Within Arm's Reach

My husband and I co-sleep with our seven-month old son. Co-sleeping definitely has its challenges, but it also has its gifts.  One morning at about 4:00 am, my son and I were lying in bed awake and waiting to drift back off to sleep.  He was cooing softly and although it was too dark to tell, I knew that he was looking at me.  His father must have heard us stirring, because he eventually got up and went to the bathroom.  From the light coming from under the bathroom door, I caught a glimpse of my son\'s face.  He smiled at me and gently touched my face.  And I just looked at him in wonder--that someone so young and so small could make me feel so loved.  And without uttering one word. 

 

One of the biggest challenges of parenting for me has been doing more with less sleep.  Not being a morning person, I never knew that I could feel so happy and peaceful at 4 in the morning.  I guess I realized at that moment that as a parent you'll probably never sleep the same, but you also will never wake up the same either.  And when the three of us are asleep -- Three Stooges-style -- me in my husband's arms and my son in mine, it feels like everything that I've ever wanted is just within arm's reach.