Sleep

For as long as I can remember, I (Caryn) have had a tough time falling asleep. I can sleep great once I fall asleep, and I can nap with the best of them... but falling asleep has always been a struggle. I think it's hereditary.

During the first half of my pregnancy, I was exhausted all of the time. Luckily, and to my surprise, I could go to bed early and fall right to sleep. Within seconds of hitting the pillow, I would be sound asleep. It was a new feeling. I liked it.

When mid-pregnancy hit, so did bed-rest, discomfort, using the bathroom every hour during the night, etc. And I was back to sleeping troubles.

Eden and Sebastien were born, and naturally I went mostly without sleep. A good day contained about two to three hours of sleep total. That lasted for the first few months. But even after Sebastien and Eden dropped their night feedings, they both woke up needing this or that quite frequently, and I still felt somewhat zombie-like and sleep deprived.

During that time, I fell asleep very easily because I was beyond exhausted. I felt as though I would never have trouble sleeping again. I thought I would never again lie awake in bed, practicing different guided imagery, taking deep breaths, counting the passing hours, or any other various practices that I have used over the years.

Just over 7 months, something magical happened. Sebastien (who at that time was the one keeping us up more) learned to roll to his stomach. Now, I know "back to sleep" so we lay him on his back at night, but he started to roll himself over and sleep very soundly all night long. It was and is a beautiful thing. And I thought, Great! They're sleeping all night, now I can too!

So, here we are at nearly 9 months... and sure enough, Eden and Sebastien generally sleep fairly soundly most nights. And sure enough, I don't. I'm back to insomnia. I'm tired, I really am. But I lay there at night, back to my old ways. Strange, isn't it?

Oh, and here are some cute pictures of the kids, because I know I have certain readers who are really only interested in seeing Sebastien and Eden.

Here's Eden doing her thing - she reaches out a lot, trying to wave, trying to touch faces, sharing toys, sharing her paci. She's a very sweet little girl.

This is something funny Sebastien does a lot with mirrors. I hope it doesn't mean that he has vision problems or something. But he likes to put his face up really close and look in his own eyes.