Day 13

Today is my birthday. The first present of the day was a midnight wakeup call from lil’ man. I tended to him and he went back to sleep. At 1:30 a.m., he woke again. This time, I decided I would not address him. I waited and he did calm himself back to sleep after about 30 minutes; we may be getting somewhere with the no-sleep nights. This would be the best present ever! He woke at 3:00 a.m. and required food but he went back to sleep, without issue. I woke at 5:45 a.m. – I had slept in! At 6:00 a.m. he was ready for another meal. He went back to sleep, after a bit of babbling. My mom is coming today and bringing a birthday breakfast. I am looking forward to the visit and possibly a chance to have a few minutes of alone time, with her keeping watch.

My mother came over for the 9:00 a.m. feeding and asked if she could have the honor of performing the feeding. I happily obliged. She brought several birthday goodies for me to enjoy: a very nice card, brownies, a favorite breakfast item and, most importantly – a replacement Danish for the one previously consumed by the dog. It is shaping up to be a nice day. She offered to watch lil’ man so I could go do some quick shopping. After a quick trip to the store, my nerves were frayed from the anxiety of our son being left alone. He was, of course, just fine. As a matter of fact, he had not made a sound and my mother did not have to do anything. She stayed on for the noon feeding and again performed the duty. With her being there, it opened up the opportunity for me to do some more work on a deck railing project that needed to be completed; plus it gave me a bit of time for a birthday beer! She left after he went back down to sleep. It is worth noting, early on in our conversations, she mentioned how much harder this must be for me than it was for her. My first child came when I was already twice her age of when she had her first. She is right. Although I am youthful for my age, it is a challenge to find the energy each day. One look at our son though and it really does not matter; he is worth it. The evening feedings went well. Lil’ man was tired from grandma’s visit. At the 9:00 p.m. feeding he lay awake for about a half-hour, releasing farts that sounded like those from a grown man.