Being a Mother is the Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had To Do

I rarely take the opportunity to talk about being a mom when I’m writing my blog. It’s not that I don’t have a ton to report on as any mother knows, each day is as action packed as the next. It’s not that I don’t want to specialize as a mom blogger either as I really do enjoy speaking to other mothers and sharing insider tips on how to improve your quality of life and the quality of life our kids. So I guess today is a good time to start sharing about me as a mother.

My son is about to turn one year old on April 29. This year has gone by like a flash! Having said that I can’t believe all of the things my husband and I have endured and enjoyed with our son in the past eleven and a half months. The list would be far to long and boring to list now and I do wish I had done a better job in the last year blogging about it…. but there’s not better time to start than the present.

My son is what most baby books call an angel baby during the day. He eats well, drinks from a bottle, drinks milk, his naps are like clockwork and are in his crib, and he is a joy to anyone that spends time with him. But when it’s PJs time and we start the bedtime routine he starts to get really cranky. I had him “broken in” at 9 months and was sleeping in his crib on his own for a few months until he caught the flu and ended up in the hospital for the day. Ever since then he’s become this needy boy at nights and the only way to console him is to hold him tight in my bed. Of course I love it. There will be a time when my boy will fight to get out of my arms so I love when he holds his arms out and cries for my embrace. But I know if I don’t nip this one in the bud he will be in our bed forever and my marriage will inevitably suffer and we will never get a good night’s sleep. If this morning is any indication of what our lives would be like if we were a co-sleeping family I don’t want to sign up for it. I am exhausted and drained and it is a recipe for many grumpy and unproductive mornings.

So my husband and I tried the Ferber method again last night. In fact it worked exactly as it promised in the book. The basic premise of the method is to put the baby in the crib while he is awake but sleepy and then leave. He or she will inevitably cry. So you leave the baby crying for 5 minutes before going back in. You do a quick console and tell him/her that you love them and then it’s back out. No holding or rocking allowed. Then you wait it out for 10 minutes. Repeat the visit process and then it’s out for 15 minutes. Guess what happened? After hearing him scream bloody murder (our poor neighbors) he was out cold by the time the 15 minute segment came around! Like magic.

Our luck ran out at 2am but luckily a quick bottle feed got him back to sleep then but at 3am he was back up and screaming. We did the Ferber method then again and it worked the same way in the 15 minute segment but he was back at the screaming by 5am. I didn’t have it in me to go through another 5,10 &15 so I gave up and brought him into the bed. My white flag was up and he won the battle. I know I’ll have to start all over again tonight in the crib and I’m dreading it. Only time will tell if he’s getting the concept of sleeping on his own. In the meantime, it will be worse than Chinese water torture to go through.

If there are any mothers out there that would like to share their baby sleep secrets I would love to hear them. I am willing to try anything!

In the meantime, I’ll keep you updated on the night time trials and tribulations as they unfold. Now that I’ve got one mommy blog post done I’m inspired to do many more. Maybe I’ll even start video blogging it? That would make my Internet-savvy hubby happy.

(On a side note: I have the most respect and admiration of single mothers. I don’t know how you do it!! You are my hero!! Now would be a good time to mention how wonderful my husband is and how amazing a father he has become. I couldn’t do this without you my prince)