, then you sure as hell won't read when they are out of the house. You could ruin your life for FOREVER.

(for those of you who don't know me, sorry, but I guarantee you Steph is laughing right now...just thought she needed some humor in her day...)

Lisa said...

For heaven's sake! How on earth did you stay awake to type all that out. I'd be a zombie after a night like that. Praying that you get some sleep tonight.

Anonymous said...

that does sound rough. hope the day got infinitely better!