Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Dispatches from the outpost

Life is tough on a desert island. The heat, the sun, the wind. I don't know how we're standing it.

Aruba is certainly hot, and extremely sunny. The wind blows constantly, on and off the beach. It all works together to create a really pleasant vacation spot - the wind is so soothing and keeps it from feeling as hot as it is.

Nate is not doing so hot, but that's to be expected. The flights here were not so easy or smooth, and his sleep/nap schedule is gone to hell (I generally think it's extremely tacky to curse in public, or in a blog, so I refrain, but "hell" is the only place that adequately describes our circumstances.) I woke Stewart up at 6 a.m. crying that I wanted to go home. Crying while holding our EXTREMELY AWAKE and happy son. At 6 a.m. Blech. Stewart saved the day by ushering me back into bed and disappearing with the happy child for quite some time. Our early-morning excursion is now an early afternoon one, but boy did I need the sleep.

We're in a hotel, so I can't let the kid cry for even a minute (I refuse to be one of those people whose baby affects the sleep of innocent bystanders). At home, if he woke an hour after I put him down, I'd let him cry for a few minutes and he'd put himself back to sleep. Now I have to nurse him back to sleep every time he wakes, which is every 2 hours now. And I'm so tired that I fall asleep nursing him in bed, so he's basically co-sleeping. And I hate it, hate it, hate it.

If any of you are co-sleepers, please let me know how you do it. Comments are open. I think Nate is eating so much more frequently since he's sleeping cuddled up with my exposed boob. Who wouldn't eat? Put me in bed with a quarter pounder with cheese, and that burger isn't going to last 3 minutes. No matter what time of night it is. No matter when I last ate. I also fall asleep in these terribly contorted positions, with one arm behind and above me, and my neck cricked at a funny angle, and then 90 minutes later I wake, in pain, to something sucking on me. It's horrible.

How do you do it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Leah, *HUGS* to you. I always had the same problem with my infants when we were in hotel rooms. It's so hard!!! No co-sleeping advice, as I hate as much as, if not more than, you. You'll be home soon though, and your schedule will get back to normal. Are you having any fun at all???

Anonymous said...

I totally agree about cosleeping. I have, due to exhaustion, had Ben in bed with us the last two nights, and I don't sleep well or comfortably, and I agree he wakes up more to nurse than normal. I am determined to tough it out, and at least have his first sleep in the bassinet tonight.