We took Joshua to our friend K’s surprise birthday party yesterday. Joshua didn’t really nap the whole time we were there. He took about a 20 minute nap in the car on the way, then took about a 20 minute nap in the Moby while we were there, then took about a 20 minute nap in the car on the way back. He screamed his head off almost the entire trip home which I’m sure added to his exhaustion. Fabulous. Or, well, not fabulous at all since being trapped in a vehicle with a screaming child is probably a punishment in Hell for some sort of ne’er-do-well.
Any time we get him in the car, he screams like the car seat is eating him alive. I am not kidding. It makes for some really boring weeks for me because the farthest away from the house I can get without him having a full-blown meltdown is about five minutes. The only thing I’m remotely interested in within five minutes of my house is the grocery store and Wendy’s, and if I go to Wendy’s many more times, I might just turn into a spicy chicken sandwich.
So, yesterday was fun. We had a great time. He didn’t fuss while we were there and was a chipper, alert, ball of fun.
Once we finally got home last night, I gave him his night time bottle and he was milk-drunk before he’d finished the first ounce. (I promise I fed my child yesterday. Seriously.) He finished the bottle and I put him in the bassinet and he didn’t even stir a little bit. He was OUT. I climbed into bed about 10 minutes later and quickly fell asleep. (The cold he had this week made for some really, really rough nights of him being up every hour between 2 and 6am. I’ve been feeling exhausted for several days now.)
Imagine my surprise when I woke up at 4am NOT to the sounds of my hungry child, but to a rather, um, cold? sensation all over my nightgown.
Yep, engorgement. And leakage. Fabulous.
I am not a leaker for the most part. It’s one of the small gifts God gave me for having a fussy child, I think. So last night, I was quite shocked to find that I’d soaked through my nightgown. I was not, however, shocked enough to get up and change my clothes, apparently, because I’m still in the gown I went to sleep in last night. (I have no shame. Sleep is more important to me than just about anything and it’s hard to do laundry when you’re holding a squirming infant so I’m running low on things to wear.)
Joshua started stirring around 5am and I didn’t wait to see if he was actually going to wake up. I snatched him out of the bassinet and stuck him on the boob and force-fed him. (No, you can’t actually force-feed a breastfed baby. Or, at least in my experience you can’t.) I needed some RELIEF!! He ate and went back to sleep (if he ever totally woke up…I’m not sure. He might’ve thought he was dreaming)
When I woke up at again, my baby was no longer in his bassinet. I panicked and tried to find my glasses and couldn’t figure out what I’d done with the baby. Then, I heard little baby sounds coming from down the hall and Dan walked in the room with baby in arms. Whew! Dan heard Joshua poop at 7:45 and realized he was awake, so Dan got up and took care of the diaper and then came in to wake me. (What can I say? I have a great husband. He cooks AND changes poopy diapers.)
Joshua was BACK to sleep by 9:00 am and so was I. We woke up around 11:00.
Hallelujah, folks, I’m feeling normal again. Too bad this probably won’t last because it sure does feel like a little slice of Heaven.