Let sleeping babies lie
A very odd thing happened last night. I roused myself out of a dream and glanced over at the alarm clock and groggily read the luminous digits as 3:30 AM. I did some arithmetic in my head and figured out that Genevieve had been sleeping since around 10:00 PM and had actually been fed at 9:00 PM. That would mean that she slept five and a half hours. Up until now the longest she had slept was four hours and that had only happened twice. This must be some mistake. I must have dozed through some traumatic event and Carrie had already fed the beast.
I roused Carrie and asked her if she had fed the baby. "No. What time is it?" was her reply. I quickly explained that there were no sounds coming out of the baby monitor and that she hadn't eaten. We had a quick conference. I was elected to go check on her to make sure all was right. I peeked in the room and saw her little chest moving in the rhythmic motions of slumber. I took out a bottle and began to warm it. Surely, this must be some kind of new feint. She is just waiting for us to let down our guard and then she'll pounce. I was going to be prepared. I crept back into bed and we had another conference. Should we wake the baby and feed her? Let her sleep? How could she have slept this long? Carrie was determined to get more sleep. I, however, could not. I tossed and turned expecting at any moment there would be some cry that would require me to get up. After a few minutes of this Carrie grouchily said, "If you can't sleep why don't you check on her again." I snuck back into her room and again saw the breathing. Maybe she was sick. A quick scan with the ear thermometer (super cool toy by the way) showed that her temp was normal. Apparently my jostling was disturbing her as she sputtered and startled. Startling babies are really quite funny. They gasp and throw their arms out as wide as possible with their fingers splayed. Even though she startled she didn't wake up. I breifly considered waking her up by crying in some sort of cosmic irony but my better judgement got to me.
I gave up on guessing when she would rouse and went back to bed. At 4:30 AM she woke up for food. Carrie was pissed because she figured that by the time the meal was over Genevieve would be up for the rest of the day. However, this was not so. After eating, she slept again until just before 7:00.
We aren't going to get too hopeful about this. It could just be a fluke, but then again it could be a sign that the tempest is over and sleep may once again return to our frazzled lives.
I roused Carrie and asked her if she had fed the baby. "No. What time is it?" was her reply. I quickly explained that there were no sounds coming out of the baby monitor and that she hadn't eaten. We had a quick conference. I was elected to go check on her to make sure all was right. I peeked in the room and saw her little chest moving in the rhythmic motions of slumber. I took out a bottle and began to warm it. Surely, this must be some kind of new feint. She is just waiting for us to let down our guard and then she'll pounce. I was going to be prepared. I crept back into bed and we had another conference. Should we wake the baby and feed her? Let her sleep? How could she have slept this long? Carrie was determined to get more sleep. I, however, could not. I tossed and turned expecting at any moment there would be some cry that would require me to get up. After a few minutes of this Carrie grouchily said, "If you can't sleep why don't you check on her again." I snuck back into her room and again saw the breathing. Maybe she was sick. A quick scan with the ear thermometer (super cool toy by the way) showed that her temp was normal. Apparently my jostling was disturbing her as she sputtered and startled. Startling babies are really quite funny. They gasp and throw their arms out as wide as possible with their fingers splayed. Even though she startled she didn't wake up. I breifly considered waking her up by crying in some sort of cosmic irony but my better judgement got to me.
I gave up on guessing when she would rouse and went back to bed. At 4:30 AM she woke up for food. Carrie was pissed because she figured that by the time the meal was over Genevieve would be up for the rest of the day. However, this was not so. After eating, she slept again until just before 7:00.
We aren't going to get too hopeful about this. It could just be a fluke, but then again it could be a sign that the tempest is over and sleep may once again return to our frazzled lives.
posted by daniel @ 10:12 AM
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