Women almost always become light sleepers when they become mothers.  Our bodies (whether you gave birth to your children or not) just know that we must be alert every second of the day and that includes when we are asleep.  Our master is downstairs and all the kids are upstairs.  I have woken up to a cry from my oldest daughter in the middle of the night that I could barely hear, but somehow my ears never turn off.  So with that being said I rarely get a full uninterupted night of sleep, even if it's just waking up to the sound of coughing.  But, ever since the baby had her febrile seizure, I'm nearly wide awake at every last cough or cry, yet I"m also nervouse if I haven't heard her make a sound all night long.  I just can't win.  Or sleep.  

     Men, on the other hand do not get the same must-stay-alert-at-all-times instinct because somehow they know that the women will take care of everything.  My husband is no different, and he comes from a family of great man-sleepers.  The men in his family could happily sleep through a tornado going down the street.  And, I must say it's both a gift and a curse, but it certainly depends on whose perspective you are talking about.  My husband can get up at 7am, turn on the tv for the kids, give them some cereal and happily return to bed and fall back asleep for a couple hours.  I'm actually jealous.  If the baby coughs really loud at 5:45 or 6am, and it's light outside then I'm up and there's no chance of me falling back to sleep, much to my dismay.  Once my brain starts working, there's no chance of falling back to sleep even if I was up all night with a sick baby. 

So, the other day while I was lying there at 5am trying to convince myself to go back to sleep I started calculating.  I seem to always be tired (warning: having three kids may cause drowsiness), but the husband isn't as much.  Well, if the old ball and chain gets to sleep just one hour longer than me each day for a week, he is getting a minimum of 7 extra hours of sleep.  That equals ONE WHOLE NIGHT of sleep more than me!!!  NO WONDER I'm exhausted all the time!!!  And, it's not like recovering after not sleeping for a night in college because there is nothing particularly fun or unforgettable about changing poopy diapers, making oatmeal and monitoring early morning battles over who's turn it is to pick the TV show. 

     I am sure this phenomenon occurs in many households where there are married couples raising children, and this is why most Moms can relate to Tina Fey's ultimate fanasy in Date Night - sitting alone in silence in a hotel room for an evening.  This is also why it is mandatory to have ear plugs next to the bed in the event that you get to take a nap or just decide that it's time for your spouse to take night duty.  He'll wake up eventually, right?

     There are few moments greater than when you finally realize that your baby is actually sleeping through the night!!  What exactly does sleeping through the night mean, you ask??  If you are like me, you have scoured books and the internet trying to find out when a baby should 'sleep through the night', and you have discovered every answer you could possibly want. 
     When Punky was just 4 months old her Doctor said she should not be waking up in the middle of the night for a bottle, yet she was waking up once or twice, and was so hungry that I could actually hear her stomach growling.  Part of my solution for that was to start feeding her more solids, but I also realized that she was falling asleep around 6pm, so when she was waking up at 11pm or midnight, she was sleeping for 6 straight hours.  And, if you check any number of baby websites, they will tell you that sleeping 6 straight hours constitutes 'sleeping through the night'.  But, still, when Mom and Dad are going to sleep at 10pm or later, then waking up at midnight and then again at 5am to feed the baby, it seems the complete opposite of sleeping through the night. 
    And all that 'sleeping through the night' causes extreme exhaustion in parents which leads to lower patience with the other offspring, eyes lugging around dark bags and probably sporting some redness, and possibilities of hallucinations and/or general insanity.  It's probably a miracle that more of these sleep-deprived parents aren't accused of being addicted to drugs.  If you've been there or are there right now you know exactly what I'm talking about.  If you are heading in that direction, beware!
     Anyway, our little Punky is 8 months old and recently started to do what I consider 'sleeping through the night'.  When I say this I mean that she goes to bed around 6:30 or 7:30 (depending on how much she napped) and then does not wake up until 5:30am or later.  We had been struggling with her because it seemed like she was waking up and drinking a little, but she would go right back to sleep.  It was like something was wrong, but her diapers were clean, she wasn't sick or fussy.
     So one night Woody seemed to think she was cold and that was causing her to wake up.  It didn't seem like it since it's so warm where we live, but I gave it a shot since there was nothing else we could think of.  So, I went out the next day and bought a little fleece wearable blanket thing to put over her pajamas, and suddenly she was happy as a clam and not waking up during the night!!!  At first I thought it was just coincidence, but it has been 5 or 6 nights already and it has continued.  I've probably jinxed myself now that I've shared this publicly, but there's just nothing quite like the joy of a parent when she can finally get some uninterrupted sleep more than one night in a row, and without the aid of earplugs!! 
     And, it's funny how my two daughters are so different.  My little Viking Princess NEVER gets cold it seems, and now the baby needs to be practically smothered in sweat to be content.  I don't really care as long as I get a little beauty sleep.  Yep, that's right - beauty sleep.  There's nothing better for skin, fighting colds and just general health than good solid sleep.  And, we all know that no one (especially parents who also have jobs as teachers who deal with kids, kids and kids all day) is pleasant to be around when they are suffering from a case of the 'up all nights'!!