Monday, April 19

Sleep Experiment - Night Five

Isn't it fun to have a glimpse into someone else's nighttime catastrophies? Not because you take joy in my suffering, but because it makes you feel normal for all the times that you have felt like something about your life totally sucks. Yes? Well, as I sit here eating slices of pepperoni leftover from pizza night on Saturday, I find myself hoping that someone out there reading this is nodding their head in understanding. Last night was horrible.
I don't know what happened - last night was supposed to be the 'good' night. Alas, it did not happen that way. First of all, James is horribly sick. He has a fever, major nasal congestion, a runny nose that is constantly smeared all over his face and sleeves, and one of the worst coughs he has ever had. The cough sounds horrible - and it's nearly constant. I feel horrible for him. His eyes are watery and bloodshot from coughing so much. The last two days I've had him maxed out on his cough medication intake. Poor guy. He coughed through nearly the whole night last night, and that is my only guess for why Rayya was up so much. Twelve times. I got up for her twelve times. Twelve. Out of bed, into bed, out of bed, into bed, out of bed... and one time I was up for James, who had a coughing fit around 1:00am, which was exactly the hour for which I could give him another dose of cough syrup.

I do know that Rayya's gums look really swollen, and she isn't interested in her bottle much, which are two indicators that she may also be expecting some new teeth soon. She also bit me on the arm today - HARD - so that is likely a sign too! I also totally got James decked out for a good sleep, so hopefully that will help us to ALL sleep better tonight. He got some cough meds right before bed, Vaporub all over his chest, neck and back, and a vaporiser running in his room. I'm just praying he gets over this awful cold soon - it's breaking my heart to see him so unhappy!

Anyway, Rayya didn't need anything but soother reinsertions all night - but that still totally blows. Of course, she was up around 6:45am - and though she was quiet after I put her soother in one last time, I have no idea if she ever went back to sleep. She then had a too-short morning nap, and a too-short afternoon nap - so perhaps she will sleep soundly tonight. God knows I need to sleep to look after a fussy, teething baby and a very sick toddler!

On the bright side, while James took an extended afternoon nap, Rayya got decked out in new summer clothes and we hung out in the warm afternoon sun together. She ate a lot of grass.

5 comments :

Carla said...

Have you thought about getting rid of the soother? Probably a few nights of difficulty adjusting to not having it and then she might not wake up so much. Just a thought. I know that at around Rayya's age my sister took the soother away from Kyra as she was waking frequently for it.

Wenona said...

I remember those nights of soother re-insertion as well. Probably the same age as Rayya, and I remember counting the times I'd get up and lose count after 10. I debated taking the soother away, but I didn't know how else to get him back to sleep. I don't pick him up at night, I didn't want to get in the habit of nursing just to get him to sleep because that takes even more time and totally unnecessary! I don't know if she can put it in her mouth by herself, but I know leaving a lot of soothers in their crib can help the problem.
Sorry, I wish I had the perfect solution for you...

Leslee said...

Co has had so many problems with coughs and I put the vapo rub on his feet(I know it's bizzare!!)...and put socks on...i don't know HOW, I don't know WHY, but it works for him...that is if you want advice from someone who's last advice isn't working too well for you...sorry you are having such a hard time!! Did you ever end up getting a book or anything? I could send you one if you think it would help you...It's a great read...

Morgan said...

Riley was such a terrible sleeper I had totally high hopes that Owen would be better. He is a little better but still up lots at night. He won't take a soother though. I've found that letting him cry it out doesn't wake Riley up so I've had to resort to it a few times around 2am when I'm losing my mind....

Lauren said...

Heather, the book 'The Sleep Easy Solution' is absolutely amazing, I HIGHLY recommend it. Kallie was the same, and at it's worst I was up 1-2 times an hour, all night. Sleep is so important, both for mom and baby. I remember hallucinating and feeling like I was going crazy when it got really bad, the book totally saved us:)! It's so comprehensive and offers all the info you need on how much sleep babies need at each age, different milestones and bumps along the way that can disrupt their sleep, and most importantly, how to get your baby to sleep!!! Through the night consistently! I hope things get better soon! I'm praying for you, I know how difficult everything is when sleep is at a minimum!