If you know me well, you know that I am the type of person that (pre-Porter) went to bed between 9:00-9:15 every night. If Daniel and I were at your house on a weekend around this time, I usually borrowed a pair of yoga pants, curled up in your bed, and waited for him to wake me to go home. I needed 9 hours of sleep or I could not function the next day.
When Porter was born I was a sleepless mess. Every day for the first month of his life I took a nap. I physically couldn't function if I didn't get one. I would arrange visitors around my nap schedule and if for some strange reason I didn't get one on a particular day, I would cancel. It was horrible.
Fast forward 18 weeks...he's sleeping much better and although I still go to bed at 9:00, I still consider myself a walking Mombie! Gone are the days of uninterrupted sleep and a 6:10 alarm. Hello are the days up putting pacifiers in at 11, 2:30, feeding at 4:00 and pacifying again at 5. Hello are the 5:30 alarm clocks and the showering at lightning speeds because little P is up again and starving. These days, 6:00 is sleeping in on a Saturday and staying up until 10:00 is considered my last call.
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Recently, my friend Nicole, who's little boy, Otis is two days younger than Porter, sent me an amazing email. It was just what I needed to tell me what was happening with Porter's sleep habits and why. It's amazing how the human body forms, grows and changes...
Over the fourth and fifth months, non-REM (i.e. deep sleep) increases as the pineal gland starts to secrete more and more melatonin, meaning your babe will sleep more soundly than she did as a newborn. On the downside, it also means that she'll be more ALERT at the end of each sleep cycle, more like an adult. The catch is that adults know how to get themselves back to sleep in the middle of the night ;infants usually don't. Hence, the "partial arousals" they experienced between sleep cycles as newborns (and probably fell right back to sleep without anyone noticing) may well turn into full-on wake-up-crying arousals.
When Porter was born I was a sleepless mess. Every day for the first month of his life I took a nap. I physically couldn't function if I didn't get one. I would arrange visitors around my nap schedule and if for some strange reason I didn't get one on a particular day, I would cancel. It was horrible.
Fast forward 18 weeks...he's sleeping much better and although I still go to bed at 9:00, I still consider myself a walking Mombie! Gone are the days of uninterrupted sleep and a 6:10 alarm. Hello are the days up putting pacifiers in at 11, 2:30, feeding at 4:00 and pacifying again at 5. Hello are the 5:30 alarm clocks and the showering at lightning speeds because little P is up again and starving. These days, 6:00 is sleeping in on a Saturday and staying up until 10:00 is considered my last call.
Over the fourth and fifth months, non-REM (i.e. deep sleep) increases as the pineal gland starts to secrete more and more melatonin, meaning your babe will sleep more soundly than she did as a newborn. On the downside, it also means that she'll be more ALERT at the end of each sleep cycle, more like an adult. The catch is that adults know how to get themselves back to sleep in the middle of the night ;infants usually don't. Hence, the "partial arousals" they experienced between sleep cycles as newborns (and probably fell right back to sleep without anyone noticing) may well turn into full-on wake-up-crying arousals.
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Next on my list is to let him "cry it out." I know this will hurt me more than it will hurt him, but this no sleep thing is killing me. K. I. L. L. I. N. G. M. E. I would pay any amount of money for 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Basically, Daniel and I need to batten down the hatches, gear up, lock and load and get ready for a few nights of hellish sleeplessness. I'll let you know how it goes!
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| This is SO me in the mornings. |
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| And me in the afternoons! |
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