Baby Insomnia ?

Yes, this has been a l o n g week. And amazingly, it just gets longer each day. All of Wednesday, I really thought, "I can't believe it's only Wednesday. We should really be onto Thursday by now." And so, last night I got my wish. Wednesday just melted right into Thursday. Here's what I mean:

Wednesday :
4:30 - leave work and hit the stores for a shopping marathon to complete Christmas list
7:30 - experience "Mom Guilt" of being away from Elaina and not getting to see her before bedtime
9:00 - arrive home and proudly show off my buys to Eric
11:00 - announce that the both of us are about to drop from being so tired and decide to go to bed
11:10 - check on Elaina and see that her eyes are open as she stands up and reaches for me
11:11 - I am naive to believe that she was waiting up for me and gladly pick her up and begin to rock and cuddle
11:40 - tired of rocking by now, Elaina has not shut her eyes and is not more tired than when we began
11:41 - put her in her crib and pray that she puts herself to sleep

*** this is when the fun begins***

Elaina shouts out, "Mommy ! Mom-meee !" across the hallway. Eric and I both lay perfectly still and think to ourselves that she'll tire soon. Our bodies shudder with each demanding scream which shatters the momentary peace and quiet. The love of my life turns to me and says, "You're going to have to get her to sleep, I have a 16 hour work day tomorrow." AGHH ! Did he somehow forget how long my days last ? Surprisingly, I will have to defend his statement due to the fact that he was headed out to do another gun show after his regular workday to face an 8 hour drive. Lucky him.

So, I proceed to do everything I have the capacity to do to make both of my loves happy. Elaina wasn't crying and didn't seem to be sick or in pain. She just didn't want to sleep or be alone in her crib. I tried to snuggle with her in the spare bedroom, only to be kicked in the face, throat and chest as she expressed how discontented she was. We rocked, played her favorite lullabies on CD, tried her crib (again) and still ended up with the war cry of YellyPants with an adamant "Mom-meee !"

By this time, it's getting closer to 3:00 a.m. and I am fighting back my tears, dreading my tomorrow without sleep and no husband and wondering what in the world is going on with her. Resentment is building and I am at a total loss of what to do next for my B.R.A.T.S. ( baby -refusing - adequate- time to -sleep. Does that even make sense ? I thought of it at approximately 2:45 a.m. Delirium.) I was finished. I put Elaina in her bed, let her yell while I got some medicine and some water for her and made a last stitch effort at rocking her. Magic. I can't believe that Tylenol put her to sleep within 10 minutes, as it rarely makes her sleepy. The weirdo fell asleep, clutching her cold sippy cup and there was finally peace in the house. At 3:30 a.m.