I remember the hardest part of Sugarplum’s early days was the sleeping. Waking every few hours, while exhausting, never really bothered me with Honeybun but with Sugarplum it was completely overwhelming. I’d like to be able to blame the feeling on having Honeybun in addition to Sugarplum but realistically I also had family around, all the time, and they were fantastic at taking care of Honeybun so I could just focus on Sugarplum.
But still, within the first few weeks I found myself dreading night time. I would stay up late just because I knew I wasn’t really going to get to sleep and I would get up early because I knew I wasn’t really going to get to go back to sleep. In between night feedings I would stress about falling asleep and getting woken up again before I was rested. The feeling only lasted a few weeks until we started extending time between night feedings but those few weeks of night time were tough.
The funny thing is, it never really affected my day time attitude. I was tired and rested when I could but don’t remember being overwhelmingly fussy or irritable. I just avoided sleeping I guess because I felt like it wasn’t going to help and knew I would just feel terrible when I woke up.
Well, almost 35 weeks pregnant and that feeling is back. I am completely unable to get comfortable at night and don’t really sleep. I just don’t even feel like going to bed because I know I’m just going to be uncomfortable and I’m not going to be able to sleep well, if at all, so I just stay up, lay awake, whatever. And though I’m exhausted, I don’t feel like I’m any more miserable than I would be otherwise. What really affects my attitude right now is the discomfort of a baby taking up residence in my ribs (which is what also keeps me up at night).
I’m hoping once baby is out I can get past the sleep issues and not have the same newborn feelings I had with Sugarplum. I’m just ready to snuggle down into my covers and fall asleep without being uncomfortable. Someday my night will come…
