When the Going Gets Tough

When I'm running, and the going gets tough, like when I'm at the last part of a race and I'm REALLY wishing for it to end, I try to focus on other things - on pleasant things - like raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens. However, when it's 6 a.m. and you really haven't slept much all night - like say only for a couple of hours - and the Baby is crying, well, it's really hard to focus on other, more pleasant things. After all you've got a Baby who just won't stop fussing. And merry thoughts of my favourite things really don't come to mind.

Okay, The B and I have been really blessed. Baby Max does/did not have colic. He's a great eater - he's already 13.8 pounds and pretty much in the 90th plus percentiles for his length and weight. And he's already smiling socially - not from gas. He's just a typical baby who still has no control over his Circadian rhythms or his flailing arms (which, if come unbound from a swaddle, sometimes wake him up.) At this moment, almost seven weeks in, he's got his days and nights ass backwards - literally. And his daytime activities mimic that of Ellie, our feline fur baby: Sleep during the day; up during the night.

At first we thought it was an anomaly, but for the last few nights, it's been the same pattern: asleep during the day and up all night. It's really tough and on mornings like this, when I've only gotten a few hours of shut eye all night, it's hard to imagine that the rest of the day has yet to begin. From a runner's standpoint, it's like getting the starting line of a race feeling lethargic and heavy. (Think Michael Scott from the show The Office when he attempted to run a 5K after eating a plate full of pasta Alfredo.)

Last night, I chatted with my girlfriends and it seems like this is pretty normal. Lisa even said, "When I was going through this, (her son, Ben, is now almost three) it was hard to imagine that it would never end." Though we're in the midst of Baby Max's weird sleep cycles, I found it reassuring to know that what we're going through is normal.

Sometimes I wish I could snap my fingers and Baby Max would have gone through this three month period of parental "hell." But speaking to other parents, I know that looking back I will laugh at this time and remember it fondly. After all, isn't that what most parents do? I recall speaking to my mom a few months ago. She seemed to have "forgot" the chaos that comes with raising kids - especially one spirited one like myself. And it's like labour: most women do remember there was pain, but can't recall the intensity or what it felt like. In two or three years this "forgetfulness" translates into many parents doing it again and having more kids.

At this point, going through this tough patch makes me conclude that Baby Max will be a singleton. But then again, I haven't gone through that "forgetful" period yet...

Hey wait a second, thinking about Baby Max's smile...come to think of it, that does make me forget some of the frustration of trying to put him to sleep last night. A little.