Then on Wednesday night we had adventure #2. Keziah woke up at around midnight - a fairly normal time for her to wake up. I was exhausted but decided to try to get her back to sleep without feeding her. After an hour of her crying I broke down and tried to nurse her. But she wasn't interested at all and just kept crying. At this point I solicited Erik's help because I was starting to feel overwhelmed. Erik walked with her until she fell asleep and thought she was out for the night. She woke up again 20 minutes later. I tried to feed her again and she just wasn't going for it. She just didn't seem tired at all. She'd fall asleep momentarily and then as soon as I'd lay her down her eyes would pop open.
The three-hour mark came and went and by this time I was SUPER frustrated - this just wasn't like her at all. I had given her some tylenol cold before bed because she seemed sick and stuffy and I remembered reading on the bottle that you should contact your doctor if your baby is unable to sleep. Keziah wasn't crying out of control and didn't seem like she was in pain - she just wouldn't sleep. I wondered if the tylenol was having a reverse effect and acting as a stimulant. Erik agreed that it seemed to make sense so we called the 24-hour nurse line. The man we talked to asked a series of questions and one of them was whether she'd had a known head injury. Um... yeah, she fell off the couch two weeks ago! Now I'm thinking I'd either over-dosed my child or ignored a head injury for two weeks... He thought it would be wise for us to go into emerg to get it checked out. At this point Keziah is not really crying. She's her happy normal self - just WIDE awake at 4 am. Now, I generally err on the side of optimism - Ahh, she'll be fine! But, I would hate to stay home and then discover too late that there actually was a problem and I had ignored it. So, we debated back and forth and finally took her in (leaving Micah with Erik's parents). Keziah fell asleep on the car ride (of course!) and we sat in the parking lot for a few minutes wondering if it was worth it to go in. But we figured if we were there, we might as well. Thankfully there was not a single person in line - for the first time ever! We were seen quite quickly and, as I suspected, she checked out fine. The tylenol thing didn't appear to be an issue at all and the doctor said that head injuries in babies would show symptoms within the first 12 hours. He thought it might just be her cold keeping her up. So, we felt a little dumb that we went all the way to the hospital for a head cold but at least we had peace of mind. We got home as the sun was starting to rise and we were utterly exhausted. Just as we were drifting off to sleep in our bed Micah decided it was time to wake up. Oh, the joys of parenthood.
Yesterday Keziah was a little out of sorts - probably just exhausted like I was. But I tried to keep her on a routine as much as possible and get her to bed last night at a normal time. She actually had a really great night - woke up once to eat and another time just for her soother.
Micah has also been sleeping SO wonderfully since that one bad night at the beginning of the week. I've gleaned a few good ideas from some of the books I've been reading. It's working well to read him one story and sing him one song and then say good-night with the promise that I'll come back to check on him in a few minutes. More often than not he's asleep before I get back. So, that's wonderful. And the fact that he slept through Keziah's 4-hour marathon the other night is also amazing. Hmm, is it safe to say my 2-year-old is finally sleeping through the night?
7 comments:
Is it ever safe to say that???? And, yes, oh the joys of parenthood is right!!
YIKES! talk about a scary incident and a tiring incident!
but so glad to hear micah's been sleeping better - i hope that continues!
oh I so have experienced that kid running to the street moment!!! so scary and my mind just plays over and over what could have happened.
as for the sleeping thing, I think tylenol makes my kids wacko rather then sleepy so this may have been why she ended up being wide awake.
I was just noticing the pic with Micah and all the roll around balls. Don't you hate them on the laminate?? I find them under the couches collecting dust all the time.
My daughter Candace ran into the street last Saturday when I took her on the Easter egg hunt. I felt like I was in a dream. I yanked on her shirt and pulled her back. I hurt her in the process. That is scary to go through that and she is 4yrs. old. I bought this thing that goes around her wrist, and I hang onto the other end. I want to do what's best for her b/c everyone seems to drive way to fast here in Powell RIver. AHHH!! The joys of parenting is right.
Adventures indeed! Hope the sweet sleeping habits continue for you guys!
I have had way too many embarrasing trips to the ER lately. Just recently I saw the same Dr. two weeks in a row. And both times he sent me away with a knowing smile and assured me the boys were just fine. I hate that! I've heard that the nurse line pretty much always sends you to the ER.
Enjoy your sleeps!
Those 24-hour nurse lines are good and bad. I find every time I call they tell me to go to the emerg. When I called about my contractions they asked silly questions like "Is there any baby parts coming through your vagina or the cord?" I was asking about my contractions, not something coming out of me!
I'm glad Micah was safe. A year ago we had a scary situation with our nephew. His mom was at my in-laws and his dad fell asleep at their house. Jonah decided to go looking for his mom so he walked out of the house and onto the road. A friend of mine luckily picked him up on the hwy and told took him to my in-laws. The reality is we can't keep out eyes on kids 24/7.
Hope you get some rest tonight!
Post a Comment