Saturday, September 11, 2010

Let Her Sleep

Alright, so quick little update.

The tooth hath cometh! Actually, teeth hath cometh. The Baby has one top tooth and two little bottom teeth popping through her gums. It's been really fun dealing with a teething baby but the Baby has been a trooper. She is obviously in pain from the teeth because she is trying to grab them with her hands. But it's fun watching her put her tongue to her teeth and be shocked to have them there. We tried the frozen toys to help soothe the pain but then we put the toy in our mouths and it tasted nasty so we stopped doing that.

We have also stopped swaddling the Baby at night when she sleeps. She now sleeps in her little pajamas. It's still an adjustment for the Baby as she has become an expert on flopping around.

The Wifey is out with some friends at a Bachelorette party, so it's just the Baby and myself tonight. The Wifey needs a break but I know she misses the Baby.

But I am not the best dad/husband. I can sleep through anything. When the Wifey is going to be out for most of the night, I have to put the Baby in the bassinet in the master bedroom, otherwise I won't hear her cry. I could have the Baby monitor strapped to my head, with those fancy Dr. Dre Beatz headphones in my ears and I still wouldn't hear the Baby cry. Lately, with the Baby's teething issues going on PLUS the Baby is going through another growth spurt, the Wifey has been up every hour to take care of the Baby. And I just sleep away. In fact, the Wifey will bring a crying baby into the bed, feed said crying baby and I wouldn't know. I really am the worst dad/husband ever. But the Wifey doesn't complain. She's probably used to it. But that's still no excuse for me. Now that I think about it, the Wifey is beyond exhausted. The other night she fell out of bed and just sat on the ground. I asked her if she needed any help and she just sat there. So I had to pick her up and put her back into bed. The next day she didn't remember a thing.

So for all those soon to be dads:

If you are heavy sleeper, quit it. Become a light sleeper. Sleep with one eye open. Sleep with both ears open. Sleep with one foot on the ground ready to hop out of bed when the Baby starts crying. In fact, learn to anticipate when your baby will cry so you can be proactive and prevent your child from crying before it starts.

Massage your wife's body. Her feet, her back, her hands, her hips, her head, her elbows. If you can knead your fingers into it, you can massage it.

Let your wife nap. Let her nap anywhere. If she wants to snooze while sitting on the toilet, let her snooze. If she wants to close her eyes in the car while you pump gas, let her sleep. This holds especially true for full-time breast feeding mothers. These moms work their body into a schedule and the body adheres to that schedule, whether they like it or not. They have to squirt their milk into the pail on a regular basis. When the baby isn't on the teet, the teet is crammed into a machine. I swear the Wifey's breast pump is like some fancy handbag that she will never leave home without.

And lastly, tell her every chance you get that you love her. You're not telling you love her because she forgets, you tell her because she falls out of bed because you can sleep through a baby crying it's head off.

2 comments:

  1. Aw so sweet! My husband is a heavy sleeper. Hmm...I might have him read this one :)

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