Baby Brain

Sleep deprivation leads to interesting side effects. David and I have developed hearing problems. I’ve realized that it does no good getting mad at him for saying “Huh?” every time I say something to him. Now we just repeat what we thought we heard.

David: “Huh? You need to grebber garble gooka?”
Jenni: “No! I need to grab the diaper bag!”

(I just made that up because I can’t remember what we’ve actually said, but it’s a lot like that.) Needless to say, our processing skills are a bit shot, just as our eyes are blood-shot.

I’ve done some silly things like using David’s toothbrush – oops! Gross! Sorry, honey. Just this morning I trimmed my bangs while they were wet and being pulled down. I cut, cleaned hair out of the the sink, and then was startled with horror when I looked up. Too short! Ugh! Guess I’ll have to hairspray them back since the clips won’t hold them anymore. My right thigh looks like I’ve spilled ink on it but really it’s just the bruise I got from hitting the high chair in our little apartment. Man! I can’t walk straight, think straight, hear right, or speak in coherent sentences.

Last week, when Kadie was crying at 2 or 3 in the morning, I must have been actively dreaming because I was telling David to do something but I wasn’t making any sense. After David asked me “What are you talking about?” He was like, “Stop talking and wake up!”

After I fed Kadie a little, I needed to eat because of low blood sugar. He told me, “Go eat. I’ll sing to her Kumbaya.” As I was cooking my rice and peanut butter I heard him start singing in a loud, delirious voice “Kumbaya………. (pause) Kumbaya.” He made it through a couple rounds of “Dut dut duhhhh….” which I picked out to be Heart and Soul, and 99 Bottles of Beer on the wall till she started wailing again.

Creative, honey. I have to give it to ya. I would never have thought to sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Though that does remind me of a couple drinking songs I may pass on to her that I picked up while on the ranch in Wyoming, and one I learned from my Grandma.

Another thing that is affected from sleep deprivation is my memory. My physical therapist said, “What? You’ve got baby brain?” She just had her second child and is probably worse off than me right now. There are more stories of forgetting things, I’m sure, but for the life of me, I can’t remember them.