Leah’s baby, Liam, was born at 3:10 am. My mom and I stayed through Liam’s weigh-in and vaccinations, then left the happy new family a little before 4am. We were on a high from his birth so I didn’t worry about driving home at the late (or early) hour. As we made our way to the underground parking structure, we couldn’t stop talking about how perfect little Liam is. We got in the car, I turned the ignition, and *click, click, click*

My mom: “Stop joking around.”
Me: “I’m not joking!!” *click, click, click*
My mom: “Your battery is dead, oh nooooo!”
Me: *click, click, click* “I JUST WANT MY BED!”

We called roadside assistance, and they told us a truck would be to us in thirty minutes or less. I immediately started to feel tired. My mom warned me against falling asleep, so I started digging around in my backpack for the snacks I’d packed for the kids (they’d come with me to the hospital, then Mike picked them up after work and took them home). I found some apple sauce squeeze packs…man, those things are good, no wonder my kids love them. But I ate them in about ten seconds and immediately felt tired again.

After I texted for a bit with my cousin on the East Coast and played about 200 rounds of Candy Crush, my mom said, “The truck should be here any second, I’m going to walk up the ramp and look.” I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea, but her mind was made up. It was then I realized that while she was gone, I could sleep. Although, I don’t really remember arranging myself in this position. It’s possible I just fell forward.

so tired

My mom eventually came back (or maybe she was only gone for 30 seconds, I don’t know because zzzzz) and said, “I can’t believe the tow company isn’t here yet! It’s been 45 minutes and they said 30 minutes or less!”

Me: “You should call them and complain. Let me know when they’re here.” *Head back on steering wheel.*
Mom: “You need to talk to them, that will wake you up.”

The roadside assistance company wasn’t pleased to discover their truck hadn’t been by yet, and promised someone would be there within 10 minutes. Except…no one arrived until 5:15. I honestly feared for the safety of the truck driver because my mom was LIVID. While the driver jumped my car, I ran around in circles and did jumping jacks. Luckily the car started right back up, and our drive home was uneventful.

I collapsed into my bed at 6:05…only to be woken up 40 minutes later by Annabel, who wanted to see pictures of her new cousin. I helped her get ready for school, then sat down on a kitchen stool. I realized Mike was talking to me about 30 seconds into the conversation.

Mike: “…Maybe I’d better work from home this morning. I think you need to sleep.”
Me: “Yeah, good is sleep.”

The all-nighter was obviously worth it, but I was messed up for days. It really confirmed that my wild and crazy days are behind me, not to mention newborn-related sleepless nights!