magic sleep part deux

Lucy's asleep right now. It's about 6 pm; when I got up from our nap an hour ago, the sun had just set and the sky was golden gray.
It's a magic hour.
Everything I said about her being a good sleeper isn't quite as true when applied to naps. Naps are very hit-and-miss with us. I'm not sure why. Our hit-and-miss naps give me a window into the world of parents who truly have sleep problems.
It's not a world I care to visit. Window-shopping is just fine with me.
Naps are the closest thing I get to my old life. I could wax poetic about my old life: the eating what I wanted exactly when I wanted it! The going to the bathroom whenever I felt the need! The ability to answer the phone every time it rang if I felt so led! The starting something and knowing I could finish it!
That last point isn't actually true about naps, because they are so hit and miss, and I never know when she's going to wake up.
As far as I'm concerned, a great nap has three elements:
1. It's easy to get her to fall asleep. We only do the sleep ritual once.
2. I sleep too. Not for long, just enough to wake up and think, "Ahh! refreshing!"
3. She continues to sleep for a half-hour to 2 hours after I get up.
Out of the three, I'll pick #3 as most important (my priorities change on the nights she doesn't sleep well). That's why today is so magic.
Today we had one repetition of the sleep ritual (she had to poop about 15 minutes after we lay down to nurse). And by the time she stopped kicking--you guessed it! I had to pee and had a persistent cough that kept annoying me. So not the greatest nap-time for me.
But when I got up (confession: I popped her off before she finished nursing. It had been an hour-and-a-half, so I think she probably ate enough) she stayed asleep.
Sometimes she wakes immediately. I have just enough time to put on clothes before we start intnsive mommying again.
Sometimes I have ten to 15 minutes. Just enough to turn on the oven, leave water running, or start an exercise video. Oh! the frustration!
But there are some days where I race through the thins I have to do--write a grocery list, start or finish dinner--and have time to do Pilates or type two-handed or get the mail or drink a cup of tea.
Bliss!

Mommies talk about their children having more than one nap a day. I don't see how this is possible. Sometimes I think about trying the sleep ritual in the morning, but then I wouldn't have any day left. Sometimes (like today) she'll fall asleep in her bouncy seat if I rock her. For about 15 minutes. Sometimes (very sometimes) she'll fall asleep in the bouncy seat with no help from me!
The only other time she falls asleep is when I'm nursing her in-sling or on-couch. And she wakes up really easily when she's not swaddled, so I'm stuck on the couch or with a twelve pound weight on mr shoulder, unable to make any sudden movements.
I have tried swaddling her all day, but that gets really tiring w/ the EC.

That's what is so magic/scary/crazy about infant sleep--it takes so much intensive, tiring work to achieve it. By the time you finish lulling them you need a nap from your nap.

It's downright dull-witted to project forward with babies, but I do anyway. It's in my nature to think forward a year and try to see what kinds of problems I'll be having, as Jesus commanded us to do: "Today doesn't have enough trouble of its own, so try to take care of the next six years. It'll help." Marvin: 5:31
But on my less-witted days, I wonder, "If it takes an hour and a half to get 15 minutes of downtime, what about when she's one? Or eighteen? I don't think I can take this forever."
Then I think maybe the professional mommies do it differently. That I missed out on the sleep seminar or the super-secret decoder ring. Surely she could have a morning nap? surely there's something I could do?

In the time I wrote this post, Lucy woke from her nap. Now we're nursing on the couch. It's gotten dark out, and colder; Dyami's home.
In a few hours, it will be time to take her to bed again. I have to marshal my resources.