To the student who thinks they’re tired because they had to get up for the bus. For the teenager sleepy from cramming for the test last night. To the young adult complaining about working a double. To the adult who either never had children or who parented “littles” so long ago they’ve blissfully forgotten what it’s like. To all of you I have this to say: You may think you know what it is to be deprived of sleep, but you would be WRONG. Allow me to give you a small glimpse of what true, newborn-induced sleep deprivation looks like:
After victoriously settling Levi into his bassinet after his 1:30am feeding, I closed my eyes ever so briefly only to become keenly aware of his fussing again. I tried without success to settle him back to sleep. I tried patting, jiggling, shushing. All of this only served to further anger my little bundle of joy. Admitting defeat, I mustered up the strength and energy to sit up and save him from his “torture chamber” that is his bed. Through sleep blurred eyes I notice with great shock that the clock now reads 4:45am!!! Three HOURS had passed in what felt like merely three minutes. No wonder my little angel was up and fussing. His belly was hungry! After brushing off the initial feelings of epic fail as a parent of a newborn it occurs to me that THIS is what sleep deprivation feels like! When hours pass in what feels like seconds, you know you’re tired!
