A blessed night's sleep!

Well, it looks like we may have kicked this jet lag all in one night. “How?” you ask. Let me catch you up…

Last week was very hard. Very hard. Um, like postpartum-depression-wanted-to-claim-me hard.

There was so much crying from the babies because they were sick and suffering from jet lag. I made it my ambition to sleep when both of the babies were asleep at the same time and let the older three care for themselves during that time. It worked out fine—since Cherish is very responsible. However, living on naps for over a week was taking its toll.

I became sick with the same chest congestion as the boys, and suddenly, the jet lag, the dishes, the simple tasks became unbelievably hard.

At one point, I was so tired and sick that for several hours I felt like I was floating along in an out-of-body experience.

Derek had been working 16-hour shifts Thursday and Friday, and by Saturday, he could barely make it through his 8-hour shift. He came home and crashed, not feeling well either.

On Sunday morning my sister Jen messaged me saying she was coming for a quick visit—to babysit. I knew most of us were sick, so I turned down the offer. However, she decided to wear a mask and drive the 3+ hours roundtrip to our house anyway. She came and babysat while Derek and I napped for hours.

Upon waking up and eating, she left. About 40 minutes later, our social worker showed up for Daniel’s 1-year post-adoption meeting. Thankfully, Derek and I were coherent from our much-needed sleep!

We were so excited for such a great day, that we decided to go for a walk after our social worker left. We didn’t go far, but came home feeling sick and exhausted again.

We got the children bathed and into bed.

Samuel—true to his daily schedule—woke up at 2 a.m. on Monday. Derek got up with Samuel from 2-7 a.m. so I could sleep. What a blessing!!

Because of that sleep, I had the energy I needed to take the boys to the doctor’s office that afternoon. The doctor suspected possible pneumonia, so off to the children’s hospital we went for chest x-rays.

Derek and the children went to the hospital with the boys and me, since Samuel had come completely unglued at the doctor’s office from sheer fright. (Samuel—in his “fight or flight” mode—is just about as strong as me!)

Derek took Samuel and I took Daniel (and the other three children). While we were at the hospital, the lab tried, and tried, and tried to get Samuel’s blood work complete. Poor guy!!!!! He was a mess from all the struggles, pain, and stress from the day!!

By the time we left the hospital, it was 10:30 p.m. I gave the boys snacks in the car—since they did not have dinner—and by the time we arrived home, both boys were sound asleep.

They slept from about 10:45 p.m. until about 7:30 a.m.

No, we hadn’t planned such an adventure for the afternoon, evening, and night hours, but perhaps one blessing is that we all slept.through.the.night! Perhaps this will be the first of many nights of sleep yet to come!