1.
Time for sleep we say.
A safe warm bed invites her.
Little arms resist.
2.
It's now past bedtime.
Still she is awake, alert.
Insistent, she wails.
3.
Is it this or that?
She just wants reassurance.
Carry her round, he thinks.
4.
Is it that or this?
She might still want sustenance.
Give her food, she thinks.
5.
Day and night, she wakes.
Panic rises. Knowledge fails.
No-one is sleeping.
6.
Her sister acts up.
Competing for attention.
Baby cries, she cries.
7.
We search for advice.
Friends, family, internet,
Books. Someone must know.
8.
Cry it out. No-cry.
Controlled cries. Pick up, put down.
No-one really knows.
9.
Feelings of failure.
Sleep deprivation tortures.
We start to shut down.
10.
Under-eye circles.
I - we - can’t go on like this.
Unhappiness creeps.
11.
I give up. What now?
Defeated by a baby.
This is rock bottom.
12.
Mary Poppins, help!
Supernanny. Anyone?
Someone other than me.
13.
Silent pleas don’t work.
Pick up the phone. Call for help.
Support, a plan. Hope.
14.
First, it takes two hours.
Pick up, put down, constantly.
Listening, always.
15.
A brief late night cry.
But she subsides by herself.
Straight on till morning.
16.
Two naps of two hours.
At night, half an hour’s help.
Could it be this easy?
17.
For the first week, yes.
Like us, she needs to catch up
On sleep, on brain growth.
18.
But soon the naps slide.
Is she going to regress?
Our nerves are shredded.
19.
Unmade and anxious.
Our new-found peace is fragile.
It is early days.
20.
Daytime sleeps are still
A game of chance between us.
We win some, lose some.
21.
But the nights, the nights!
Two weeks now of sleeping through.
We want to believe.
22.
More sleep is healing.
A cautious optimism
Grows. It revives us.
23.
The talking cure helps.
Restores equilibrium.
I can now exhale.
24.
I have to admit
It’s getting so much better,
Better all the time.
25.
We faced the challenge.
But know there are more to come.
This is parenthood.
26.
An online silence.
When writing has helped so much.
How do I write this?
27.
A childhood technique.
Then, the rugby world cup. Now, this.
Basho would be proud.
28.
These haiku ensue.
I must have one rhyme in my
Postcards from the edge.
