Sunday, April 13, 2008

Welcome to Hotel Insomnia

This weekend was, in short, a nightmare. But of course to have a nightmare you actually have to sleep - so perhaps I've misspoken...

Friday hubby, Cora and I went to a small town in Iowa where hubby's cousin was getting married. This in and of itself was a mess. At one point I had told hubby that Cora and I were not going to go since the wedding was planned to be outside... in northern Iowa.... in early April. The forecast was 34 degrees and sleet. I was not going to have Cora outside in that mess. I cancelled my day off from work, told our daycare provider Cora would in fact be there on Friday and didn't worry about packing or choosing outfits for anyone. The day before the wedding (Thur) however they changed the location to be inside. So, ok, we're back on - I go back to my boss to re-claim my day off, let the daycare provider know Cora would once again NOT be there Friday, and scramble to find something Cora and I could wear to a wedding.

Cora had been to one wedding when she was just over a month old. She got so overstimulated that the night was horrid. She would twitch while sleeping and would wake every 1-2 hours screaming. I should have learned my lesson, but unless there is an act of God or Congress, hubby's family would have had a royal fit if Cora hadn't come (regardless of what she would have to go through to be there). So off we went.

We got through the wedding just fine. Then the plan was that I would go back to the hotel with Cora and put her down while hubby got to enjoy the reception. Back at the hotel everything seemed to be ok. Cora went down after a bit of trouble, but nothing highly alarming. I read a book and waited for hubby to come back to the room around 10:30. At 10:30 I got a call that hubby and his cousins were going to take a limo to a town about an hour away to pick up hubby's little brother who was just flying into town (long story, no point). Suffice it say beverages had been flowing. I was torn between being a good, dutiful wife letting hubby go be with his family (even if it meant he wouldn't get back to the hotel until 1:30am) and knowing that I would not be able to sleep until he got back since I am terrified of sleeping in a hotel alone (another long story revolving around me working on the case when I was fresh out of law school of a serial murderer who preyed on women in hotels). I softly told hubby I would like him with me, but that I would let him make the decision. He did. He went in the limo. Pissed off wife.

Hubby got home just after 1:30 and I was already tired, upset and generally fit to be tied. Just as hubby was getting into the bed, Cora woke up. No big deal , I figured... give her her paci, maybe rock her a second and we'll be ok and can finally get some sleep. Hubby, knowing he was up *%&$ creek went to get her. That was the last time her head hit her mattress. She was up the remainder of the night. The whole night. If one of us would try and put her down, she would scream. If we stopped moving (walking, rocking, etc) she would scream. I tried and tried until 4:00am to coax her back to sleep every way I could think of to no avail. Finally at ten after four, hubby just took her and said he would walk the halls with her. (There is no "crying it out" in a hotel mind you) I got some sleep until 6:20 when he came back in with her, totally exhausted. He had been walking the hall or sitting in the lobby the whole time.

At that point I decided it was time to go home. Period, paragraph. No matter how rude it seemed, no matter how angry his family would be. Hubby had been up for 24 hours straight now, and I had gotten 2 hours sleep. We had a two-hour drive ahead of us, and a sleep deprived child. We were going home. And go we did.

Yesterday was like walking through a fog. We took turns watching Cora (who ironically seemed totally fine and quite happy) and sleeping. We went to bed for the night at 9:30 since - thank the Lord - Cora went down without a peep. Hopefully today will bring better things now that all of us are back in familiar surroundings and rested. And trust me, no more trips anytime soon!

5 comments:

Amy said...

OMG.....LMBO at the 'pissed off wife'comment! I would be too!! Reminded me of the first time I ever went to Indiana to meet any of Clay's relatives there....when his grandmom died. Chris was 1 1/2 or 2....we left at night & drove all night so he would sleep. (terrible idea!!) We kept having to trade off driving every couple of hours. Get there right around 9am to meet all these relatives I had never seen before in my life...tired & grumpy....I was NOT a happy camper that weekend! Know exactly how you felt! Some things just aren't worth it when they are that little!!!!

Amy said...

Sure hope that doesn't put a damper on your trip to VA this fall! That would be unforgivable!

FlippyHolz said...

Nahhh - we'll be there this year! Don't you worry about that!

Erik Ullestad said...

ah, the memories of weddings and hotels with a baby. i had a similar experience of pacing the halls with isaac a few years ago. the good news is - we lived to tell about it and we still (mostly) love each other. :-) try to get some sleep this week. we're looking forward to cora's baptism this weekend!

Anonymous said...

Well written article.