Reclaiming the Bedroom

Life has been so busy this past week that I haven't had any time to blog, sad! Blogging for me is a great way to journal. It's nice to organize my thoughts and have some important memories stored in a safe place that also allows me to share them.

Last night was a milestone for Sander. Last night I reclaimed my bedroom. Meaning, that Sander spent the night in the nursery instead of my bedside for the first time since he was born.

He used to sleep like an angel- at least 3 hour stretches with a 5-6 hour stretch at night. Now, he is like a demon child. Up every few hours to eat with random outcries in between- it was really wearing me down. So last night I decided that I would get better sleep if he was in a place where he would only wake me up if he was really awake and hungry. That way I can break up my sleeping/awake time into definite chunks with a beginning and an end without the billion drowsy wake-up-to-reach-over-and-pop-the-binkie-back-into-Sander's-mouth-so-he'll-be-quiet-and-I-can-get-a-little-bit-more-sleep moments.

It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Amazing.

I could get ready for bed with the lights on while my husband and I talked about our day and plans for the next day. I could walk over to my bedside after I went to the bathroom to get a sip of water without having to worry about bumping into Sander's Rock N' Play... ugh, and so many other things that I didn't realize I had missed being able to do.

More than the physical problems that come with having a sleeping baby in your room, (like lighting, loud noises and rockers in the way) there was a internal sense of freedom and relief to having our bedroom back to ourselves. There was something about the separation of parents and child that was extremely liberating. I feel less like mom and baby with dad and more like mom and dad with baby.

I don't know if that really makes any sense to anyone else but Sander having his own room that he actually uses now is an exciting step. And, yes, it did help break up the night into definable chunks. Up at 1 AM, 3 AM, 5-5:45 AM, 7 AM (Casey took that shift and put him on his tummy so he could get out his gas and not keep waking up from it- thank goodness for husbands!) and for good at 8 AM. Granted from 6 AM on I was in this stupor where I was aware of some crying but I knew Casey was taking care of it after he got up to get ready for work. I vaguely remember being asleep with my glasses on and my mouth hanging open as Casey came in to tell me he put Sander on his tummy, he was leaving for work and he loved me. I managed to close my mouth long enough to give him a little kiss upon which, I'm sure, it promptly fell back open again as I conked out.

But, hey, life is beautiful. :)