In the middle of the night....

Or maybe this post title should be "While you were sleeping" followed by "and I was not!"  :-)

For the past four or five months, we've been struggling, and so has poor Weston.  He has gone from sleeping through the night just fine, to waking up anywhere from 3 to 8 times every night.  It has gradually got to be worse and worse, and harder and harder to get him back to sleep.  Over the course of the Fall, there were MANY nights that I got 3-5 hours of sleep, which meant that Weston was only getting 7 or so total hours of sleep too.  He goes to bed at 7pm exhausted, and then wakes up 2 1/2 hours or so after he falls asleep.  This cycle goes all night!  By morning, he looks hungover (well, as much as a two year old can) and I probably don't look much different.  By late afternoon, the poor little guy is beside himself with exhaustion, after taking only a 45 minute nap.  I continued on, thinking it was just a phase. 

I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor of his room by his door, waiting for him to fall asleep so that I could slip out of his room.  He seemed to fall back asleep faster if I did this, and it's better than laying beside him in his bed.  He's so disoriented when he wakes up, I think it was reassuring to have me there.  Anyway....  Everything happens for a reason, right?  When Wayne was first born, a wise woman told me that we don't wake up at night, or can't sleep at night, for no reason.  That that time was a gift from God to spend alone with Him.  I thought that was a WAY better perspective than mine at the time, which was "this baby's keeping me up and I can't sleep!" so I adopted it as my own.  Wyatt was up 2 times each night to feed his entire first year of life, and I used both feedings as an opportunity to pray and spend time with God.  I remember the feel of his cool, soft skin, and the quiet darkness that was all around.  Our house is never so quiet as in the middle of the night.  Over the past almost 5 years, I have discovered that I LOVE to pray.  I do.  It is a privilege, an honor.  Over these past few months, while the downside of Weston's sleep escapades has been some dark circles under my eyes, and some fuzzy afternoon thinking, the incredible upside has been all of the time it has allowed me to pray.  Prayers of praise, thanksgiving, and gratitude.  Prayers for protection and wisdom.  Prayer for all of our kids, and Tyler.  And me.  Prayers for some of you reading this.  It's been incredible, and I am grateful for those hours.

Those prayers for Weston also left me with a conviction - I needed to take Weston to the doctor to see if something was causing him to wake up, or I needed to start letting him cry it out in order to learn to sleep through the night for his own good.

With that, we began a series of doctor and specialist appointments, ending in an X-ray of his adenoid tissue.  All I know from the results is that there is a mild enlargement of the tissue, and that the doctor wants a follow up consultation and a hearing test done.  We'll know more on Monday!  Whether it's a medical issue, or a lesson Weston must learn, I know that God already knows the answer and what needs to be done.  I'm not anxious or nervous to hear what the doctor says on Monday, but I am ready.  Hopefully Weston is too!  :-)

Our precious night owl!