Hey Busy Mama

As I am writing this, we are currently in the midst of the dreaded Fourth Leap. If you’re unfamiliar with this term, (though if you are a parent I’m highly certain you are), it follows the research of Dr. Hetty van de Rijt and Dr. Frans Plooij, (more on that here). My son was supposed to have been born on September 18th but, instead arrived earthside on September 28th by induction. Yeah, he wanted to “marinate” a little longer. Because the leaps are estimated based on due, (and not birth) date, we got to enjoy his leaps a bit sooner than expected.

For parents going through the thick of it, oh do I ever empathize with you. Leaps one through three were fairly challenging but, nothing compared to this fourth leap. Take the fussiness, clinginess, crying, and lack of sleep and multiply it ten-fold. Did I mention this leap is one of the longest leaps? Trust me when I say this – The Fourth Leap is brutal. Seasoned parents who have been through this fourth leap will tell parents to brace themselves and that it will eventually pass. I for one, cannot wait until that day. 16 days and counting…

I honestly believed that my little angel of a darling was going to face this leap with composure and grace. After all, he was a happy-go-lucky babe. If a pout or grimace happened to cross his cherub face, we were able to figure out what caused such a frown. When this leap reared its ugly head, there was no escaping it. Early bedtimes turned into late-night sleep strikes, screaming, or fussying for no apparent reason. There’s nothing like an infant screaming in your ears to make you question what you are doing with your life. The lack of sleep brought back memories of the not-so distant past when sleep deprivation was on the table. These days are wrought with tip-toeing around our barely sleeping son, using text messaging as the form of communication between, and turning on closed captioning to decipher what is being said on screen.

Our saving grace? The Merlin Suit. That and the Wonder Weeks App. If I could give praise to any tangible item we’ve purchased, it would be The Merlin Suit. We went from being woken up every thirty minutes to getting up to four hours of rest in between wakings. Trust me when I say this – four hours is a world of difference from half an hour when you’re a new parent. The Wonder Weeks App also helped us to know when to expect this dreaded leap along with the others and what to expect during this leap. Honestly, both products helped preserve what sanity we had left.

Mama, if you are currently going through this brutal time, just know that there are bright skies in the near future. So much is changing for both you and your little one. From the stories I’ve read from parents before, this leap is one of the hardest (and longest) but, also one of the most rewarding. Developmental milestones are right around the corner. When this is all said and done, your babe will have unlocked a new skill or two that you can be proud to show off.