Sleep Deprivation

I often wonder...how do our children survive? Or maybe I should ask...how do we survive with children? I am amazed at how I get by on a daily basis with 2-3 hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep. Let alone, how do I actually care for my 3 children in such a sleep deprived state.

I usually get to bed by 10:00pm and will get a solid couple hours in, until about 1:00 - 1:30 am. The remainder of the night becomes a blur, seeing each hour turn over on the clock. Little pockets of sleep in between feeding and changing Alyssa, Paige's trip(s) to the potty and Jimmy moaning because he can't find a mum. I usually loose count if I have to wake up more than 2-3 times and become increasingly agitated as the morning draws near. By 6:30 am, Alyssa begins to stir and start playing with her crib toys and then Jimmy makes his way down the hall to our room. Fortunately he b-lines directly for daddy's side of the bed..."good morning daddy!" Followed by a sweet hug and kiss. Then..."get up daddy, get up, I am hungry, I want oatmeal", as he peels the blankets off him. They leave the room, I turn over and hope that I can squeeze in 1 more hour of sleep.

For the past 10 days, this has been my life. No sleep. Right when I settled into waking up at 5am to go to the gym, getting a great workout in and being back home by 6:45 - 7:00am, dressed and ready to face the day with massive amounts of energy. So needless to say, on such little sleep, the 5am gym mission is aborted, leaving me feeling like crap and struggling to make it through each day. Which brings me right back around to why it is a miracle our children survive the days...without multiple trips to Kaiser, Child Protective Services showing up at my door or someone ending up in a much worse state than I care to think about.

Now you may ask, where is Doug while all this is taking place at 3am? He is sleeping as soundly as a newborn baby on its mother's chest. And then he wonders why I am in such a crappy mood when he arrives home from work at 7pm...

I am also shocked that any marriage survives children...but we'll save that topic for another day!