Ahhhhhh, sleep.

I remember when I was pregnant and….couldn’t sleep. Oh, wait, before that, when I wasn’t pregnant and…had a hard time sleeping… I have always had a hard time sleeping. I wake up in the middle of the night and have the worst time falling back asleep!

Not that I make it easy for myself with the tv. It started when I was in high school. I bought my own tv for my bedroom. I would watch movies to fall asleep, wake up to the (Matrix, Serendipity, Ever After) menu song and replay it….and then stay up a while to watch. Years later, I still can’t fall asleep without it on. We have tried a sleep setting. I always wake up and search for the remote to turn it on so I can fall back asleep. Sometimes I even end up on my computer or phone. It is always hard to peel away from something interesting just to sleep.

Since having Jackson I have learned the importance of sleep. The first couple months I was sleep deprived. Jackson was waking up every 1-2 hours to eat, so I never got more than 1 1/2 hours of sleep at a time. I started napping during the day (something I hate!) when he would nap. Having little sleep makes me grumpy and easily frustrated. Not good with a newborn. Slowly Jackson started sleeping longer. One night, after sleeping for four hours, I wasn’t sure if I should wake him to eat or not!

Around two months was the first time Jackson slept 5 hours straight. Since then he has been sleeping better. On a good night he wakes only once to eat, sometimes twice, but luckily he goes right back to sleep. The other night he slept 10 hours straight! I think the trick is to put him down at 9 instead of 10-11pm. He gets a little more sleep that way because he always wakes up from 6:30-7:30am. Also, getting in good naps during the day helps.

So, finally, I am starting to get some much needed (and deserved ) sleep! I wake up once or twice still, even when he doesn’t, but I’m working on not letting myself get distracted. I have learned that a well rested baby and Momma makes for better days. Also, I know that there will be bad nights, weeks, months in my future. I focus too much on the negative sometimes, so this is me just trying to stay positive!

Here is the little stinker. Sleeping while I blog.