Monday, September 23, 2013

Kate Miller 45: Freezer Meals

Chicken scraps, bean cans, and dirty dishes...this late in the game, it's time to call for backup. 

45. Freezer Meals (August, 2013)
            In preparation for her son’s arrival, Kate thought it would be a good idea to make a Costco run with Aunt, and make up a batch of freezer meals to be used over the coming two or three months. Kate had not done much exploring in the realm of social media—Facebook and a blog being her two small efforts. But she had recently signed up for a Pintrest account and found it fascinatingly helpful. She had already found many knitting and crochet patterns, and now she surfed the pins again to find suggestions for freezer meals. It was easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of boards, each full of pins, and each pin with several meal suggestions. But she sorted through them and saved ten to her own board. Then she systematically went through the posts and wrote comments below them for the meals that she wanted to try. This is ALREADY time consuming, she thought, after spending an hour and a half looking at things online, and I haven’t even gone shopping yet!
            But shopping she did go, and driving home, Aunt said that she could feel all the extra weight in the car. Kate looked regretfully at the number she had written in her checkbook, but felt a warming sense of satisfaction looking at the fifty pounds of meat on her counter. They would do for a lot of meals. The first day, Kate managed to get eight meals in the freezer—two cooked and the rest for the crock pot. She checked them off her list with relish. A couple days later, she managed another four, again, two of them already cooked. She checked them off, but looked with dismay at all the other meals she had on her list.
            Let’s face it. Kate thought to herself, I’m slowing down. I’m tired. I can’t even take a step without my leg hurting (blast that silly nerve). How am I going to lean over the sink and clean another 20 lbs of chicken thighs? Besides, I’ve never made any of these meals before. What if they’re terrible? All the wasted time…Ugh…
            At this opportune moment, Mister appeared behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back, letting his strength seep into her, and nuzzled her cheek against his.
            “Do you know how amazing you are?” Mister asked her.
            “No, how amazing am I?” a smile cracking her strained expression. Has it been that long since I’ve smiled? Kate grimaced inwardly.
            “You’re carrying our baby around and cooking a month’s worth of meals in a few days.”
            Kate liked hearing his encouragement, but she couldn’t help but let her own worries out. She released herself from his hold and hobbled over to the refrigerator, “Look,” she demanded, pointing to many pounds of chicken, pork, cheese, and vegetables yet to be arranged into meals, “There’s too much left.” She sighed and leaned against Mister once again, feeling defeated. “I’m too tired, and there’s too much to do.”
            The next day, Mister entered the kitchen with Kate and stood at the sink for what must have been the greater part of an hour, cleaning and processing the rest of the chicken thighs. Kate made up another seven meals. She knew she couldn’t have done half as much on her own. And here he was, her ‘knight in shining armor’ slaying the most odious dragon of a task with the skillful thrust of the sword…or knife, really.
            A few more meals over the next couple days, and their small chest freezer was well stocked. Kate liked to open the shiny white lid and peer over the edge to see rows of colorful gallon bags and aluminum pans and long white packages of fish filets.
            One night during their frenzied week of cooking, Kate lay next to Mister, feeling overwhelmed with love as she realized once again how carefully and well he cared for her.
            “Do you know how much I love you?” She whispered in his ear.
            “How much?” he asked.
            Kate hadn’t thought this far ahead. She tried to think of something to say. ‘A lot’ was absolutely not going to cut it. ‘More than you can imagine’ was just patronizing. She thought and thought was at a complete loss.
            “I…I don’t know,” she finally stammered.
            Mister stared at her in disbelief. Then he started to laugh, and Kate began to giggle uncontrollably. “I don’t know!” she chortled, “That’s why I’m asking you!” 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Kate Miller 44: Last Trip to Williamsburg

Only just back from Alaska and they're off again. Who wants to stay by themselves for a week, especially being 36 weeks pregnant? 

44. Last Trip to Williamsburg (July/Aug, 2013)
            July 29 – I’m in Williamsburg again while Mister is at another conference in Philadelphia. I miss him…Kate wrote in her journal as she sat in the Mortte’s guest room. It was a lovely room, blue themed, cozy, with unique German drawings and antique furniture. Kate and Mister had been home from Alaska for two days before Mister went off for another week to a conference at Bren Mawr. Kate spent a dreary night alone in their townhome, and then drove to Williamsburg on Sunday afternoon after a delightful Thai lunch with her Vietnamese friend, Hannah. It was essential to be with other people. If she must sleep by herself, at least this cozy room at the Mortte’s made Mister’s absence less obvious.
            And each day was busy. Kate had plans: morning with Jennifer Mortte (the Mortte’s son and daughter-in-law had both attended Hillsdale with Kate and Mister), afternoon with Mrs. Mortte, a nap (probably), and evening games with Jennifer and her husband. She would be in Williamsburg for 4 nights, and each day was full up with fun visiting and necessary resting.
Kate looked down at her belly, now huge and tight against the T-shirt she favored for her pajamas. It bulged on one side, then bounced and jiggled and bulged on the other side. Kate laughed, making it shake and bounce even more. She wrote, Baby is moving a LOT these days, and I actually really enjoy feeling it—much more, now that it’s obviously the baby and nothing else! It’s such a fun unique feeling. I wish I could share it more easily.
            The next day, Kate met Jennifer and her two daughters at the James River, just a minute or two down the street from their house. It was warm and sunny, and the water was cool, a perfect day to swim—at least for someone who was nearly nine months pregnant! Her general feeling for the last couple months was cast as “in favor” of cold water dunking. She rarely got to indulge herself and had to restrain herself from instantly splashing into the water the moment they arrived. They picnicked on the sand and Kate took the two-year-old Eva into the water while Jennifer watched her baby play in the sand.
            “Let’s play crocodiles!” Kate suggested.
            Eva’s eyes grew wide, and she grinned. “You’re the daddy crocodile and I can be the mommy crocodile!” Yes. Very important to establish that.
            “Okay. Do you know what crocodiles do?”
            “What?” Eva whispered, not sure if she wanted to find out,
            Kate grinned, “They roar and show all their teeth when their hungry! And I’m hungry…” Kate showed her teeth and gave an intimidating roar and thrashed about in the water.
            Eva roared and showed her teeth. They both roared at each other. Then, naturally, they settled on a location for their crocodile house, taking special care with the kitchen and the bedrooms, roaring all the while and ignoring the obvious suggestion that such hungry crocodiles would probably have found something to eat in their kitchen.
            It was such fun, but when Kate got home, she hastily drank some water, dried off, and went to bed. Her last thought as she drifted off was, I’m sooo tired. How on earth am I going to care for a baby? But when she woke, she felt refreshed and remembered (with some measure of relief) what so many people had told her: “By the time you have a two-year-old, you’ll have two years of experience...they start out much easier.”
            Kate returned home Thursday night, spending one more night alone before Mister’s return on Friday. She called Mrs. Mortte when she arrived, and duly reassured her that she hadn’t gone into labor on the drive. “Thanks again,” she said sincerely, “it’s so wonderful having you close by. It’s a real home away from home, and especially nice for me when Mister is gone.”
            “Anytime! We love having you!” Mrs. Mortte replied with enthusiasm. “And we can’t wait to meet Baby Mueller—let us know when we can come up and see you after he’s born!”
            After they hung up, this last comment haunted Kate for some time. After he’s born...! I’m sure he’ll have to be born sometime. But for the life of me, I feel as though I’ve always been pregnant and I always will be! 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Kate Miller 43: Mister's Dream (A Guest Post)

It wasn't the first dream he'd had about their baby, but this one seemed so real! 

43. Mister’s Dream (Guest Post, July 2013)
They had just returned from Alaska and Mister was still getting over his jet lag. After going to bed at 11PM he had slept until after noon the next day. It was during this well-earned rest that Mister had his dream.
The beginning of the dream was unimportant and irrelevant Mister thought. After all, who really cares if he had a confused video chat with a friend in Michigan who showed him footage of a lightning storm so violent that it looked more like a battlefield? No, the interesting part of the dream was about Kate and Mister’s baby. The setting of the dream was a house, not any house in particular, in Colorado.
He had just come inside when he heard the baby crying (screaming really), and he ran, worried, into the room to take care of the child (thinking that his time to change a diaper for the first time had finally come). But when he entered the room, he found her standing there with a red face and red eyes. Being a dream, it did not strike mister as odd that the child was a girl, or that she was standing, even though she was less than two weeks old. But so she was.
As he went to pick her up she said clearly, “Hot! No, Thank You!” Now, this did stun Mister. His daughter had said her first words! And she was less than a month old! Amazing! Well, luckily Mister’s hands were cold (a surprising boon that Kate often appreciated) and he was able to sooth and calm the child as he picked her up. He gently danced with her to and took her into the main room.
Jubilant and proud of his daughter, Mister exclaimed to the first person he encountered, “She said her first words, plural! Can you believe it?” The fellow did not, in fact, believe it. So Mister asked his daughter to say those words again and, in typical baby rebellion, she just stared at him. But Mister was not deterred, being fully confident in what he had heard. So he started putting her on the floor, a place she most decidedly did not want to be. At first she started fussing but then she said, somewhat intelligibly “No.” “There you see?!” said Mister, “She said ‘no’! And before, she clearly said four different words! I was prepared for her not to speak for a year or even longer; but here she is a couple weeks old, standing and speaking multiple words!” His friend didn’t deny that he had heard something.
Mister, at this point, was ecstatic—not just about the fact that his daughter was talking, but that she was intelligent and could understand him. The combined relief from not having to change her diaper and the pure joy of being able to calm the child and carry her in his arms, he wondered if it was real. “Am I dreaming?” he asked rhetorically. He turned to his mother-in-law, Laurie, but she just smiled, shook her head, and faintly said “No.”
At that, Mister turned and walked to the windows with his daughter to show her what mountains were. His girl was talking and showing other signs of awareness. And she hadn’t actually been due to be born for a week and a half. Wait, he thought, this means that I can go to Glenn’s wedding without any worries. In fact, Kate and the baby could have gone with me too if we had known she was going to be born so early and develop so quickly. But then he caught Laurie’s voice drifting out of the kitchen, “I didn’t have the heart to tell him...” To tell him what?
The unreality of his surroundings and circumstances began to dawn on him. He turned to Laurie and said, “I am dreaming aren’t I?” Laurie reluctantly assented, “Yes, you are definitely dreaming.” The pieces started fitting together. Who ever heard of a two-week old baby talking? Not to mention a two week old baby who was still a week and a half from her due date! And wait a second, why was it a girl?! The sonogram had clearly shown that they were going to have a boy! Oh well, thought Mister good-naturedly, it is a dream after all. But what a wonderful dream! I don’t feel the same ecstasy as before, but I still feel joy at holding a child in my arms and knowing that soon I will hold another child in my arms in reality; even if he won’t be speaking to me any time soon.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Kate Miller 42: The Baby "Reception"

Parental advice No. 1: Don't let them eat it if it is moving! (from Mrs. T, hostess of the "Baby Reception") 

42. The Baby “Reception” (July 2013)
            Almost a week after their arrival Kate and Mister went to the Wills’ church—the same church where they had married not quite four years previously. Even though it had been almost ten years since Kate had lived at home and attended regularly, many families still knew her well and were delighted to see her and Mister when they walked in the door. There were all the usual exclamations and questions relating to pregnancy, health, comfort, etc…and then the inevitable exclamation: “You have to have a baby shower while you’re here!”
            “I do?” Kate replied, not averse to the suggestion, but taken aback by the force of it.
            “Well, yes! Think of all the people that want to be able to celebrate with you!”
            Kate thought of them. It could be fun. But it was, by no means, essential to life and happiness and pregnancy. One thing was certain, she was not going to put any effort into planning such an event or asking her mother (who was not too keen on parties or mass gatherings of any sort) to do so for her.
            The next day, Kate discovered her mother on the phone.
            “I don’t understand what the issue is…” she was saying. “…So why would it have to be a church baby shower?... No, we’re not going to plan an open house at the church!”
            Kate had to laugh. An open house at church was a far cry from an intimate party at someone’s house. Not only would she not plan one, she wasn’t sure she would want to commit even if someone else did! When Laurie got off the phone, she sighed and turned to Kate.
            “Apparently,” she said, “you can’t have a baby shower.”
            “What does that mean?” Kate said, confused.
            “Well, I guess they don’t want to set a precedent for church-organized baby showers for old members or relatives of members…trying to avoid hurt feelings, I guess.”
            “Someone will get hurt feelings if someone throws me a baby shower?” Kate asked.
            “I don’t know,” Laurie shook her head. “I guess they just have this policy…”
            “Well, don’t worry about it. If it’s an issue, then I don’t want anything. And I certainly don’t want to start a fuss or hurt anyone’s feelings—however strange the cause might be.”
            But the subject of baby showers would not die easily. A couple days later, when Kate was walking with Mrs. T, they talked the subject over. Mrs. T, with her eminently practical mind, bombarded Kate with a series of questions.
            “Now,” she said, “the question is: would you like any kind of party?”
            “Well, sure,” Kate replied, “but…”
            “No buts,” she interrupted, “it’s a straightforward question. Now, what kind of party?”
            Kate had to think about this. It was true that she didn’t want the standard baby shower fare. But what did she want? “Well,” she said at last, “I think I would just like some time with the ladies that know me well, have some snacks, and sit around hearing their stories—the funny ones and the inspiring ones and learn about their early parenting experiences.”
            “Okay!” Mrs. T said with enthusiasm. “That’s something to work with! We’ll do it! We’ll have it at my house. Let’s pick a date.” And with an imperial wave of her arm, Mrs. T swept away semantics and church politics and potential hurt feelings, and created, Kate felt with almost physical forcefulness, a Baby Reception for Kate Miller.
            The reception was a fabulous success. Not a lot of people, but just the right amount, in Kate’s estimation. They were all able to fit in a circle in Mrs. T’s living room, and there was certainly no shortage of interesting stories and advice. One lady told how she and her husband were building their house when they had their daughter, and she spent the first four (or was it six?) years without running water. Kate listened, mesmerized. They all took turns telling wild, improbable tales, laughing after-the-fact at hair-raising adventures, and advising Kate, not to avoid collecting her own series of stories, but to not worry in the midst of them.
            “God is the one who keeps them safe;” one mother said, “it’s a mysterious thing how he gives us such responsibility, and no real power. But we trust in Him, and He strengthens us.”
            All the mothers nodded. 
            Kate felt this deep truth even in pregnancy. These mothers were true pioneers. They struck out on the adventure, humbly and joyfully, with a great task ahead of them and nothing but trust and hope to lead them on. And Kate would join them. But, she wondered, would she be able to do it joyfully? 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Kate Miller 41: Practice Contractions

Never pay attention when someone says you'll "just know" when something happens...

41. Practice Contractions (July 2013)
on top of the ridge
            Over the three (plus) weeks that Kate and Mister were in Alaska, they went on several hikes, and Kate got all the pregnant pictures she could want in her natural habitat. The hike at Hatcher Pass was one of her favorites. For one, she was able to go even farther than she had gone a couple years ago on the same hike. They reached the peak of the ridge, the highest point, not a huge point, but they were able to look down all around them. It was cold though, and rainy, with a fierce wind blowing at the top. Kate was wearing shorts and a tank top, and the wind chill probably put the temperature under forty degrees! Kate grinned as Mister put on her sweatshirt. “Handy that I have this extra little heater to keep me warm!” she patted her tummy.
            And even though she did feel cold on the way down, with the wind blowing and the cold misty rain clinging to her skin and clothes; it was a beautiful hike. It was just the right sort, where she could climb and work, and feel like she was conquering the mountain. To stand at the top, surveying the vast wilderness beyond the first peak and on to the next and the next, feeling so big and so small at the same time—that is what Kate had wanted. So big and so small, she wrote in her journal later, just like how a baby can feel so big, taking up all that room inside me, and yet he’s so small that he fits inside me! It all depends on your point of view…
Resurrection Bay, Seward
            After Hatcher Pass, Mister took Kate up the Mile-Hi saddle, partway up Mt. Marathon in Seward, for a long walk along Eklutna Lake, and up the diminutive but steep Mt. Baldy. Baldy was the last, and it was difficult because Kate had climbed it many times and was only too aware of her increasing awkwardness and decreasing speed. Occasionally, she would pause and feel her side or the front of her belly.
On the Mile-Hi trail
            “I think he wants to go hiking too,” she declared to Mister. “He’s pushing awfully hard!”
            At the top (as she had many times along the way), she rested for a bit, giving her aching calves a break and catching her breath. She and Mister decided to take a slightly longer but less steep route back down the side of the mountain. Kate tried to walk quickly, sometimes trotting, holding her hands under her belly to keep it from bouncing too much. At the steep parts, she clung to Mister’s hand as if it was a third leg to balance on, and they would trot down together, sometimes sliding, to the next level area where they could rest and Mister would dump surprising bursts of cold water over Kate’s head.
            After a long walk back to the car (Mister having gone ahead to pull it up to the trailhead), Kate collapsed into her seat and gratefully downed half the remaining water bottle. She gingerly lifted her aching feet. “I think that’s my last hike,” she said regretfully. “But it was a good one,” she grinned. “I’m glad we did it.”
At Eklutna Lake
            “It certainly was the perfect day to do it,” Mister agreed, “We could see clear to Mt. McKinley and beyond. Those mountains behind The Sleeping Lady are really amazing.”
            Kate nodded, but said only, “Oof. He’s really pushing a lot.”
            Mister felt her belly. “Wow. That definitely feels really hard…what do you think that is?”
            “I don’t know. Maybe a leg, or his bottom?”
            Back at the house, Mrs. Laurie Wills, listened to their adventure and shooed them off to the bathroom to get cleaned up. When Kate returned she sat next to her mother and said, “Here, feel this. Feel him pushing?”
            Mrs. Wills felt around, a delighted smile growing across her face. “I can finally feel him! Hurray!” Then she paused and felt around a little more. “Are you sure that’s just him pushing?”
            “I think so,” Kate replied, “What else would it be?”
            “I think it’s a practice contraction. You know, when it’s hard all over like that.”
            “Seriously? Why did no one ever explain that? People are always asking me if I’m having practice contractions, and I always say no… but that’s been happening for a while!” 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Kate Miller 40: The First Hike

How could they forget the camera?! What if this was Kate's only opportunity for mountain pictures? 

40. The First Hike (July, 2013)
            It took some serious effort, but Kate managed to tie her own shoes. Mister had been decisive. They were going hiking. They were going somewhere new. And they were going today. This was what Kate had wanted—one of her main goals for their stay in Alaska! Why then, was she feeling so nervous about it? Perhaps it was the fact that standing up from a sitting position often caused severe pain. Perhaps it was the awkwardness of general movement—displayed all too obviously by her difficulty getting her hiking shoes on. Perhaps it was the suspicion that she would desperately have to use the bathroom five minutes after they passed the last outhouse. (As it turned out, she did—which made tying her shoes look as easy as spitting.) But she shoved her fears aside and strode (waddled?) out to the car. After all, this is what she had wanted!
            The drive out to the trailhead was uneventful, and it turned out that they had many options for trails. It was a whole connected system of trails between several different mountains. Some skirted the sides, some plunged into the valleys and followed the river, and others climbed to the peaks. Too bad it was difficult to tell which were which… They decided to just start up and see what the trails looked like as they came to them.
            “We should get out the camera!” Kate said, eager to document this new hike.
            “I don’t think we have it.” Mister replied.
            Kate stopped and stared at him. “How can we not have the camera?” Her voice went up almost to a whine. “I looked around for it and didn’t see it. I thought you must have grabbed it.”
            Mister shook his head, only slightly moved by his wife’s violent reaction. Kate turned and walked next to him in silence toward the trailhead.
“I can’t believe we didn’t bring the camera!” she muttered with slight variation every few minutes as they started up the trail.
She looked straight ahead of her, biting back tears that she couldn’t explain. But she was undeniably in ‘the depths of despair’, as Anne of Green Gables would put it. When she really pressed herself, she didn’t just want to go hiking. She wanted to get out on top. She wanted to document it. She wanted to have pictures on top of a mountain looking her full seven months pregnant. Pride, she sighed deeply as she stalked along. I might have known it would be something horrible and ridiculous. She pressed her lips together to hold back more tears, but of a different sort.  
            Mister looked at her cautiously. “Does that ruin the entire hike?”
            Kate smiled and took his hand. “No. Of course not. It’s just a disappointed expectation. I’m still glad to be here, and I will still enjoy it. I’m sorry for making such a fuss.”
As it turned out, the hike was not worth bringing a camera. Kate and Mister never made it to the top. The views, while lovely, were not spectacular. It was just a nice climb up and down in the mountains, with lots of conversation beginning, “next time, we’ll…” It was a good first hike though, not being particularly steep or muddy, and it was a good amount of exercise, and (most importantly of all) it proved to Kate that she really could get out and go hiking. Until this point, in spite of all her desire to hike, she hadn’t been convinced of her ability. This, she realized, was another reason why she had been so distraught at leaving the camera behind.
            She was slow, yes. And often out of breath. And sometimes needed extra help going down when it was difficult to see the steepness of the rocks around her large belly. But the capability and stamina was definitely there. She expressed her relief to Mister back at the car.
            “I really thought this might be the only hike I got to do; that we’d get back and I’d be totally incapacitated, and wouldn’t be able to climb anything. But I actually feel pretty good!”
            Mister just smiled. “No, you did great. How about going to Hatcher Pass tomorrow?"
            Kate gulped, but nodded, “And let’s be sure to get the camera, shall we?” 

Monday, September 2, 2013

Kate Miller 39: The Sleep Experiment

It may sound crazy, but when you're not sleeping much anyway...why not experiment? 

39. The Sleep Experiment
            Kate had always been a terrible sleeper. Growing up, she would surreptitiously stash books under her covers to read late into the night during the brightness of the Alaskan summers. She remembered lying awake during her high school years for what seemed like hours in the dark, thinking and wondering why she wasn’t asleep. Even in college, when she got less sleep and was more tired every night, just falling asleep was a chore on par with cleaning the bathroom. And now that she was seven months pregnant and rather rotund, achy, and stiff, her sleeping issues were compounded…often waking up at 5 or earlier, after at best, a few fitful hours of sleep!
            This is how Mister convinced her to try a sleep experiment. Poly-phasic sleeping, it was called. Mister had done it for a time in college—thus earning much curiosity, censure, and ultimately lasting fame among some circles. The premise is that the body needs a certain amount of REM sleep to operate properly, so if you can train your body to enter REM sleep instantly, then you only really need 2-3 hours of sleep per every 24 hours, versus the normal 7-9 hours. These 2-3 hours are spread out through the 24 hours as 20-30 minute naps taken every four hours. Kate and Mister had decided to try it together while they were in Alaska, considering that a) they would have few commitments to hinder their 4 hour schedule limits, b) it would be light out at night to help with the general inclination to sleep with the darkness, and c) it would very likely help train Kate’s body to fall asleep more easily—something she might retain even after they were done with the experiment.
            The night before they were to leave for Alaska, they stayed up all night—very convenient because they would be gone for three and a half weeks, and Kate had done next to nothing in preparation. So except for their few 20-30 minute naps, Kate and Mister packed and cleaned and picked up the house, and took a walk around 3AM down the middle of the road. When a car approached and zoomed by, Kate had to laugh at how absurd they must have looked to the driver…taking a stroll in the middle of the night. But she also had to admit that it was pleasant; cool and quiet, a stark contrast to the daily “rat race” running around them.
            The second night was more difficult, since they were traveling to Alaska, also staying up all night. And Kate had especial difficulty with those several naps being in too many noisy, public places—one in the airport, one on the plane, and another in the car. For each, she barely dozed. And even so, when they reached the Wills’ house, she was full awake, smelling the fresh Alaskan air, wanting to run through her parents’ house, investigating and saying hello to each, dear, familiar room.
            Over the next few days, Kate enjoyed being awake more hours of the day. Maybe for the first time in her life, she was up when her dad was getting ready to go to work and going for walks or early morning grocery runs with her mother. She started falling asleep more readily, but even so, she didn’t feel like she was getting onto the schedule the way she was supposed to. Mister could fall asleep instantly and wake up feeling refreshed. For Kate, it still took her several minutes to fall asleep, and rousing her was difficult. Every time he woke her, Mister looked as sorrowful as if he had just been forced to kill a bunny.

            So the sleep experiment, which they had been hoping to continue through their long stay in Alaska, died a natural death after the first five days (feeling much longer because of the amount of wakeful time). The midnight walks were fun—delightful even. The extra time together, reading and watching their online labor and delivery class was certainly useful. But Laurie and Dave Wills had moved an incredible memory foam bed into their guest room, and Kate couldn’t help but feel that, in light of her usual sleeping troubles, if she could actually enjoy sleeping all night long, it would surely be an experience worth having…and it was!