Sleep Deprivation Illness

It's not a new story. I have a newborn. I'm not sleeping a lot. Mothers have been staying awake with their newborns forever. It's just the way things are.

And really, I have a good setup here. I have Super Husband, who takes a 4- to 5-hour shift with Anna every night so I can get a solid stretch of sleep away from her. That's a blessing. Then there's the rest of the night when I'm on duty... and I get little fitful catnaps with our angel baby.

I'm getting more sleep than other mommies, but I'm still feeling the effects. I'm constantly feeling like the flu is settling in. That groggy, stuffed up, achy, sickly feeling that always hangs over me. Ugh.

Breastfeeding is going so well, I haven't been able to express that much when pumping. That means that there aren't enough bottles to feed her for my nightly sleep session... and dear sweet girl refuses bottles of formula outright now. We're going to try bottles of half breastmilk, half formula and see if she'll take that, but I don't hold out much hope.

Last night Chris came into our bedroom defeated, carrying a screaming, flailing, very hungry Anna. He apologized over and over again as I sat up and pulled out a boob. "No problem, sweetheart. I know what I bargained for."

We've tried nursing while lying down. She's just too small for it right now. We'll keep trying every couple of days, but it's just not an option for the moment.

In other news... Ben is turning delightful again. We've had a week full of easy naps. He doesn't go upstairs on his own anymore, but he lets me carry him up there and put him in bed and tuck him in. And he stays there and falls asleep on his own. Blessings. Yesterday he took two naps for a total sleep time of three and a half hours.

One of my brothers and his wife and daughter are coming to see Anna for the first time tomorrow. Should be fun. An excuse for me to take a shower and put on clothes that aren't jammies. Side note: I've lost all of the pregnancy weight already. I can't even use the excuse that I can't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes so I'll just have to wear nightgowns.