When you get pregnant people like to laugh and tell you how you will never sleep again. You laugh back and think, "well I'm sure I can cope on a little less sleep. After all, I get up to go to work fine after a late night".
Hahahahahahahahaha
You soon realise that they actually mean it when they say you won't sleep. The first month is generally spent in a total fog as you occasionally grab a nap. (If it's your first child. If you already have a toddler, you're stuffed, mate). As they get older people like to ask about the sleeping. Now, either everyone else's child slept through fine from very early on :o( or they are all lying. I'd like to think it was the latter. Olivia woke every TWO hours until she was about 14 months old. she started sleeping longer and longer but was nearly two before she 'slept through' in the way that people mean.
So - you'd think i would be prepared for it all. But NO. By some incredibly cruel trick of nature I had forgotten how brain crushingly awful the sleep deprivation was. I spend most days in a fog and generally feeling guilty that I should be doing things but am TOO TIRED to do anything. Some days I can barely remember my own name.
Olivia has also decided that she doesn't want to go to sleep in the evenings so often is running about, in and out of her room. The other night Mr K was trying to get her back into bed...."It's not funny" says he in his best stern daddy voice. "It's a bit funny" says the eldest Knibblet giggling like a loon. Yes if you're two I suppose it is.
I have found the way to cope with this is to lower all expectations. I came to the realisation when Olivia was about 1ish that I will probably never have a decent night's sleep again. Once I accepted this it made it all the more easier as I stopped thinking this was the night I would sleep.
