Careful What You Wish For
It's really hard to put into words just how much I love sleep. I love it more than chocolate, days at the beach, dressing my cat up like a dork ... more than pretty much anything. I mean, if you gave me the choice between $1000 cash and a comfy bed with the guarantee of 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I seriously do not know which one I would choose.
Who am I kidding? I'd take the sleep. I really would.
I've finally met my match.
This Mila. Man. Girlfriend takes that "be opposite of my sister" thing VERY seriously. I have always known that Alexis is terrible at sleeping, but now that I've witnessed that some newborns close their eyes for more than an hour or two each day, I understand just how bad she is.
Still.
To this day.
Alexis just doesn't need as much sleep as most humans.
Mila more than makes up for it.
You guys, I hit the sleeping newborn lottery. In many ways, I earned it because ALEXIS. To clarify, "Alexis" roughly translates to "creature who is fantastic, except that she hates sleep."
Mila, on the other hand, roughly translates to "sleeeeeeeeeep." That's all she does. When I look back at photos of the girls in a decade or two, I'll be able to tell them apart because Alexis' eyes were always open as a newborn while Mila has to be poked and prodded for an hour before she will open her eyes. Even then, she usually only opens one of them.
She sleeps. And sleeps. And sleeps. It is the most wonderful thing in the world.
Except.
(OF COURSE THERE IS AN "EXCEPT.")
She who sleeps so wonderfully lost more weight in the days after her birth than is considered OK. Then, she wasn't gaining fast enough. We found ourselves aboard the Weight Watch train. When you're aboard that train, you have to make the baby eat at least every four hours.
Which, uh, Mila wants to sleep through the night. Seriously. She went as long as six hours before her pediatrician declared that it was time to start setting alarms and poking her awake for feedings. (Please don't throw things at me if your newborn won't sleep six straight hours. Remember, ALEXIS. I EARNED THIS THE HARD WAY.)
I wanted to punch things SO hard the first time I had to set an alarm and wake that Tiny Human. That time when Mila was just a couple of days old and slept six hours was the first time I had slept more than three consecutive hours in months and months. It was the most glorious thing ever. Then I had to wake the baby on purpose. Like a barbarian.
I absolutely recognized the hilarity of the situation, by the way. All I have wanted for years is a healthy baby who slept. I finally got one and then HAHAHAHAHAHA! WAKE HER UP! OFTEN!
Careful what you wish for. You just might get it, and everything that goes with it.
But! GOOD NEWS! Miss Mila graduated from Weight Watch University today. Along with that came the pediatrician's recommendation that we let the Tiny Human sleep as long as she wants at night.
Even if I have jinxed everything and Mila wakes up every two hours tonight, I will be the winner. I have seen the potential for a full night's sleep and I'm willing to wait however long it takes to get it. This time I know it will eventually happen.
Unless Alexis decides to wake me up.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Reader Comments (6)
Oh, this gives me hope! My first is "wonderful creature who hates sleep" but I hope the next one might make up for it. Hope. Very super hope. :)
Funny. Only bc I (oldest ftw!) Was a non - sleeper. To this day I only need 4-6 a night to be totally ok. More than 8 and I'm sleepstupid most of the day. Middle sister is a sleeper. She would sleep all day every day if she could even now! Ahhhhhh sisters. Getting to know her as herself and those 2 as a team is going to be amazing :)
:) I know how you feel. It sorta freaks you out after having a non-sleeper (my oldest still gets up between 5:30 and 6 - but once he figured out his brother didn't mind as much, he started waking him up instead of me). And our youngest lost a ton of weight, too, and had to be force-fed (from 7#8oz birth weight to under 6# and wearing preemie clothes) but she wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her...for 10 straight days! Her sister, though, was a fantastic sleeper AND eater. All of my kids are so different!
I;m so happy for you guys.. I love sleep ,food, I'm so happy you guy make a wonderful family.
love A.C.
Both my babies were passengers on that Weight Watch train. Glad you're off now because the monitors can go a little overboard on the scare tactics! And now...sleeeeeep. Sleep IS the best thing ever!
i was a sleeper. i can so relate to mila.
also, what my mindy said: "Ahhhhhh sisters. Getting to know her as herself and those 2 as a team is going to be amazing :)"