I want to put on record how a typically bad night goes in our household.
10pm: Jake is already asleep and we put Kate to sleep. Depending on how tired or not she is, this task is a challenge or a breeze.
11pm: I try to go to sleep.
1am: Jake cries. I feed him and he goes back to sleep, usually quite quickly. Though from just laying him down some weeks back, this boy now needs a bit of cajoling. I either have to pat him, or hold him longer and the pacifier is a must. If I put him down too quickly, his eyes snap open. I hydrate myself and do a toilet break and rush back to bed.
2am: Kate wakes up crying. She cries for milk, cries because she is itching (her eczema is pretty bad. The poor girl) and pretty much is extremely whiney. The husband and I tag to take care of her, whether it's preparing milk and/or coaxing her to continue to lay in bed. Scratching her back works pretty well and I usually go lay in her bed and after some time, she will drift back to sleep again. I startle awake some time later and head back to my own bed and crash.
3am: Jake cries. I feed him the pacifier and hope that he goes back to sleep. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. If he's very restless, he will only stay comforted with the pacifier and cry out again 5-10 minutes later. I give in and feed him.
430am: Jake cries. Again, I do the pacifier trick but if it's a bad night, it will not work and I know it. I will feed him and persevere with the pacifier game. These days, because he knows how to flip, I find him struggling to find a comfortable position. Sometimes he falls asleep mid-flip, or he's flipped and looking doefully at me. Else he's prone and I figure he's fallen asleep after he's flipped over.
5am: Jake cries (again!) I have tried putting him into the sarong (he loves it in the day) but strangely, it doesn't work when it's dark. The trick to get him to then sleep properly is to hug him to sleep and because by this time, my brain is muggy, my eyes unable to focus and that thumping sound is not any disco beat but that of my throbbing headache, I just find the most comfortable position I manage to and we both sleep with him in the crook of my arm.
6am: I wake up with a sore arm and try to shift him away. Mistake. He wakes up and starts to cry. I feed again. He may or may not go back to sleep, though he is usually more wakeful by now. He flips and looks around. I turn on the hanging mobile to entertain him and lay down. Praying that he doesn't cry so I can just lay in peace.
6.30am: The husband wakes up and I hear him preparing for work. I feel suicidal from the horrible headache. There was one morning when the husband entered the room and found Jake looking extremely alert in tummy-time position. He was amused. I could barely muster strength to blink.
7am: It is time for me to end Mommy duty and begin my day job. GROANS.
