A brand new day, a brand new blog

Let the Halleluiah Chorus sound! I got 6 hours of sleep last night... in a row... for the first time in 2 years! Yes, this remarkable event is why I have decided to start this blog today. It is a sign of hope, it is the mark of a new life on its way... it is probably a fluke. But hey, I feel good, and creative, and energetic, so here I am typing away.

Why is this an event worthy of comment? Worthy of starting a blog, even? Well, I have two daughters, Eleanor is two years old and Rose is seven weeks old. Eleanor has never slept through the night in her life. Not only will she not sleep through the night but, until seven weeks ago, Eleanor would not sleep at ALL unless her Mommy was next to her. That's right - me - next to Eleanor, wedged on my side because she wouldn't let me roll over. Me, paralyzed by a full bladder, but afraid to move a muscle for fear that Eleanor would wake up screaming for me. I'm serious - yelling - as if the inch that I had moved had actually taken me light years away from her. And, as if I would never return! (Where she gets this, I have no idea. Cap and I are "attachment parenting" all the way. I carried Eleanor eighteen hours a day until she was about 8 months old!)

But, seven weeks ago little Rose was born (more on that later) and Cap had to start putting Eleanor to bed, and rushing to her side every time she woke up yelling. It made me sad to have her leave our bed (more on that later, too), but it had to be done. I had to be on-call for Rose, and it was obvious that the two kiddies would be waking each other up every hour or so. So, Cap took over the nighttime Eleanor duty, and I dealt with nursing Rose every two to three hours. Occasionally Rose would sleep for four hours in a row, and it became apparent that I was getting the better end of the deal. Poor Cap, who was used to sleeping full nights, was suddenly stuck with Miss Wakey Wakey Eleanor, while I slumbered peacefully for several hours at a stretch. But, although I may have been feeling more rested than Cap, I still had not managed to achieve that legendary "full night's sleep" that so many other parents seemed to get somewhere arount the third or fourth month after their child's birth.

So my story ends on this high note: last night Rose slept from 11 pm to 5:30 am! And... I didn't wake up at all until 5 am, which was only because that is when Eleanor comes in bed with me to nurse. Which meant that... for the first time in two whole years... I slept for an entire night!

And with this victory... I blog!