Barely Functioning Zombie
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The title of this post are words found in the What to Expect: The First Year book under baby having days and nights mixed up to describe the new parents. This is me in a nut shell for the past couple weeks. Since Matthew is back at work, I'm up with Marin all through the week and it is killing me to put it mildly. The little dude hasn't slept between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. since we came home from the hospital and he is now 1 month old. Don't get me wrong, I do get a break on the weekends when Matthew takes over but this still blows. I've never looked forward to the weekend so much in my life. Not even when the weekend consisted of going clubbing or to fraternity parties in college. Oh those were the days. :)
I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. Actually, make that today. It is 2:40 a.m. and my appointment is at 10 a.m. I'll probably be there all day. Some idiot (me) made my cleaning and cavity filling appointment all in the same day. But that was months ago. I had no idea that Marin would be 2 weeks late in arriving and so when I scheduled this appointment I assumed he'd be 6 weeks old by then and we'd be on some sort of a decent sleep schedule. I don't know how I'm going to make it at the appointment. Matthew has to drive me anyway because I'm getting "the gas" and I am loopy for hours afterward. Plus, I'm not going to be the happiest camper after getting teeth filled anyway. Maybe they will give me some good pain meds?! I doubt I'll be that lucky. What's Marin up to right this instant? Fussing in his chair behind me while I type. He's been changed, just ate an hour ago, and is all snug in his jammies so he's not cold either. There is no real "problem" per say. He even has his pacifier crammed in his mouth, but he's still fussing around it. I would get off here and go mess with him instead of "ignoring" him but I've been holding him for the past 3 hours and he's just squirrmed and kicked and slung his little arms and has worn me out.
While I was pregnant, everyone LOVED pouring on the advice. Now that I ask people what they did when their kids had their days and nights mixed up, I can hear the crickets chirping because there is nothing but silence. No one has any ideas. Either their children were angels and slept through the night or at least for more than 10 minutes at a stretch or they give me a knowing look of pity and say there was nothing they could do to "fix" their children either that one day they just "fixed" themselves. A neighbor told me that her daughter had her days and nights mixed up and finally it was like flipping a switch at 6 weeks old and she just magically got with the program. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Marin does that. I knew that being a new parent I wouldn't get much sleep. I figured I'd be up half a dozen times a night or so tending to his needs. I had NO IDEA that one parent or the other would be up ALL NIGHT long for a solid month. This is just getting ridiculous. Marin goes to the doctor again on June 1st and I'm hoping he is either cured of his insomnia by then or that his doctor has some sort of advice on how to fix it. I think people think we are joking when I say he stays up "all night". I don't mean that we get up a dozen times a night to check on him or feed or change him. I mean that who ever is on duty sits up wide awake from midnight till sometimes 8 or 9 a.m. and does nothing but try to keep Marin quiet so the other person can sleep.
We have tried keeping him up during the day, but that doesn't work. He's exhausted and so am I so we have to sleep some time. I've heard that taking them out in the sun will help them reset their internal clocks to know the difference between night and day. We spend time outside every day and so far it hasn't helped. Since I have to sleep during the day in order to be able to stay up all night, it isn't like I can "do" much at all during the day to try to switch his sleep schedule. But, I'm open to suggestions. So, if anyone knows of any other tricks we can try, by all means pass them on!
It is really annoying having to sleep during the day because you didn't get any sleep the night before. There are days that Marin and I don't wake up till nearly 5 p.m. When you don't go to sleep till 8 a.m. though, I guess that is considered "normal". I have a new respect for night shift workers. I don't know how they do it. I remember that my dad used to work nights and he always said that he felt like he lived a totally different life than people who were up during the day. He said he always felt like he was missing out on "real life" and everything that goes on during the day. I know exactly what he means now. It is like I'm running wide open and still barely able to keep it together. Matthew and I haven't slept in the same bed since we came home from the hospital and that is probably one of the things that bothers me the most. He sleeps at night and I sleep days so Marin and I are just coming to bed when he's getting out of bed. Everyone keeps saying this isn't a permanent condition. I just hope they are right.
I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. Actually, make that today. It is 2:40 a.m. and my appointment is at 10 a.m. I'll probably be there all day. Some idiot (me) made my cleaning and cavity filling appointment all in the same day. But that was months ago. I had no idea that Marin would be 2 weeks late in arriving and so when I scheduled this appointment I assumed he'd be 6 weeks old by then and we'd be on some sort of a decent sleep schedule. I don't know how I'm going to make it at the appointment. Matthew has to drive me anyway because I'm getting "the gas" and I am loopy for hours afterward. Plus, I'm not going to be the happiest camper after getting teeth filled anyway. Maybe they will give me some good pain meds?! I doubt I'll be that lucky. What's Marin up to right this instant? Fussing in his chair behind me while I type. He's been changed, just ate an hour ago, and is all snug in his jammies so he's not cold either. There is no real "problem" per say. He even has his pacifier crammed in his mouth, but he's still fussing around it. I would get off here and go mess with him instead of "ignoring" him but I've been holding him for the past 3 hours and he's just squirrmed and kicked and slung his little arms and has worn me out.
While I was pregnant, everyone LOVED pouring on the advice. Now that I ask people what they did when their kids had their days and nights mixed up, I can hear the crickets chirping because there is nothing but silence. No one has any ideas. Either their children were angels and slept through the night or at least for more than 10 minutes at a stretch or they give me a knowing look of pity and say there was nothing they could do to "fix" their children either that one day they just "fixed" themselves. A neighbor told me that her daughter had her days and nights mixed up and finally it was like flipping a switch at 6 weeks old and she just magically got with the program. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Marin does that. I knew that being a new parent I wouldn't get much sleep. I figured I'd be up half a dozen times a night or so tending to his needs. I had NO IDEA that one parent or the other would be up ALL NIGHT long for a solid month. This is just getting ridiculous. Marin goes to the doctor again on June 1st and I'm hoping he is either cured of his insomnia by then or that his doctor has some sort of advice on how to fix it. I think people think we are joking when I say he stays up "all night". I don't mean that we get up a dozen times a night to check on him or feed or change him. I mean that who ever is on duty sits up wide awake from midnight till sometimes 8 or 9 a.m. and does nothing but try to keep Marin quiet so the other person can sleep.
We have tried keeping him up during the day, but that doesn't work. He's exhausted and so am I so we have to sleep some time. I've heard that taking them out in the sun will help them reset their internal clocks to know the difference between night and day. We spend time outside every day and so far it hasn't helped. Since I have to sleep during the day in order to be able to stay up all night, it isn't like I can "do" much at all during the day to try to switch his sleep schedule. But, I'm open to suggestions. So, if anyone knows of any other tricks we can try, by all means pass them on!
It is really annoying having to sleep during the day because you didn't get any sleep the night before. There are days that Marin and I don't wake up till nearly 5 p.m. When you don't go to sleep till 8 a.m. though, I guess that is considered "normal". I have a new respect for night shift workers. I don't know how they do it. I remember that my dad used to work nights and he always said that he felt like he lived a totally different life than people who were up during the day. He said he always felt like he was missing out on "real life" and everything that goes on during the day. I know exactly what he means now. It is like I'm running wide open and still barely able to keep it together. Matthew and I haven't slept in the same bed since we came home from the hospital and that is probably one of the things that bothers me the most. He sleeps at night and I sleep days so Marin and I are just coming to bed when he's getting out of bed. Everyone keeps saying this isn't a permanent condition. I just hope they are right.
