Saturday, November 7, 2015

In the Midnight Hour (aka Babies and Blogs)

So my life drastically changed 5 short days ago.  Before November 1, I slept when I wanted to, for as long as I wanted to.  Before November 1, I could never have dreamed that a 2 oz. bottle of ready-to-use, disposable baby formula would be the thing that I desired most to stack up on instead of quarts of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.  Six days ago you would hear me talking about how difficult it was to balance a demanding schedule of full-time work, part-time school, family and church responsibilities, while still enjoying some semblance of self-care and a social life.  Those days were a walk in the freakin' park.

Five days ago I became the mother of a precious new-born son.  Who knew that something so small could be so much work-require so much care, feeding, changing, fretting over, worrying about? I certainly never anticipated that I'd sit up in bed that many times a night just to make sure this tiny treasure was still breathing!  That I'd stand at the door to my home to welcome well-meaning guests with an over-sized bottle of hand sanitizer and ask them to 'disinfect' themselves before they touched the baby. Who could imagine that trying to dress an infant in a onesie could bring such angst?!? Studying for Torts on the Bar Exam didn't take this much mental concentration!

Six days ago, the only reasons I'd be up at 2am involved very self-centered (and most likely very enjoyable) activities, like being out with friends or watching Netflix and other 'stuff', lol.  And now, as I write this blog at 1am on a Friday night (Saturday morning), the fact that I managed to put this sweet baby to sleep successfully is more exciting to me (and much more of a personal triumph) than any other Friday night festivity I can remember.

Not even a week has gone by and I've learned so much. . .and had so little sleep! My son's name is Makana. On the second night of his arrival to our home, we had a discussion at 3am and it went a little like this:

Me: "Makana, we need to have a little talk."
Makana: *gurgles*
Me: "Do you notice that you and I are the only ones up? I mean, the whole household is asleep except for me and you. Do you see a problem with this?"
Makana: *smiles*
Me: "Hmmm. So I'd like to propose that we figure out this whole sleeping schedule thing. How about you stay up during the day more and sleep throughout the night like the rest of us do?"
Makana: (avoids eye contact)
Me: "I'll take that as a 'no'."

At the present moment, Makana and I are still negotiating the terms of his sleep schedule and let's just say that he has the upper hand thus far in this bargaining process.  And so, I've decided to make the most of his newborn nocturnal schedule and make a list of possible things to do while we're both up in the wee morning hours and he's staring at me like I'm supposed to provide entertainment with his 1am feeding.  So here's my list:

"Things to Do Between 12am-6am When Your Newborn Is Awake" (but already tended to):

1) Blog  (check)
2) Eat yummy things (check check)
3) Watch Netflix (I have yet to select a new series-any suggestions?)
4) Work on my papers for school (pending)
5) Exercise (next!)
6) FaceTime or Skype with friends in Japan (yes! yet to be scheduled)
7) Watch DVR'd shows (pau)
8) Clean (I think there's a cultural ban on cleaning at night, at least that's my story. . .)
9) Read (yes! any good book recommendations?)
10) Engage in other 'nocturnal activities' with other household members (I'm working on it, lol)


I'm determined to make the most of this midnight hour thing! I refuse to relegate this prime opportunity to mere bottles and diapers. I mean, the possibilities are endless, right? From these midnight sessions could come the next great novel out of Hawaii, or an "A" in my Master's class, a trim body, "bonding" activities with my hubby or catching up on all my favorite (and new favorite) shows! But alas, Makana has just drifted off to sleep and he just flashed a contented sleepy baby smile and I feel a yawn coming on, so maybe I'll just curl up next to him and catch a few winks and get back to my list tomorrow. . .maybe.

1 comment:

  1. Haha! This post is pretty on-point ;)

    On my personal list of things to do from 12am to 6am when Mariko was awake was cry, cry with my baby, cat nap while feeding her, cry a little more, and then finally we'd drift off for an hour from 6am to 7am and start the second half of the day doing the same thing for several months (don't worry, it'll get better when that little Polynesian tummy of his starts to get bigger since he won't be hungry as often)

    My suggestions........I got heavily into Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, and a few other series on Netflix and I rekindled my love for Golden Girls lol

    Good luck, Mama D! From that smile on his precious face, it looks like he's enjoying everything you're already doing <3

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