Sleep-a-holic baby

Disclaimer: Author of this blog has not slept for more than 2 hours at a stretch for ??? I am going through a serious case of insomnia.
On the other hand. Oh wait, if you have or have had a baby who refuses to sleep. STOP READING NOW. You will hate me. I swear.
My youngest child,Five was born a non sleeper. She was one of those babies who cried all the time, even while she was being held. No kidding. A real pain in the keister. And talk about no sleep. I swear she woke up every hour. (there will be much swearing, I am sure). The first few weeks of her life, I would lay in bed and think “what have I done?”, “did I really think I could handle five kids!?”. No kidding. Four kids was a breeze really. I wondered how hard one more could be. Surely it couldn’t be that hard. Funny God, very funny…
I will start by saying that One
was the easiest baby ever, Thank God because I was just a baby myself and had NO IDEA what to do with a baby. Didn’t even know how to change a diaper. I called the midwife the first time she started crying and she told me to swaddle her. Swaddle? What the heck is that?
Two
was a bit of a challenge with that reflux and all, but honestly I only had to change our clothing 15 times a day, and that brand new house needed new carpet anyway.
Three was easy easy.I am talking easy. Did I mention she was …easy?

Four was well, a boy.
A non-sleeping, crying all the time, boy. Turned out he had silent reflux. And failure to thrive for no apparent reason. I handled it all well, didn’t get too stressed out.
But this Five baby, she was different. I was having a hard time taking care of all my other responsibilities because I had to hold her all of the time. Not that I minded holding her, but I do have 4 other kids that need Mom too. And I was tired. Grouchy, mean and tired. So I did what any sleep deprived, hormone crazed Mother would do. I gave the responsibility to my husband. Yep, from the time she was 2 months old he got up with her all night. I have to get my sleep or I am a total, well (insert explative here ). Seriously, I couldn’t even stand to be around myself.
But all of the sudden around 9 months old this insomniac child of mine, who had never taken a nap, started taking naps.
I am talking 2-3 hour naps. Hallelujah! It actually made me nervous at first. I would check on her a million times to make sure she was still breathing. And then it was 2 naps a day! Even better. I was a nervous wreck by this point. I just knew something was wrong with her. I invested in a video camera baby monitor. Cut my nervousness in half. I was actually able to shower again!! And then shock among all shocks, she started sleeping at night.. Whoa. Impressed I know. I still had a hard time sleeping at night. And would panic if I woke up before her. What changed? Nothing, something who knows. I didn’t change anything. Prayers must have worked is all I can say.
But now as this Five kid is nearing 2 years old. Get this, she is sleeping 16 hours straight. No kidding. She doesn’t wake up for a bottle, diaper or anything. How freaky is that? My doctor isn’t concerned. She is a normal, growing, healthy toddler. This just can’t be normal. I know, most Moms would kill for this. But it is a little unsettling. I have never known a baby to sleep so much. Oh yea, I didn’t even mention the 2 naps she still takes. They average about another 3 hours. Maybe she just requires more than your average sleep, like her Momma.