It all started probably at lunch time when River didn't get a long enough sleep and it just snow balled from there. Jamie had the day off so we decided to go out for lunch. I fed the little man up and hoped he would fall asleep in the car then sleep through lunch. This was not the case. He was awake through lunch till about the last 10 mins, so i popped him in his pram and scoffed the rest of my food. We decided to go for a bit of a walk so we could keep River asleep as long as possible. We eventually got back to the car and he managed to sleep the rest of the way home. I was hoping we could get him out of the car and pop him straight into bed because at this stage he had only been asleep for about 40mins and he needed at least an hour and a half. But of course as soon as we got him out of the car his eyes were open and as soon as we put him in his bassinet he was having none of it. I let him carry on for a few minutes hoping he would just go back to sleep but our little man was wide awake.
2pm was close approaching so i gave River man a feed ready for his 3pm sleep time. He was pretty fussy because by this stage he was starting to get overtired. So it was a bit of a struggle but he managed to go down around 3pm. I was relieved it had been a busy morning. An hour rolled by and i started to hear that all to familiar grunting and snorting coming from my bedroom. I let it go for a while, again hoping he would go back to sleep, then the crying, then the screaming started. I went in and i thought i would give him a little top up and hope he would go back to sleep, again this was not the case. I ended up bringing him out to hang with Jamie and I in the lounge, hoping he would catch some zzz's on daddies chest. But little man just wanted to play, giggle and stay awake. Now these things i don't have a problem with however i no the consequences of a baby not sleeping throughout the day, it means one overtired baby for mum at night who won't feed properly and won't sleep.
So now it was bedtime, River had a shower with daddy and got his pj's on. I started to feed him at 6pm and just as i had predicted, i had one fussy overtired baby. River would feed for 2 mins then pull off crying then go back on then come off crying again. Every time his little sleepy eyes would begin to close he would quickly open them again and then start crying. At 6:30pm he fell asleep, but i new it wasn't over. River often does this if he's over tired. I'll feed him for a bit and he'll be so tired he'll eventually fall asleep, but only for about 20mins or half an hour then he'll wake up screaming as he hasn't had enough food, because he fell asleep. So right on cue about 20mins after falling asleep River man woke up screaming and hungry so i went in and we did the over tired baby dance till about 8:30pm, when i finally put him down.
Jamie and I were so tired we ended up going to bed at about 9pm. I was out in the lounge room when Jamie came out saying that River was still awake, that he was lying there with his eyes open. I felt like River was a little energiser bunny, he just kept going and going. I told Jamie as long as he's quiet and i can sleep he can stay awake as long as he wants. I lay there in bed and listened as River's breathing starting to get slower and more regular and slowly he drifted off to sleep.
I was next woken up at 2:15am by snorting and grunting and i let it go till about 2:45am, then i got up and scooped little River man out of the bassinet, as i did so i noticed his back was really wet. I thought, oh my god is this sweat? have i over heated my little baby? I put him on the bed and felt the mattress and it was really wet to, then i noticed it smelt like spew. I got him out of his swaddle and his jump-suit was wet as well. At this stage he was crying because he was hungry, so i quickly fed him enough so he wasn't crying, then i had to change everything. I went to his room grabbed a new jumpsuit, swaddle, sheet and blanket. Stripped his bed, re made it then re dressed River. As i was putting the new jumpsuit on i noticed that there was dried spew all over his face it was around his nose around his eyes and in his hair. This started to get me pretty worried and freaked out. River had done a serious spew and it had gone all over his face not just rolled down the side of his mouth. What if he had choked or something? Now another thing to add to the list of things to worry about!
By the time i had cleaned River man up and given him some more food, he was WIDE awake, it was about 3:45am at that stage and mumma was tired. I put him down and hoped he would fall back asleep. I lay there and listened to him snorting, sighing, grunting and kicking his legs around. I listened to this till about 4:30am when i couldn't listen any more. I looked in his bassinet and he smiled at me, if he wasn't so damn cute i might have been upset. I picked him up and popped him on the boob, within 5 mins he was out cold. Jamie's alarm went off at 4:45am for work, i pushed him to wake him up so he could quickly turn it off, i had a sleeping a baby in my arms and if that damn alarm woke him i would not be happy. Thank god he stayed asleep, i delicately put him in his bassinet, lay back down and shut my eyes.
If someone had described to me what i did last night when i wasn't a mum, i would have thought it sounded almost like a form of torture. It still amazes me how we turn from women into mums just like that. No formal training or handbook, we just no what to do and get on with it.
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