When the lights go out...

I have heard of planned power outages before, and always thought it was a good idea that they're usually in the middle of the night. That was before Matthias!

It started when I woke up last night to pitch blackness. No clock, no light on in the hall, nothing. I felt disoriented, my north felt "west," etc. But Matthias was sleeping. I used to freak out if I woke up to pitch blackness, but thankfully that old anxiety has passed.

Then I heard the characteristic "uh, uh, uh" coming from his bassinet. "Shhhhh," I whispered (because that's about all I could say....I've been dealing with some laryngitis from the dusty harvest grain). Matthias persisted, until I opened the shade to let in some starlight and groped around to find him.  By now Mom had awakened and I had begun having difficulty attaching him to my "feeding apparatus" in the pitch darkness. Mom brought a welcome flashlight, and Matthias was able to eat.

He ate, and I took him out to rock in the living room so he could go to sleep. All of a sudden I heard a strange noise coming from him, and I was covered with spit up, along with Matthias' gown. Mom once again came to the rescue with a flashlight, and we got him changed.

Since he had spit up so much, I figured I'd better fill him up again. Matthias spit up again, but thankfully missed himself and me. I put him in his bassinet and settled in for a blissful early-morning sleep. Then I heard it. It wasn't a dry one, but a wet one. Moms, you know what I'm talking about. I wrestled with my conscience, thinking that it MAY have POSSIBLY been dry....but I supposed I should check. My hand met nasty wetness as I picked him up, and a flashlight to the bassinet confirmed my suspicions. Enter Mom with the flashlight, and we began changing him in the dark.

Unfortunately, Matthias had another out-of-diaper experience....and another. Mom held 2 flashlights and I attempted to wipe Matthias' entire back, up to his neck. But we ran out of wipes. (Did I mention the power was still out? No lights, no water, no wipes.) I used the meager amount of water from the spigot to wet a washcloth, threw the dirty changing pad on the floor, and continued to clean Little Guy. Then I stepped on the changing pad!! Mom and I erupted with laughter and got Matthias his third gown of the night.

It was 6 am by my timepiece when I finally got to bed. This was one of those evenings that I dreaded before I had children. How did it turn into something I would write gleefully about and laugh about in the morning? (although 6 a.m. used to be my "morning")

You're probably thinking that this blog should be renamed Adventures with Baby Poop or something. I find it quite apt a subject, considering little boys are generally amused by such matters, although I'm pretty sure it's not something I want to encourage. I guess I've got to get it out of my system now!