Well, it's day 4 of jet lag (or maybe day 18 depending on how you count it). It's 4 am and I'm in the living room trying to get Lucy to fall back asleep in her crib. I find if I'm out of the room, it helps her settle down because she isn't trying to convince me that I should pick her up. Still, a baby has a hard time realizing that she needs to fall back asleep. I just spent half an hour holding her and trying to coax her to drink from a cup, a bottle, a straw, etc. It's easier to nurse -- as long as you're not raw from nursing non-stop for 18 days! So, I'm trying to teach my spoiled 10-month-old to take a bottle or cup right in the middle of the jet lag chaos. A recipe for fussiness. For Mama and Baby. She's learning, though, and drank some water and then held onto the cup and relaxed a bit, so I laid her back down in her crib and she just fussed herself to sleep.
Great, you may say, now you can go in and get some rest, Mama! Well, in a few more minutes I can. If I go back in too soon, she'll wake back up and the guilt trip begins. Have you ever tried to put your emotions aside on 4 hours of very-much-interrupted sleep? Doesn't work so well. So I end up having a very illogical melt-down where I assume that I'm wrecking our daughter's life because she's going to feel neglected and get dehydrated. So here I stay, writing to you folks until the coast is clearer. As I write, I am hunting mosquitoes. Not such a safe task with an electric fly swatter and sleep deprivation. I just killed one that was biting my arm. Yep, shocked myself. Ouch.
Chris is presently lying down in bed with Abe. He also is having a hard time realizing he needs to be sleeping. We told him, 'when it's dark outside, you need to stay in bed.' So, the very first hours of daylight in the past 3 days have been met with Abe very jubilantly announcing, 'It's vight outside!!!! Vet's get up!' That's after he's spent 2-3 hours laying restlessly in bed next to one of us, playing with Chris' facial hair or my mole. We've tried the leave-him-in-bed-by-himself tactic. He's back in our room in no time greeting us loudly and cheerily and waking up the baby again . . . and so it goes. How can you punish a kid for not getting over jet lag quick enough? You can't. So you lay there with him and get no sleep with him and try to remember that you love him more than life. And just when you think you've had more than you can handle, he'll lean over and say, 'I vuv vou, Mama.' Okay, Buddy, I'll be right here for you.
Jed is our powerhouse sleeper. The only time he has problems with jet lag is if Abe or Lucy are fussing too loudly to keep him up -- and that takes a lot. It's just another way that he takes after his Daddy. I'm really thankful he can do that. One down. Two to go.
I'm extremely proud of my husband. Let me just say that he could be sleeping. He could always be sleeping. He's a champion sleeper, as he likes to say. If Abe is pawing at his face, he can sleep. If Lucy is screaming on the bed next to him, he can sleep. If the walls are falling down around him, he can sleep. What a gift. Yet, he forces himself awake in the night to help me. He's taken turns with Lucy and Abe and even one very frustrating turn when both boys were up last night. I'm so thankful that he hasn't just taken the attitude of, 'oh well, at least I can get some sleep,' and left me to fend for myself. What a trooper.
Now, in case you get feeling too sorry for us, let me remind you that we brought this on ourselves. We didn't have to try to make a 2 week trip to the U.S. It was our choice. We got to hug our families. We got to see my beautiful sister and amazing brother-in-law get married. We got to eat foods we hadn't eaten in a while. WE GOT TO HUG OUR FAMILIES! So, it was well worth it and probably is keeping me from going insane right now.
A typical night over that last few weeks has been that I will get up with Lucy between 4-8 times and Abe 2-3 times and Jed 1-2 times. During the first half of that time I was nursing constantly and during the second half I've been dealing with a baby who wants to be nursing constantly. Then, I need to get up and try to have a 'normal' day. I can't let the kids nap too long or their bodies won't adjust. I can't nap too long because they're up. A few days in America, I was able to catch some incredible naps because our family helped out with the kids. What a blessing! Here, it's just Chris and I and he was already back to language lessons and running errands the first 2 days. Did I mention I'm proud of him? So, we're muddling through. Trying to give each other breaks and reminding ourselves that there's going to be an end to this . . . someday.
Jet lag does come with one distinct perk, though: half-asleep dialogues with my husband. If he gets woken up in the middle of sleep, he can't keep his mouth shut. We end up having some pretty convoluted conversations. Here's an actual record of our conversation last night. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. I snuggled back in bed with him after one of my couch-sitting episodes. I leaned over and whispered:
Em: I want to be with you always.
Chris: There's consequences for that.
E: What?
C: Whmfjs
E: What?
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: What do you think I said?
C: You want me to get you a bowl of cereal.
E: Laughter
C: shmfdle crnl
E: What?
C: Why are you laughing?
E: Because you're cute.
C: Sorry about that.
E: No, I said you're cute. Why are you sorry?
C: For the sndotkei
E: What? (more laughing)
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: Why'd you say sorry?
C: About the pipe tobacco.
E: More laughing
C: Are you making fun of me?
E: No, I just love you
C: Well, I . . . snlfd
E: More laughing
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: I hope I don't forget this conversation in the morning.
C: Aljantlb
E: More laughing.
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: I'm getting up to write this down.
So, I did. I thought that was the end of the conversation, but after I got back to bed, it continued.
C: What'd I say?
E: I'll tell you in the morning.
C: But I've got muscles now.
E: You've got muscles?
C: Yeah, see the predicament? . . . Why are you laughing?
Thanks, Chris, for my aching sides.
And, here's a look at our kids in their wedding get-up. The reason we are jet lagging in the first place.
Great, you may say, now you can go in and get some rest, Mama! Well, in a few more minutes I can. If I go back in too soon, she'll wake back up and the guilt trip begins. Have you ever tried to put your emotions aside on 4 hours of very-much-interrupted sleep? Doesn't work so well. So I end up having a very illogical melt-down where I assume that I'm wrecking our daughter's life because she's going to feel neglected and get dehydrated. So here I stay, writing to you folks until the coast is clearer. As I write, I am hunting mosquitoes. Not such a safe task with an electric fly swatter and sleep deprivation. I just killed one that was biting my arm. Yep, shocked myself. Ouch.
Chris is presently lying down in bed with Abe. He also is having a hard time realizing he needs to be sleeping. We told him, 'when it's dark outside, you need to stay in bed.' So, the very first hours of daylight in the past 3 days have been met with Abe very jubilantly announcing, 'It's vight outside!!!! Vet's get up!' That's after he's spent 2-3 hours laying restlessly in bed next to one of us, playing with Chris' facial hair or my mole. We've tried the leave-him-in-bed-by-himself tactic. He's back in our room in no time greeting us loudly and cheerily and waking up the baby again . . . and so it goes. How can you punish a kid for not getting over jet lag quick enough? You can't. So you lay there with him and get no sleep with him and try to remember that you love him more than life. And just when you think you've had more than you can handle, he'll lean over and say, 'I vuv vou, Mama.' Okay, Buddy, I'll be right here for you.
Jed is our powerhouse sleeper. The only time he has problems with jet lag is if Abe or Lucy are fussing too loudly to keep him up -- and that takes a lot. It's just another way that he takes after his Daddy. I'm really thankful he can do that. One down. Two to go.
I'm extremely proud of my husband. Let me just say that he could be sleeping. He could always be sleeping. He's a champion sleeper, as he likes to say. If Abe is pawing at his face, he can sleep. If Lucy is screaming on the bed next to him, he can sleep. If the walls are falling down around him, he can sleep. What a gift. Yet, he forces himself awake in the night to help me. He's taken turns with Lucy and Abe and even one very frustrating turn when both boys were up last night. I'm so thankful that he hasn't just taken the attitude of, 'oh well, at least I can get some sleep,' and left me to fend for myself. What a trooper.
Now, in case you get feeling too sorry for us, let me remind you that we brought this on ourselves. We didn't have to try to make a 2 week trip to the U.S. It was our choice. We got to hug our families. We got to see my beautiful sister and amazing brother-in-law get married. We got to eat foods we hadn't eaten in a while. WE GOT TO HUG OUR FAMILIES! So, it was well worth it and probably is keeping me from going insane right now.
A typical night over that last few weeks has been that I will get up with Lucy between 4-8 times and Abe 2-3 times and Jed 1-2 times. During the first half of that time I was nursing constantly and during the second half I've been dealing with a baby who wants to be nursing constantly. Then, I need to get up and try to have a 'normal' day. I can't let the kids nap too long or their bodies won't adjust. I can't nap too long because they're up. A few days in America, I was able to catch some incredible naps because our family helped out with the kids. What a blessing! Here, it's just Chris and I and he was already back to language lessons and running errands the first 2 days. Did I mention I'm proud of him? So, we're muddling through. Trying to give each other breaks and reminding ourselves that there's going to be an end to this . . . someday.
Jet lag does come with one distinct perk, though: half-asleep dialogues with my husband. If he gets woken up in the middle of sleep, he can't keep his mouth shut. We end up having some pretty convoluted conversations. Here's an actual record of our conversation last night. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. I snuggled back in bed with him after one of my couch-sitting episodes. I leaned over and whispered:
Em: I want to be with you always.
Chris: There's consequences for that.
E: What?
C: Whmfjs
E: What?
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: What do you think I said?
C: You want me to get you a bowl of cereal.
E: Laughter
C: shmfdle crnl
E: What?
C: Why are you laughing?
E: Because you're cute.
C: Sorry about that.
E: No, I said you're cute. Why are you sorry?
C: For the sndotkei
E: What? (more laughing)
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: Why'd you say sorry?
C: About the pipe tobacco.
E: More laughing
C: Are you making fun of me?
E: No, I just love you
C: Well, I . . . snlfd
E: More laughing
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: I hope I don't forget this conversation in the morning.
C: Aljantlb
E: More laughing.
C: (startled) What's going on?
E: I'm getting up to write this down.
So, I did. I thought that was the end of the conversation, but after I got back to bed, it continued.
C: What'd I say?
E: I'll tell you in the morning.
C: But I've got muscles now.
E: You've got muscles?
C: Yeah, see the predicament? . . . Why are you laughing?
Thanks, Chris, for my aching sides.
And, here's a look at our kids in their wedding get-up. The reason we are jet lagging in the first place.
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