So Much For The Weekend
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Well, that's just grand. It is 5:20 a.m. and I've been up for a little over an hour now. I was supposed to get to sleep tonight (it is the weekend after all) but Matthew came into our room at 4 to say that he had had quite enough of Marin's screaming. I had went to bed at midnight, after Matthew had agreed to take the night shift since I had had it all week long and was giddy with excitement because Matthew told me I could sleep till 10 a.m. since I had had Marin for the past 5 nights. SCORE! Well, my excitement was short lived when I was roused out of a perfectly good sleep at 4 a.m. I would have went to bed much earlier had I known I was having to get up so early, but I don't guess either of us could have predicted tonight's/today's events. Well, I could have predicted it. Its typical Marin behavior through the week too. I think it is a safe bet to say he has colic, though it hasn't been diagnosed by his doctor. But, colic is usually described as 3 hours of crying, at least 3 days a week lasting for at least 3 weeks. Check, check, and check.
I can't really say that I blame Matthew for waking me up. After all, he was pulling a double shift after being up in order to be at work at 8 a.m. , working all day, then when he usually gets to go to bed at night like a normal person, he was trying to stay up all night and let me sleep since I pull the night shift all week long. I told him just to go on to bed after we both sat on the couch with Marin screaming for another half hour. There was no sense on us both staying up. And, after my having 4 hours of sleep and Matthew having none, I was the better functioning of the zombies.
I am so glad we are going to the doctor on Monday. He's going to have to give us some advice on what to do with Marin. We are both so sick and tired of staying up all night. I know as new parents that you don't get much sleep. I fully expected to be up half a dozen times a night, changing diapers and feeding and that would be just fine with the both of us and not a big deal. But, I didn't expect and frankly don't plan to continue to sit up each and every night from midnight till 6 a.m. with a screaming baby that has had all his needs met. I mean 6 straight hours of crying people. He's got a clean diaper, he doesn't need to eat for 3 more hours, he isn't sick, he isn't cold or hot. He's just screaming for the sake of screaming. Holding him isn't even cutting it tonight. He just wiggles and screams in your arms. So right now, I am typing this wearing ear plugs while Marin screams his head off in his baby seat beside me. I know you aren't just supposed to let a baby "cry it out". Everything that I have read says you can let them cry for 15 minutes, then they need to be picked up again and see if you can calm them down. Then you can let them cry another 15 minutes, then try to calm them down again and so on. Well, Marin doesn't stop crying at all. It is just a continuous cycle. It makes me sad to hear him cry but it is unsafe to sit and hold him when you are so sleepy that you are involuntarily closing your eyes and feel like you're about to fall out of the chair you're sitting in. What if one of us drops him by falling asleep while on duty? You can make yourself stay awake only so long. Eventually your body just gives out to exhaustion. Everyone breaks eventually and unfortunately both of us are at our breaking point.
We have so much we have to do this weekend. I know as new parents you aren't supposed to "try to do too much". Because of Marin's erratic sleep schedule and quarantine orders from the doctor because of the swine flu we have done NOTHING for the past month that really needs to be done. I mean, eventually you have to start re-living life don't you? You have to pay bills, go to the grocery store, go to Babies R Us to buy baby junk, get your hair cut, and mow your yard. We aren't talking about "fun" things here. Things that have to be done but no one has the time to do them because we sleep in shifts. Matthew has to work during the day during the week, so he has no time to do all this stuff. I could do a lot of it, but I am asleep with Marin during the week because he stays up all darn night. I mean, I have to sleep sometime. By the time I get out of bed, it is nearly 5 p.m. So, we try to cram it all in on Saturdays and late evenings. So far, we have so much lined up that HAS to get done, I doubt we'll get to it all.
Two of the major things on our list are taking the dog for a bath and washing her dog beds and taking the trash to the dump. Lexi hasn't been bathed in over a month and her beds haven't been washed either. She stinks so freaking bad that you can smell her from across the room. Same goes for her beds. Our entire house stinks like dog. I usually take Lexi to get her bathed during the week, but since I have to sleep during the day during week since I stay up all night long during the week, the groomers is closed when I get up. Plus, Marin can't go out in public yet either, so its not like I could go during the week even if I was awake, because who would watch Marin while Matthew is working since he isn't allowed in the store? It is a ridiculous no-win situation. So, Matthew is going to take her today. I was going to be my job to take her but since he is the one now getting sleep, he's going to take her. It just can't be put off anymore. We have just focused on the needs of the baby and the baby only for over a month now and like I said, eventually you have to start living life again. Yes, it may be a new version of your old life, but things like taking the dog to be bathed and getting rid of trash still have to happen even when you do have a baby. I hoping it will be better once he's allowed out in public. We'll still be tired, but at least we'll have the option of both going out at the same time to run errands.
Now the trash. We have a trash service but we forgot to put out the trash to be picked up. This is something we've never done before. Matthew forgot to put it out before he went to bed at night and I forgot to make sure it was out before I went to bed with Marin in the morning. We both just plain forgot about it. Since the trash is full, it is going to have to be carted to the dump. Since we don't have a pick up truck, we're going to rent a U-Haul trailer just to take the trash to the dump. Matthew wanted to just put it in the back of the old SUV, but I said NO WAY. There are dirty diapers in there and at least one horribly bloated container of sour cream from tacos earlier in the week. Since all that mess has been stewing in the garage in the trash can during high 80 degree weather, I'm sure it is very "ripe". Gross, I know. So, Matthew is trying to get some sleep so he can do both of these things today. He also has a list a mile long of other things he has to do like going to Babies R Us to pick up formula. Again, this is something that I could do during the week, but not when I have to stay home with Marin because he isn't allowed out.
Sorry to all my readers about the negativity floating around here these past couple days. I just thought I'd throw it all out there and let you know that it isn't always roses around here. Anyone who has ever had a new baby knows that it isn't always fun, but complaining on the blog makes me feel better. :)
Update: By the time I finished typing this is 5:53 a.m and Marin has stopped screaming. It usually is like a light switch at 6 a.m. and 7 minutes till 6 seems to be tonight's stop time for him. So, for those of you keeping score, that is non-stop screaming from midnight till 6. Nice. Now hopefully he will sleep a while. He usually does sleep all day. Having his days and nights mixed up isn't helping any either, on top of the non-stop crying but at least now I can try to catch a few winks on the couch. Good night/Good morning everybody.
I can't really say that I blame Matthew for waking me up. After all, he was pulling a double shift after being up in order to be at work at 8 a.m. , working all day, then when he usually gets to go to bed at night like a normal person, he was trying to stay up all night and let me sleep since I pull the night shift all week long. I told him just to go on to bed after we both sat on the couch with Marin screaming for another half hour. There was no sense on us both staying up. And, after my having 4 hours of sleep and Matthew having none, I was the better functioning of the zombies.
I am so glad we are going to the doctor on Monday. He's going to have to give us some advice on what to do with Marin. We are both so sick and tired of staying up all night. I know as new parents that you don't get much sleep. I fully expected to be up half a dozen times a night, changing diapers and feeding and that would be just fine with the both of us and not a big deal. But, I didn't expect and frankly don't plan to continue to sit up each and every night from midnight till 6 a.m. with a screaming baby that has had all his needs met. I mean 6 straight hours of crying people. He's got a clean diaper, he doesn't need to eat for 3 more hours, he isn't sick, he isn't cold or hot. He's just screaming for the sake of screaming. Holding him isn't even cutting it tonight. He just wiggles and screams in your arms. So right now, I am typing this wearing ear plugs while Marin screams his head off in his baby seat beside me. I know you aren't just supposed to let a baby "cry it out". Everything that I have read says you can let them cry for 15 minutes, then they need to be picked up again and see if you can calm them down. Then you can let them cry another 15 minutes, then try to calm them down again and so on. Well, Marin doesn't stop crying at all. It is just a continuous cycle. It makes me sad to hear him cry but it is unsafe to sit and hold him when you are so sleepy that you are involuntarily closing your eyes and feel like you're about to fall out of the chair you're sitting in. What if one of us drops him by falling asleep while on duty? You can make yourself stay awake only so long. Eventually your body just gives out to exhaustion. Everyone breaks eventually and unfortunately both of us are at our breaking point.
We have so much we have to do this weekend. I know as new parents you aren't supposed to "try to do too much". Because of Marin's erratic sleep schedule and quarantine orders from the doctor because of the swine flu we have done NOTHING for the past month that really needs to be done. I mean, eventually you have to start re-living life don't you? You have to pay bills, go to the grocery store, go to Babies R Us to buy baby junk, get your hair cut, and mow your yard. We aren't talking about "fun" things here. Things that have to be done but no one has the time to do them because we sleep in shifts. Matthew has to work during the day during the week, so he has no time to do all this stuff. I could do a lot of it, but I am asleep with Marin during the week because he stays up all darn night. I mean, I have to sleep sometime. By the time I get out of bed, it is nearly 5 p.m. So, we try to cram it all in on Saturdays and late evenings. So far, we have so much lined up that HAS to get done, I doubt we'll get to it all.
Two of the major things on our list are taking the dog for a bath and washing her dog beds and taking the trash to the dump. Lexi hasn't been bathed in over a month and her beds haven't been washed either. She stinks so freaking bad that you can smell her from across the room. Same goes for her beds. Our entire house stinks like dog. I usually take Lexi to get her bathed during the week, but since I have to sleep during the day during week since I stay up all night long during the week, the groomers is closed when I get up. Plus, Marin can't go out in public yet either, so its not like I could go during the week even if I was awake, because who would watch Marin while Matthew is working since he isn't allowed in the store? It is a ridiculous no-win situation. So, Matthew is going to take her today. I was going to be my job to take her but since he is the one now getting sleep, he's going to take her. It just can't be put off anymore. We have just focused on the needs of the baby and the baby only for over a month now and like I said, eventually you have to start living life again. Yes, it may be a new version of your old life, but things like taking the dog to be bathed and getting rid of trash still have to happen even when you do have a baby. I hoping it will be better once he's allowed out in public. We'll still be tired, but at least we'll have the option of both going out at the same time to run errands.
Now the trash. We have a trash service but we forgot to put out the trash to be picked up. This is something we've never done before. Matthew forgot to put it out before he went to bed at night and I forgot to make sure it was out before I went to bed with Marin in the morning. We both just plain forgot about it. Since the trash is full, it is going to have to be carted to the dump. Since we don't have a pick up truck, we're going to rent a U-Haul trailer just to take the trash to the dump. Matthew wanted to just put it in the back of the old SUV, but I said NO WAY. There are dirty diapers in there and at least one horribly bloated container of sour cream from tacos earlier in the week. Since all that mess has been stewing in the garage in the trash can during high 80 degree weather, I'm sure it is very "ripe". Gross, I know. So, Matthew is trying to get some sleep so he can do both of these things today. He also has a list a mile long of other things he has to do like going to Babies R Us to pick up formula. Again, this is something that I could do during the week, but not when I have to stay home with Marin because he isn't allowed out.
Sorry to all my readers about the negativity floating around here these past couple days. I just thought I'd throw it all out there and let you know that it isn't always roses around here. Anyone who has ever had a new baby knows that it isn't always fun, but complaining on the blog makes me feel better. :)
Update: By the time I finished typing this is 5:53 a.m and Marin has stopped screaming. It usually is like a light switch at 6 a.m. and 7 minutes till 6 seems to be tonight's stop time for him. So, for those of you keeping score, that is non-stop screaming from midnight till 6. Nice. Now hopefully he will sleep a while. He usually does sleep all day. Having his days and nights mixed up isn't helping any either, on top of the non-stop crying but at least now I can try to catch a few winks on the couch. Good night/Good morning everybody.
