Oh hey 2am... It's you again.

I used to love 2am, and while I'm at it, I might as well add 3, 4 and 5am too. I used to love staying out till then that is. These days it a totally different story.... 

Gone are the days of driving up the street to my house in a taxi with a few of my friends, to find my dad out the front hosing the garden (to be fair it was 7am and broad daylight). The bygone days of stumbling through the front door with besties in tow, to see my dad at the table enjoying his morning tea and a cuppa, as we scramble up the stairs with grubby feet, heels in hand (cause let's face it, they probably came off in the taxi rank) and smelling like a mixture of hairspray and Jim Beam. No, these days it's waking up at 2am (pick an hour between 1 and 7 really). 

My absolute favourite thing in life is sleep! I roll out of bed each morning, trying to ignore the physical pain that comes with waking up (it's seriously like a thousand knives), and I spend the rest of the day dreaming of my next fix. I would strongly consider cutting off my left boob if it meant I could have a full 8 hours! Yes, I am a sleep LOVER... Unfortunately, my children are not. You see, I am lucky enough to be the mother of two absolutely adorable, chubby, spirited little ladies, who love me and my cuddles more in the dark than they ever have during respectable daylight hours. The kind of kids that wake you at 2am to tell you that their sock fell off, the kind of kids that think 5am is a reasonable time to start the day. FYI- it's not.

These days our nights are like a game of musical beds. Our house is like a minefield of comfy places to lay your head... If only. A few beds, a couple of cots and a mattress here and there. The combinations are endless, and on any given night, I can find myself desperately searching for sleep in any one of them... Even the cot (I wish I were kidding). 

We fought hard against the sleep demons for a long long time with Abbie. We were so worried about all the rubbish 'rules', like 'Don't let your kid sleep with you, they'll never leave' or 'Don't let them fall asleep at the breast'. We dreaded the pitied looks when the inevitable question came along 'Is she sleeping though the night?'... No, no she's not. 17 months it took for that to happen for more than a few nights at a time. Just in time for me to be 7 months pregnant, and not sleeping anyways, because who really does when they have a tiny ninja growing in their belly? In fact now, at two years and three months old, she still doesn't most of the time. My guess is, we'd have a better chance at winning the lottery (remind me to buy a ticket tomorrow). 

Now with two darling bubs, we simply can't fight it. When Ellie was born, Nathan (bless him) scored the unenviable position of Abbie's nighttime parent. We took one kid each. I'm sure he'd have looked after Ellie, if it weren't for the lack of lactating lady parts. Now, we have had things a little easier this time round. We've had those amazing nights, you know, the ones where you wake up and realise that neither of you got up to a child that night. They're few and far between, but they have happened. However, we're 8 months into number two, and no sign of this 'sleeping through the night' business sticking around. I'm currently sitting up, doing the feed/cuddle/resettle for the first time tonight, and if it's anything like last night, I'll be meeting my littlest babe at least 4 more times before the sun is up. 

This time, we're all about the sleep, however and wherever that happens. Co-sleeping, you betcha... Bed sharing, almost on a nightly basis, and falling asleep whilst feeding? Almost every time... Why? Because by the time I'm finished dealing with the antics and various demands of a tiny red headed toddler, it's way past nap time, so asleep at the boob it is. All that other stuff though, we'll figure out later. No matter how crap the nights make you feel though, their sweet little smiles that bring on the 'heart exploding in your chest' kinda feeling, will get me through. That and coffee... Lots of coffee.