It’s funny- I’ve only been asked the question “why did you decide to become a teacher” once in my 14 year career (in addition to sleep consulting, I’m a special education teacher).
I remember it vividly- the date was March 25, 2016 and the time was just before 8:30 p.m. I was in the OR, on the table, prepped and ready to have an emergency C-section 4 weeks before my oldest daughter’s due date.
I was terrified.
We had just found out that morning that my baby was breached and I had lost all of my amniotic fluid, so they couldn’t give her time to flip and make it full term. It was Good Friday and everybody was off for the holiday, so my surgery kept being pushed back later and later in the day.
My mom and sister drove in from out of town and were frantically trying to UNPACK my entire house (we had just moved into our first house 5 days prior), my husband tried to work remotely, my mother-in-law sat in the hospital room with us worried about the baby the entire day, while my father-in-law started painting every room in our house.
It was pure chaos.
Back to the OR - I was on the table, shaking uncontrollably (from nerves, the anesthesia, or both) and my husband was trying his best to keep me calm. “California Love” came on over the OR speakers and we started laughing. The conversation went like this:
Me: “I can’t believe our baby is going to be born to a song they used to play at our 7th grade dances!”
Jon: “Wow, how did you remember it was 7th grade?”
Me: “I don’t know, probably because I liked my teacher?”
Jon: “Who was your teacher? Actually…WHY are you a teacher? We’ve never talked about this before!”
Me: (just laughter and then I felt lots of pressure in my abdomen…I’m not sure I even answered the question because Audriana was born shortly after)
In my life as a sleep consultant, I am asked ALL THE TIME why I chose this new career.
The short answer?
I want to help support other moms and make their days and nights just a little easier during some of the most difficult times of parenthood. The long answer? Here we go!
That C-section taught me one of my first lessons of motherhood- you do not always have control.
This was (still is) a hard lesson to learn as a Type A control-freak.
I couldn’t control Audriana’s birth, I couldn’t control her latch while breastfeeding, and I couldn’t control her sleep. Three huge blows to deal with as I was recovering from surgery while trying to care for a newborn and find where I packed my underwear.
It took me a long time, therapy, and medication to process and heal from the trauma surrounding her birth. I quickly chose to exclusively pump and switched to formula by the time she was 4 months old. But sleep?
Gosh what a long journey that was.
I read quite a few sleep training books and every night, stared bleary eyed at my phone at 3:00 a.m. reading every single baby sleep blog I could find, trying to crack the code on the mystery that was my child’s sleep.
I eventually chose to sleep train her around 6 months old but naps didn’t truly come together until around 11 months old. We hit several speed bumps along the way and honestly, her sleep gave me nothing but anxiety.
I was anxious if she would fall asleep and what time she would wake up or if I would have any night wakings, even though she was generally a pretty good sleeper. I was a freak about her wake times (one thing I could control) but they didn’t always work like the blogs said they should.
I didn’t have anyone to reassure me that I did the right thing for her. The books told me what to do, but were other moms really doing this?
Everyone I knew with a baby seemed to handle sleepless nights so well. I continued to be up most of the night panicking, even when my baby would sleep 10 hours straight. It was a nightmare.
Eventually, the depression and anxiety medication helped me get the rest I needed, but by the time Audriana was 2, we spent an entire year dealing with night wakings that were impossible to handle because I was pregnant, off my medication, and exhausted.
When my daughter Olivia came along, I had a game plan and a huge support system in place in order to make her newborn period easier to handle.
I quickly went back on medication when PPD/PPA started to rear its ugly head. My in-laws were always helping with the kids. My family frequently flew in from out of town. My husband took 4 weeks off from work. Motherhood helped me switch from Type A to Type A-Minus and I handled Olivia’s early months with a lot more ease and grace.
However, when the time came, the methods I used to sleep train Audriana did not work AT ALL with Olivia. I was at another loss, reading and Googling, but not really finding the answer to my specific sleep issues.
I’m a very lucky mama with a patient and steady husband, a very supportive extended family, access to affordable mental health resources, and determination to give my kids the best version of me (which still includes a daily dose of Lexapro).
So why was the first year after birth so challenging for me? What was I missing from my postpartum period with both of my kids?
This was the missing piece of my puzzle. Had I hired one, I would have been confident in my plan to address both of their sleep habits and I could have avoided many anxiously sleepless nights.
I needed an expert in the science of sleep, sleep habits, sleep schedules, and sleep hygiene.
I consider myself to be a smart woman and was determined to learn these things on my own (and save a few hundred bucks), but the investment would have been worth its weight in gold.
Plus, the personal one-on-one support of another experienced mom would have made all of the difference as I wearily struggled through those early months. It is my one regret- not hiring someone to teach me about my child’s sleep.
I love teaching…like really, really love it. And I love to sleep…like can’t go without it. In order to help support other moms, I’ve combined my two passions and become a sleep consultant! I now teach sleep!
I am on a mission to help other moms who are struggling with their little one’s sleep, no matter their age.
Personally, if I can get a solid 6-8 hours of sleep and a cup of coffee, I can handle the challenges and joys that come with day-to-day parenting, and I’m sure you feel the same way.
If you read all the way through and are thinking “gosh, I could have written this story myself” and want to find out more about how we can work together, let’s schedule a quick 15 minute phone call. I’d love to help you get more sleep!