Sleep and My Lack Thereof

Today I was at work contemplating how much I miss having the time to think and write. When you say, "Hi, my name is Kellie and I'll be taking care of you tonight. What can I bring you to drink?" so many times, you begin to miss using your vocabulary for creative purposes. It was then that I realized I haven't written a blog post in over a month.

Forgive me! Between working and taking care of Evie, I rarely have time to eat a full meal, much less sit down and type. But here I am- fresh out of work with a baby quietly napping a few feet away. And may I just say this: I envy her.

A lot of people told me that when I embarked into motherhood, my sleep patterns would be drastically affected. But just like most other parental warnings, you can't understand it until you're living the mom life.

For the first month and a half or so of Evie's life, she woke up approximately four or five times a night to squeal and eat. Luckily for me, breastfeeding makes those late-night and early-morning snacks much easier. I just pull the baby right up next to me and let her indulge. However, because we got in the habit of laying in the same bed so much, Evie now believes that my bed is her bed.

I used to sleep like a starfish- on my stomach with all four limbs stretched in different directions. Now I sleep like, well, a baby in the womb. While Evie lays sprawled out next to me, I stay curled in the fetal position all night long. Waking up is unpleasant not because I would rather keep sleeping, but because I feel like I'm trying to undo the rigor mortis that has obviously set in.

And forget naps. Once in a while, if I'm lucky, I can doze off with Evie laying on my chest. But usually I don't even want to consider snoozing during the day because the feeling that I should be doing something else is overwhelming. My mind screams, "How can you sleep when you should be folding that huge pile of laundry?!"

But if there's one thing I know, it's that parenting is a balancing act. Sometimes you have to make time for the things that make you happy and serve no other purpose. Like blogging.