Friday, March 6, 2009

Stepping out of the comfort zone

Last night was a big night for us.

Firstly - I got out of the house and went downtown Vancouver to get my hair cut. And after my haircut I went to the pub down the street and met a girlfriend for a beer (ok, two). And where was Ruby? Why she was at home with her daddy! It was our first night trying such a feat and it actually worked out pretty darn well.

I expected to come home to a screaming baby, things burnt on the stove, dog pee on the floor and Steve dialing my mother's number asking what he should do.

But actually the only thing I could find to nit-pick about when I got home was that he had Ruby in a 6-9 month sleeper which was too long for her. Oh, and she was still awake and should have been in bed sleeping (10pm). Overall though, not bad at all.

For me it felt good to have a couple hours of freedom. To actually tote a purse and not a giant diaper bag, car seat, and breast pump. To sit in a loud pub and listen to live music and eat dry ribs, sip draft beer and talk to a girlfriend about her latest man toy. And my cell phone didn't ring once.

(Of course nothing comes for free. He's now "mentioned" that he'd like to go for drinks with some friends from work tonight. )

And then... I'm not sure if it was the courage bestowed upon me from drinking two glasses of beer, but I decided to try letting Ruby sleep in her own room, in her crib last night.

It wasn't easy, I had to fuss with Steve about it. He didn't want her in another room. As it turns out HE'S not ready for that yet either. So not only did I have to deal with my own Ruby-separation-anxiety but I had to deal with his as well (which made it way worse). Ruby, on the other hand? She was cool with it. She snoozed til 2am - which is around her usual feeding time anyways (although I did get up at 1am to check on her). Steve fed her then and I slept - but when I woke up, there was Ruby in her bassinet next to me. He couldn't stand to put her back in her crib. So when I got up to do the 5:30am feed/pump, I put her back in her crib again when we were done.

I woke up again at 8am to the sounds of her moving around and talking to herself in her crib. (Well actually I woke up at 7 when Steve was getting ready for work and woke me to ask if he should bring Ruby into our bed since he was up - answer, no!) She stayed there for another half an hour, awake and content. Of course I didn't sleep during this time because the kid is a jabber mouth and I still didn't want to shut the monitor off. It was also pretty cute and kinda funny to listen to her babble.

So all in all, I think it was relatively successful and I will probably try it again tonight - although this time I will ply Steve with some alcohol first so he is a little more carefree when it comes to putting Ruby in her own room and in turn, maybe I can maybe sleep a little better myself.

4 comments:

The_EmilyB said...

Whoo-hoo! Good for you. I think that as hard as it can be its WAY better all round to make this step as early as you can. I have girlfriends who never let their husbands take care of the kids alone early on so they just don't feel comfortable later on. I so don't think thats healthy for anyone!

Somewhat Ordinary said...

Glad you had fun! My husband had a harder time letting M stay in his own room. He was 5 months old when I finally put my foot down. Once he was in his own room, my husband was really quick to go get him at every noise. Now, at a year he is ready to throw the monitor in the trash, but I think that will stay at least until the second birthday!

Emily said...

Good for you! I'm glad the Man stepped up to the plate, and you were able to enjoy yourself.

Anonymous said...

Congrats both on your separate-room success and on a night out alone =)