Go figure. Baby has been having night terrors for the past three nights. Dammit. I bet she sees dead people. (No. She was not up when it was on the other night.) Or dead Elmos. Or Mommy giving her half-broken bits of cracker over and over again. Or a world with no bananas.
The first night, she woke at 11 p.m. screaming MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! She has never done that, and while it touched my heart, it was horrible to hear. I stood and rocked her and tried to put her back in her bed. No go. Rocked her again in the glider for a bit, back to bed...hell no. Took her in and sat on the couch. She just laid on my chest and stared at the wall. Tried to put her back...forget it. You see where this is headed. I attempted to put her back in her bed seven times. The seventh time I had to walk out of the room. I went to my bed and the tears immediately poured out of my eyes and then suddenly *poof* dry as the desert. It was very strange. Like my body knew... hurry up and get this over with because you've got a long night ahead of you. I went right back in, took her back in bed with me (which I'd already tried) and she didn't fall asleep until nearly 4 a.m. She probably could have fallen asleep sooner if she hadn't been laying on her side and reaching all the way behind herself to rub my eyebrows.
The next night, she woke at 1:50 a.m. and was up until 4 a.m. Both nights she was physically terrified of her crib or room or both. Night terrors work that way, leaving the poor little baby unable to discern from reality fully expecting a beheaded Elmo to jump out from behind the dresser yelling, "I've eaten all the Keebler Garlic and Herb Toppers in the universe and you will get NOTHING!" Okay. Now I'm scared. And they say night terrors are hereditary. Great.
This morning she woke up at 4:50 a.m. I got her back to sleep in my bed, only to hear her yelling NO! NO! NO! She was sound asleep. So these terrors can last a few days to a few months. Not good for baby and so sad. Not good for student mommy, either, who has four tests, three projects and oh...I don't know...a child to take care of after only four hours of sleep.
Oh wait. I forgot. I did this for 16 months. How soon we forget.
1 comment:
You're amazing, you really are. Night terrors are horrible - we have experience with them in our house too. A mother trying to function with no sleep, is a nightmare. I truly understand.
Hang in there and good luck with all the school work. I'm cringing for you.
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