Around The Clock...

I knew I'd be writing this eventually, dang it. Pretty sure the thought came to me around 10 a.m. right after I'd woken up (yes, for the first time that day) sometime in July. Or it could have been right after the nap that began at 1 p.m. Ridiculous, but sleeping through pregnancy is actually a pretty good way to deal when nothing fits, you're swollen like the Michelin Man, are steaming hot and have zero motivation...for anything. Plus, let's be realistic--even if you're not doing anything while you're pregnant, you're clearly super-human; growing a baby is hard work. Anyway, as I was waking up I was telling myself to enjoy being in charge of my own life while it lasted--sleeping in and naps included. You know your entire life is about to change because you've seen it happen to other people, but you can't quite imagine it happening to you. Heck you couldn't even imagine morning sickness, big bellies or heartburn (all of which absolutely occur). Fast forward to August 7th. That's the day my life began to revolve around 1, 4, 7 and 10. That's when we would visit the NICU to help take care of Miss Adilyn. Every three hours, around the clock. No matter what. Change her diaper, take her temperature and help feed her--or at least hold her. BUT, we loved it. We got to interact with our little tiny, hold her and talk about how sweet she was, what a miracle she was and how we loved her SO much. Then we'd put her back in her isolette and go back upstairs to our hospital room where we hotel stayed for those three weeks. So, as the days went on we eventually missed one once in a while--mostly the middle-of-the-night feedings. Soon our exhaustion and the excellent nurses convinced us she was in perfectly capable hands--professional babysitters pretty much, and let's not forget, we were paying for them. There we were again sleeping through the night, and being COMPLETELY delusional about what exhaustion actually was. The morning the doctor called and told us we could take her home I was in the shower when it hit me--the restfull nights were over and I was about to become entirely responsible for this little girl. The first night was ridiculous. We were ALL up all night, even Hudson (although he has since found some way to block Adi's crying out completely--will wake from a dead sleep if I open a wrapper in case it's a treat--but doesn't even register baby screams). We've all adjusted since then, thankfully and the crazy thing about it is that I wouldn't trade the 3 a.m. visits for anything--not even for a full night's rest, or for the jurisdiction of my own schedule. I really can't imagine life without Adi. Not that the sleep won't be welcomed when she eventually sleeps through the night, just that I'm completely smitten by this little piece of heaven I get to hang out with around the clock.