When someone asks about your new baby the first thing they usually ask is, "Are you getting any sleep?" Anyone that has kids should already know the answer to this. I now reply to this question with,  "She's sleeping like a baby." I usually leave it at that and let the person I'm talking with interpret what I mean. They might hear, "Yes, babies sleep a lot." But what I really mean to say is , "No you crazy person she's a baby, of course she's not sleeping!" I am fortunate that Caitiejane has started sleeping through the night at just 2 months! This is heaven. But this story isn't about her. It is about her older brother, Gardner. 

Gardner was a very hungry child. He also was very hard to burp. These two things were a recipe for no sleep. I breastfed Gardner, which meant that every night when he woke up hungry I got up to feed him. It didn't make logical sense to have Jerry join me. There was nothing he could do. So there I was, night after night, feeding him, trying to burp him, and feeding him some more. I was up every two hours or less.

After a few months, these two hour stretches became three hours and then four, but never more than that. I got up night, after night, after night, for six and a half months straight. Then, I snapped. 

My head spun around like the girl from "The Exorcist." I may have even spewed green goo at Jerry. My sleep deprived haze has caused memory loss of this particular head spinning incident, so I can't verify the details of exactly how far my head spun around or what color the goo was that I spat at my husband. I told Jerry that it was his turn to get up in the middle of the night to feed Gardner, that I was done. I think I used my devil voice to convey this too. You will need to ask him for confirmation on that. 

So Jerry agreed to do the nighttime duty for a night or two... or rather, I told him he was doing it, he really had no choice. 

Jerry did get up with Gardner and gave him a bottle and I got a full nights rest. I decided to go back at it the following night with Gardner. The next night, Gardner slept through the night... What? Are you kidding me? He apparently decided that if he wasn't going to get his mom in the middle of the night that his time was better spent sleeping. I should have done this months ago. I gave him the death stare the next morning, to which he responded with cooing or some other babbling, so it had no effect. 

I was happy that he was sleeping through the night, but mad at myself for not doing this sooner. 

I have learned from my mistakes. I have admitted to myself that I cannot pretend to be super mom and do all the nighttime feedings. Luckily, Caitiejane has started sleeping through the night and neither Jerry or I have to get up to feed her. However, should this habit change, I know that I will ask for help before I turn into "The Exorcist" girl. 

P.S. I thought about posting a photo of the girl from "The Exorcist," but she was even too scary for me! You will have to  look at what I resembled during my sleep-deprived haze on your own.