Anybody who has ever had a kid before should stop me if they ever heard this: “Are you getting any sleep?”
(Pause for stop)
Yeah, it’s likely you heard this many times shortly after bringing a newborn home.
My wife and I brought our second son, Declan, home last week, and I’ve already heard the question a few times, but not nearly as often as I heard it after we brought our first son, Braden, home from the hospital seven years ago.
With Braden, my answer was: “It’s not so bad. I’ve gotten used to it.”
With Declan, my answer currently is: “I’m still getting used to it. I’ve gotten older and my body no longer operates as well as it once did on little sleep.”
I heard the question several times in the first few weeks, but because he was premature and in the NICU in Marshfield, I simply answered that I’m getting plenty of sleep because he’s not home, yet.
While I didn’t enjoy the fact he was there, and I especially didn’t like the daily drive between Stevens Point and Marshfield, looking back I do appreciate the few weeks of extra sleep time I was able to get during his stay. Declan was supposed to be here until Aug. 23, so when he came July 14, my mind was not mentally prepared for having a newborn in the house. The two-week NICU period allowed my mind to get into newborn state.
Even in newborn state, I was surprised at how my body wasn’t physically ready for him. Getting up every two hours or so was a chore – one I sometimes had to force myself to do. Seven years ago, I remember popping up when Braden cried, ready to meet his every need. Now, I wish he had a snooze button that could put him back to sleep.
The snooze button for a newborn is to address his needs. And at this young age, those needs are either a diaper that needs to be changed or a tummy that needs to be filled, although it seems like both are most often the case.
My wife and I are equal opportunity baby helpers. In other words, we both help with him. Sometimes she feeds him in a way no guy ever can, no matter how big are breasts are, and other times I use milk she has produced previously to feed him, and we take turns changing his diaper. I usually stay up later, taking care of him when he needs it, allowing her to get some extra sleep early in the night, and on the weekend she allowed me to sleep in one morning to catch up on some sleep. I’m sure we’ll both continue to do this over the next few months.
It’s ironic that parents seem to lose sleep once a new kid arrives. Because it seems like that’s all the new kid does. He sleeps in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, and overnight. When he’s awake, it’s only to let us know he needs something, or it’s for an hour or so at a time, just to look at his new surroundings. He’s probably just preparing for his teenage years.
Braden began sleeping through the night four or five months after he was born, and hopefully Declan will do the same. And then when I hear the inevitable question, I can say I’m getting more sleep than I need.
On a completely unrelated note, I would like to wish baldness to Justin Bieber, although I’m not sure he deserves the honor. In an interview this week, in talking about the balding Prince William, he said: “I mean, there are things to prevent that nowadays, like Propecia. I don’t know why he doesn’t just get those things, those products. You just take Propecia and your hair grows back. Have you not got it over here?”
Prince William may be going bald, but 10 years from now people will still know who he is, and his hair won’t matter one bit. Bieber’s hair won’t matter 10 years from now either, because it’s most likely people won’t remember him.
I say this because we brothers of little hair need to stick together and be proud. Bieber can take his Propecia and put it where the sun…
* * *
Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Aug. 10, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment