Jet Lag and the Jet is Winning
Maybe I wouldn't mind this jet lag so much if I hadn't been so conscientious about doing all I could to fight it. I stayed hydrated, stretched regularly on long flights, slept as many hours as I could get away with being a deadbeat parent, and even took the homeopathic tablet called, "No Jet Lag" on each take off, each landing, and every two hours in between.
Since being home, I've been sure to get outside with the girls to soak in some afternoon sun in hopes of reminding our bodies that we should stay awake in the light and sleep in the dark.
I know this is a transitory state and we will not be struggling like this in two weeks (though what if we ARE!!!!) And I'm pretty sure no one ever died from Jet Lag exhaustion.
The good news is that the girls are sleeping a long stretch of time. The bad news is that it from 4pm to midnight. No matter what I do, I can't seem to keep them awake for the entire day. Last night we had a new plan. After being outside playing in the water, the girls fell into a late nap. I decided to wait for Mark to come home and we would wake them, feed them, bathe them, and then do a real bedtime.
Well, we each took a girl to try and wake up. Guess what happened? We both fell asleep. At 9:30pm Mark woke me up and suggested we just carry them to bed. Considering we have to maneuver a staircase and two gates, one of which does not open, getting all of us up to bed felt like olympic level parenting. Mark only mentioned once that we might really be too old to take care of toddlers!
I was giddy that we all landed in our bed, side by side, like the dolls I used to leave sleeping at the end of the day. We didn't dare move too much or take up too much room. I think Mark only mentioned once that this sleeping arrangement was not working out very well. And I was actually thinking that any sleeping arrangement that included sleep was working out perfectly.
So there I lay, in my least favorite position, on my back, but glad to be there, since Delilah has to be sure I will not leave her if she sleeps, so she slept on top of me. "Hours later" I awoke and couldn't believe my good fortune. We had all spent the night in bed and obviously slept through and now we would be on a good schedule again.
I slipped out from under Delilah and tiptoed into the bathroom. Suddenly, I heard a sweet and sleepy voice call out, "Ma-Ma' ", so I dove back to the bed, hoping I would not have been missed enough to rouse her from sleep. I decided if it was nearing 6am, I would go ahead and get up since I felt fairly well rested. I craned my neck to catch a look at the clock without changing my position too much and I'm sure you can imagine my shock and despair when I saw that the numbers only registered 12:27am. I then looked down to see two large brown eyes smiling at me. After eight hours of sleep, Delilah was ready to play.
Oh, the agony of being up for the day at 12:27am.......with only 3 hours of sleep under my belt. How dark the hours! How loud the toys when the world is sleeping! Delilah had a breakfast of eggs and fruit, and we snuggled and watched TV. I kept the lights low and the activity lower, in hopes that she might decide it better to just go back to sleep.
I was not completely surprised to see Mark and Cami at the top of the stairs at a little past 3am. In China, this hour is 3 in the afternoon, a time we never slept, so for the moment we felt wide awake. We made oatmeal and I washed dishes and folded clothes.
And we made a new plan! Mark left to work this morning and Delilah fell into a deep sleep around 7am. I can't bring myself to wake her yet. Keep in mind that waking a child this age, who is in her "night" of sleep is not always pleasant or even possible. Our goal with Cami is to keep her awake all day!
Our bigger plan is to head to bed all together. Give the girls a bath and look at books in bed and then try to fall asleep all at the same time. If they wake in the middle of the night, we will all stay in the bedroom.....I've been trying to leave to allow Mark a chance to sleep since he is working, but that has left me very sleep deprived. We'll have some soft toys or books that can be brought into the bed if they are wide awake. Our hope is they will soon fall back asleep from boredom if nothing else. LOL! Plus, we'll all be dealing with it together so we will be on the same schedule, whatever it is.
For today, I have to keep telling myself that this will not last forever. I am so tired it's painful. If I have written something here that is understandable I have surpassed my expectations! I took a bunch of herbs and vitamins and chased them with water and coffee. Jet lag is evil and sneaky and mean. But it cannot beat us for much longer!
UPDATE: Delilah is awake and both girls are wearing leotards and jumping and fliipping all around me. I'm daydreaming of sights like the photos below! LOL!
Such brave souls.