Day one of maternity leave. It’s been productive, with moments of rest in among the moments of frenzied cleaning.
Vacuumed upstairs. Vacuumed the main floor.
Cleaned two bathrooms. Including the toilets.
Dusted the furniture on both the main floor and the upstairs of our house.
The spare room is all ready for my mom to come and visit.
Friends are telling me to rest. To chill. To slack. To sleep.
Ah, sleep. The inevitable advice. “Sleep while you can,” everyone says. “You’ll miss it once the baby comes.”
What does this mean, really? How do I sleep while I can? What if I’m not sleepy? It’s not like I can sleep now, save those hours and claim them later when I’m really exhausted. The advice to new moms to sleep while they can is well-intentioned, but probably the most frustrating piece of advice I’ve received throughout my entire pregnancy.
Someone on Twitter was more honest about new motherhood and sleep, recently. “You’ll sleep,” she said, “but sleep will never be the same again.” I found her perspective refreshing. If only I could remember who it was that revealed the secret of sleep to me.
I love to sleep. I’d bank sleep if I could, absolutely. But for now, until it calls out to me, really beckons, I’ll be wiping down the kitchen counter for the nine millionth time today.
yeah…I don't really think it means that you should actually sleep now, since you can't store it or anything…but what it means is that you should enjoy your sleep now…because, it's true, you will never sleep as soundly once the babe is around.
What people don't get is that sleep is pretty crappy in the end of pregnancy anyway! I can go to bed early but I will still toss and turn with this giant belly and then wake up no less than 2 or 3 times to pee, so it is useless! But, wow, you got a lot more done than I did today. I managed to wash and fold all of her baby clothes, go to the chiro, make dinner and then go get a massage with my friend. Tomorrow I get to work!
I never understood this until after I had kids, and now I find myself saying similar things to my best friend as she winds down her first pregnancy. I think it's mostly that moms with kids are fantasizing about what sleep used to be like before children. It's not so much that you should stop, drop and sleep whenever you have the urge- it's that you can,and on your own schedule, and that is amazing. Good luck with your final week!
This morning I woke up at like, 4:30 and watched tv for a bit, then fell asleep on the couch. That kind of sucked. But I really enjoyed going back to sleep in our bed all alone for two hours after Graham got up and found me in the living room!
Kameron, you make a REALLY good point. Sigh. I haven't had any real lengthy, quality sleep for months now, anyway. I think it's the body's way of preparing for the baby!
I guess it's just one of many things I won't understand completely until the baby is here!
You’ll sleep well again one day, I promise. It might not happen for months or years, but you will. Making a plan with your partner where one of you gets up with the kid while the other sleeps in, and then trading off so the one who got up early can have a nap, helps. So does training your child, when s/he’s 3-4 years old, not to wake you up until X time (for us it’s 7:30). Use a timer on a lamp or a kids clock that turns green at the specified time for the latter. For now, eh. Sleep when you feel like it.
I clean when I need to feel better. And when I'm angry or frustrated.
You'd think my house was cleaner…
Funny — I wrote a post and linked you about trying to store sleep. Did you read it? I can't even remember right now. Everyone thought it was a genius post, btw, so if you haven't, you should check it out when you're not napping or wiping.
Got your address. Going to the post office for a big box on Thursday. Woot!
I couldn't sleep at the end, and you can't store it anyway.
Go to movies. Stock the freezer. Go to brunch, lunch, dinner.