Sleep Deprevation

Since returning home from the hospital with our baby girl everything has just been great. The only downfall to having a newborn in the house is the altered sleep schedule that we must now survive on. We didn't start the sleep schedule off on the right foot because at the time Brinley was born I hadn't slept in about 30 hours and Jennifer had been up for about 40. So needless to say we were both extremely exhausted. I also had trouble sleeping in the hospital because I was hyper vigilant of every whimper that Brinley made. I was also getting up at least every 3 hours to change a diaper and to help Jennifer to try to feed Brinley.

So after our 2 nights in the hospital we were discharged to home. Here I was able to sleep in our much more comfortable bed. However according to Jennifer I have had multiple episodes during the first week home with some "sleep walking" episodes from sleep deprivation. My first occurrence was on day 2 at home and apparently I woke from a dead sleep to the sound of Brinley crying. According to Jennifer, I was frantically searching in the comforter for my daughter, but I was unable to find her. Jennifer asked me what I was doing and I informed her that I placed Brinley right there in the covers, but I couldn't find her now. She then proceeded to tell me that Brinley was in her bed. Sure enough I looked and Brinley was in her bed.

The next night I was sleeping and Jennifer told me that I just woke up randomly during the night and stood up and pretended to put a baby in the crib, but I did not have Brinley. She was sound asleep in the swing at the time. After I laid down the imaginary baby I just got back in bed and went to sleep. By doing this 2 nights in a row I am sure that Jennifer began to get a little scared that I would accidentally get up in my sleep and do something that might harm Brinley. She made sure to tell me the next morning what I did (which I vaguely recalled) and insisted that I take a nap that afternoon.

After taking a nap the next day and trying to get a little nap in whenever Brinley is sleeping I have thankfully not had any more episodes. Even though we haven't gotten the regular amount of sleep as we did before, I wouldn't change a second of it for the world. I enjoy being a father more than I could have ever imagined. I can't wait to watch her grow up into a wonderful young lady! Thanks so much for ready reading and God Bless!

Our baby girl!