Dear Victoria,
If you ever hear us say that transitioning home was a breeze, you have my permission to call us liars!
When you become a mom, I'm pretty sure you'll hear what I heard: SLEEP WHEN YOUR BABY SLEEPS. That's probably the number one given advice to first time parents when it's time for the baby of the family to come home.
Well, I heard it. I heard it a million times. And I took it to heart. Once 9 pm hit and you were asleep, I'd hit the sack and snooze. Your dad on the other hand...
Listen to just how much he loves you!!!
While you were in the NICU, you had nurses watching you 24/7. We got used to hearing updates about how you did overnight - if you ate all your food, if you pooped, if you smiled at the nurses or made your adorable pouty face and cried, if you slept well, if you gained or lost weight. We knew every detail...thanks to your AMAZING nurses.
And just as the Preemie's book we're reading mentions, we had a difficult time letting go of the NICU. Your dad especially.
While you and I went to sleep, your dad pressed on. He would stay up to keep an eye on you, and kept himself awake by catching up on current events online or watching a movie on Netflix. BUT when he couldn't keep his eyes open to make sure you were breathing every second, he would come and wake me up and tell me it was my turn to watch you.
I was ready for some hands on action. A dirty diaper. A feeding. A Cooing Conversation. Playing peek-a-boo.
Nope.
You were sleeping.
It got to the point where both your dad and I were EXTREMELY sleep deprived. Everything and everyone became increasingly silent in our home as the days went by. We were afraid that if one of us said something, either one of us would erupt. We were honestly unraveling at the seams.
It wasn't until your dad broke the silence with "You know, I don't know how the nurses do it!" that we finally talked about how when YOU sleep, WE SLEEP!! Whoa! How did I not pick up on what he was thinking!?!?!
He really thought that we had to watch you sleep!! He loves you so much that he wanted to be sure he knew your every move. He wanted to know if your grunts were because you were waking up hungry or just getting comfortable.
Your daddy finally agreed to sleep...Sort of. The first couple nights of his agreement to sleep, he waited until I was asleep to set alarms on my phone to wake me up every three hours to check on you. HAHAHA! Like I said, he had trouble letting go. I had to have another conversation about how God really designed us to hear our baby's cry!!
Now that we are all getting enough sleep to call it REST, we are all so happy! You, Daddy, and I are the happiest people in the Gulf Coast!
We love you so much, Victoria!
Losing sleep for you,
Mom
