Sleep

I was watching Joe sleep early this morning . . . not too tough since he was laying RIGHT next to me (actually taking up much of what is "my" spot!). He was so sweet and cute and peaceful . . . until he elbowed me in the eye. But, oh, how I love to watch my precious kiddos sleep! It's the best!

Rebekah has night terrors; they are awful!!! She started having them a few years ago and it seems like they come in waves. For a while she'll have them almost every night and then they'll be pleasantly absent from our lives for a while and I'll almost forget, and then . . . they return! Last night she had a nasty one! If you aren't familiar with night terrors, or if you have "knowledge" of them, but have never really experienced one, be thankful. Jacob had them for a short little bit when he was about 1, but Rebekah is our real night terror sufferer. So last night Kirb and I were in the living room watching "What Happens in Vegas" (fun, funny, lighthearted movie) and Rebekah "freaks out!" (that's what we call it when she has a night terror. She doesn't quite remember them in the morning, per se, but she can usually sense that something is amiss and will ask "Did I have a freak out last night?"). So, she is screaming and kicking her feet, pulling at her legs and scratching at some imagined itch that is all over her body, mumbling to herself, thrashing around in bed and making a huge mess of her covers. She's not really awake although her eyes are open and occasionally she can even carry on a relatively logical conversation. Many times if we can get her up and make her go to the bathroom she'll kind of "snap out of it", but more often nothing works. I go in there and try to comfort her. I stroke her little (sweaty, at this point) cheek and brush her hair from her face and pray over her. I talk to her softly and try to calm her down. You aren't supposed to try to wake up someone who is having a night terror but that is what you want to do! You want to shake them and tell them to "wake up and snap out of it." but really you just have to wait it out and hope it passes quickly. Usually they only last 5 or 10 minutes . . . although those 5 or 10 minutes feel like hours, but once in a while they'll last up to half an hour or 45 minutes, which is almost more than you can bear to witness. Anyway, the poor girl is going to be tired this morning, it always takes something out of her when she has one. Last night in her "terror" she was yelling at Lydia, something that didn't even make sense . . . logical words, but put together in a random way that makes them lose all potential for comprehension. It woke Lydia up (amazingly, it usually doesn't) and she yelled back for Rebekah to stop yelling. Kirb and I both gave our best shot to calming her down (sometimes I wonder why we even try since it never helps, but as a parent you just can't keep watching your fun movie while your kiddo is seemingly in agony and acts like they are being tortured!) but in the end we just had to wait it out and, thankfully, it didn't last too long.

Anna is, I think . . . I hope, on the tail end of this nasty cold that she's had for what seems like forever. I think it's probably been a little more than a week. So, consequently, she hasn't been sleeping too great. She can't breathe so she can't sleep well or nurse well or eat well. For 3 or 4 nights in a row Kirb would get up with her about 2 or 3 in the morning and feed her . . . we're talkin' oatmeal and applesauce here, not just nursing her a little bit (not that Kirb has those skills!) or giving her a bottle. It was the only thing that would comfort her. Last night, if I remember right, I got up with her 3 times and I think Kirb took a turn in there too. The poor bugger just is so stuffy and can't get comfortable enough to sleep well. I sucked the snot out of her nose again about 5:30 and am hoping she'll sleep now until the big kids leave for schoool . . . we'll see! And yes, she does have a vaporizor in her room. If you have any other helpful suggestions/solutions to her dilema, bring 'em on!

Jacob slept peacefully (as far as I know and can tell) all night . . . 1 out of 7 ain't bad. Oh wait, that's wrong. 1 out of 7 IS bad! We'll hope for better sleep tonight!