I ran 8.5 miles yesterday. True story. It was probably my worst run pace-wise (14 min miles, what?), but I still freaking did it. DanO and the boys dropped me off at the lake in our neighborhood, then I ran across two suburbs to my in-law’s house where the boys were waiting to congratulate me. My run looked like this:
That long stretch felt just as long as it looks. Yea, no, probably longer.
Anyway, this post wasn’t supposed to be about running. It’s supposed to be about sleep.
After I ran farther than my body ever has before, and after DanO wrangled both boys for most of the morning (O and did I mention because of our schedule OBoy didn’t really nap?), we were both plum tuckered out. So tuckered out that we threw ourselves into bed at 8:45pm. Eight! Forty! Five! We were all “O man! Look at us! We are going to feel AWESOME tomorrow!”
Haha.
Ha.
9:45pm – I’m still laying in bed awake, next to a snoring husband. My body is so sore I can’t get comfortable. I take some Ibuprofen then get out of bed and stretch for a while. Calves, hamstrings, glutes. Back in bed, I tell my brain to shut it so I can sleep.
10:30pm – OBoy wakes up crying. (I wish I were exaggerating when I tell you that he has woken up 1-2 times every.single.night. for the last week+. I took him to the pediatrician last Monday because he had woken up so many times distraught last Sunday night. Thought maybe ear infection? Nope. 2 year molars. yay.) DanO went in and consoled him, laid him back in bed.
11:45pm – I still haven’t slept, but I have planned meals, redecorated our dining room, written fantastic and hilarious blog posts and sent emails in my head. OBrother wakes up to nurse. (I also wish I were exaggerating when I tell you that baby boy sleeps for no longer than 3 hours at a pass anymore. Once upon a time we were flirting with 7 hours. Now I’m ecstatic if we hit 3.) I nurse him with much effort because of his stuffy nose (make a mental note to get out the humidifier), DanO lays him back in his crib asleep.
12:45am – Baby wakes up positively rife with boogers. He battles sleep and bulb syringes until THREE. A. M. DanO and I take turns rocking him and laying him down.
4:30am – After sleeping the longest stretch of sleep I got all night (90min) baby wants to nurse again. I oblige but he makes it clear that he would not like to go back into his crib, thankyouverymuch. DanO gets exiled to the couch and baby and I struggle with sleep and bulb syringes.
7:15am – OBoy comes a-knocking on my door because he got 12 hours of sleep last night (what, like it’s hard?) and is ready to rise and shine and give God the glory.
7:16am – I break my 4 day streak of no coffee. Heaven help me.
But guess what?
You ran 8.5 miles yesterday!
Total rockstar. Even if you hadn’t ran 8.5 miles.
If there was EVER a reason to set aside the coffee fast, darlin, THIS IS IT.
You can fast from coffee once the kids are all sleeping through the night consistently. (Read: 15 years.)
And 8.5 miles? AWESOME! YOU GO!
I feel for you. Since I got pregnant I can’t sleep hardly at all. I just toss and turn all night. Then I try to take a nap while Mr. Toddler is and most days I just lay there…Cleaning the house, demolishing the house and reconstructing it (I want the bathroom this much bigger, a loft upstairs, that kind of thing), making dinner, grocery shopping, Painting the twins room before they come, and then of course yell at myself for doing all of this while I should be sleeping. I don’t have a kid waking up screaming or crying much anymore at night (well, until thing 1 and thing 2 arrive around Christmas) and when the little Mr does wake up with night terrors the only one that can console him quickly enough is daddy (his 10 – 20 minutes vs. my 1 1/2 – 2 hours).
Hopefully tonight goes better for you!!
PS, you nearly ran by my house…just a few more blocks down from Minnehaha and you would have heard my Glee music blasting from the house while I cleaned it since the ‘guys’ were gone!
Congrats. 8.5 miles is awesome. But why would you deliberately go 4 days without coffee? That’s just wrong.
Congrats on 8.5. You go girl!
4 days without coffee? Oy, I would have some seriously withdraws. You’re my idol in that category.
Sleep? What is sleep?? Even now with a 5 yr old & a 2 yr old sleep is broken up. Mine are taking turns by waking each night somewhere between 2-3:00 am. It is for the simplest things – fix my covers, I don’t want to find my Minnie, can you?, is it time to get up and play (wha?!?!)?, etc, etc. Of course, I am then up for 30ish {precious} minutes. Those minutes are a lifetime & make all the difference in the world…but really…I throw my hands up & say I love being a mother! (mind you there is much enthusiasm as well as sarcasm! haha).
You deserve the coffee!!! (Why are you giving it up, anyways?)
On a side note, when did OBoy start sleeping that long? My son is almost 18 months and STILL wakes up 3 times per night. And takes NO naps. When did your son start sleeping so well? I feel your no-sleep pain!!
Oh, and why is it that us women have such a hard timing turning off our darn brains?
Thats just awesome! 8.5 miles! You’re my hero! and What a mom!!! What a mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Mama.. Drink that coffee, you need it!
oh, my.
Where you think you’ll be sitting on top of the world the next day, but then your brain shuts off & the baby is awake. & awake again. & awake again. while your husband snores blissfully beside you.
& then you’re knee-deep in a coffee mug even at 1pm, staring at a CRM database & trying to make sense of the report you just pulled while simultaneously trying to make a pediatrician appointment.
I think I may have experienced this…
When I read this, I was *this* close to getting in my car and driving over to watch your kids while you slept. The problem is that I’m 7 hrs away and you probably wouldn’t let a complete stranger watch your kids, even if some of your friends would vouch for me. So *hugs* from Chicago! Hope OBrother gets better soon! Ear infections are no fun, but antibiotics can work wonders for baby and parents!
Why can men fall asleep at the drop of a hat while women struggle? In my case, once he starts snoring, there is no hope of sleep for me. (Please know I’m generalizing the whole gender differences and mean no disrepect to anyone.)
Hang in there – this will be hilarious when they’re teenagers and you can’t pry either of them OUT of bed!
holy cow – that map looks insanely impressive!!! you totally deserve the coffee! good for you. i’m on day 3 of a couch-to-5k program…so your feat gets major kudos from me. =)
90 mins. of sleep & you’re blogging?! you deserve an award….and more coffee in that awesome mug o’ yours.
Don’t you just love the regression in sleeping habits??!?? I, too, have a near 5-month old and he was doing 6-8 hours at one point a couple of months ago. Then something happened–I have no idea what– and he was only sleeping 3-4 hours at a time. This went on for weeks, and right when I was going back to work! It was insane. Now, we’re inching toward 6 hours again. I have yet to experience what some would call “sleeping through the night.” Oh well. Such is motherhood!
O Allison! Everytime I read your blog, I thank God that I am not alone. Sleepless nights are the norm around here… and coffee is considered a ‘meal’. :)
Oh, mama … we could be best bleary-eyed friends who drink too much ‘Bucks … ya know, if we knew each other in real life. I SO relate to this. SO sad, too. *sigh*
Wow that makes me cringe. I hate rough nights like that :( but go you on the run!!!! Impressive times a million!
Holy Moley. You ran 8.5 Miles!!!! check you out. You are awesome!!!! sorry last night sucked….we all have those days. But just dwell on how awesome you were yesterday :)
Ok first and foremost, congrats on the 8.5 miles. You kick major boooo-tahay!
And the whole sleeping thing? Welcome to my world. My husband snores ALL NIGHT LONG and we co-sleep with our son who likes to nurse, mainly comfort nurse, ALL NIGHT LONG. I can’t go on a coffee/caffeine fast even if I wanted too cause this mama never gets enough sleep. And my daughter? Totally loves to wake up before 7 and then I fight with her to “cuddle” with us so I can get some extra Zzzzs. This morning, after a particularly rough night for me, I even bribed her to let me sleep more by letting her color on my back with {washable} markers.
So I feel ya! Good luck getting some sleep mama!
Do you use a foam roller? It’s really helpful for those sore post-run muscles! It hurts like hell, but it’s a good kind of hurt. Mostly.
this post makes your outburst of laughter during mops yesterday even funnier! and even clearer:) I’m so sorry.
WOW, I’ve never even imagined running that far.
And you just made me so so glad I’m done with the baby thing. ;)