It's 4 am and I wake up to Adelyns weak little cries telling me she's hungry. I drag myself out of bed, stumble around eyes half open, trying to find my way to the door without running into anything. Meanwhile, Austin sleeps peacefully without even knowing our daughter has woken up.
I pick her up, change her diaper and proceed to the living room where I nurse her. She of course is taking her own sweet time enjoying the quality time with mommy. Mommy however, is doing all she can to keep from nodding off and trying to keep Adelyn alert enough to eat to the point of satisfaction. I am always careful to keep the night feeding as "nightlike" as possible. I don't hardly talk to her, I keep lights low, and make my movements slow and gentle. The goal: keep the child sleepy.
Adelyn finally finishes up. I gently wrap her back up in her blanket and quietly walk back to her nursery where I rock her into drowsiness so I can put her back in her crib and return to my precious slumber. So I'm rocking my sweet girl, her eyes are drifting off, I'm soaking up the sweet moment and then all of the sudden I hear it. "HICCUP." "Oh no... please only be one... please only be one..." HICCUP. Adelyns eyes peel open as she is jerked awake by her own body. "Maybe it is only two... Lord please make it be only two hiccups..." I'm (frantically) doing my best to soothe her and keep her sleepy. Then another squeak escapes my daughter and she is now fully awake. Her eyes are wide looking around trying to figure out why she has been jerked awake. "Well, crap."
See, I've learned from previous experience that the hiccups in the middle of the night are one of the worst things. It not only wakes a drowsy baby up, but it KEEPS them from falling back asleep. They also seem to last longer in the middle of the night than they do in the day. I loathe the midnight hiccups.
So I had a choice: continue to rock Adelyn until the hiccups pass? Lay her down in the crib knowing she won't fall asleep and will end up crying? Both options sounded painful and threatened my sleep. I opted for another alternative. I headed to the guest bedroom, crawled under the covers, snuggled Adelyn up next to me and dozed while she worked the hiccups out. I'm not sure how long it took but I just remember waking up thinking, "huh, I think she's asleep." So I oh-so-carefully lift her up and take her back to the crib. I lay her down and her eyes don't open. Praise Jesus.
I stumble back to my bed almost an hour and a half after waking up to find Austin in the exact same position I left him in. The next morning when she woke up around 7 to eat again, he excitedly thought she had slept through the night. I informed him of the previous night's intruder and we both resolved to accepting that our child will never sleep through the night. Ever.
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