Layering Crib Sheets

Okay, here's the scenario: it's 2:00 am, your baby has been throwing up every 15 minutes because you decided to have her try formula and you're getting ZERO sleep. Every time you change the sheets in her crib, she just pukes on them again (right through the towel you put under her head to catch said puke). Your husband is snoring away, completely oblivious to the mayhem and a little teeny tiny part of you is contemplating suffocating him with his own pillow.
Now before you chuckle and say "oh, how cute, it's a first-time-mom, just wait until________ (fill in the blank)" just keep in mind that in some ways, having one is harder than having three or four or however many because everything is new. You don't know how to do anything yet and there is no instruction booklet. I have learned to ignore those kinds of comments because I know that the longer I do this mom thing, the better I'll get at it (I hope!)
SO. Now on to the ingenious idea I had at 2:00 this morning. After I wash all of those sheets, I'm just going to layer them all in her crib. One right after the other with a water-resistant pad in between each layer. That way, I can just strip off the soiled one and BAM there's a new one ready to go. I don't have to fumble in the dark for a new one, I don't have to get frustrated trying to get a fitted crib sheet onto a slippery mattress while rocking an equally slippery sick baby back to sleep for the umpteenth time. I don't have to consume a caffeinated beverage and resign myself to being awake ALL night. I can pick her up, clean her off, get rid of the evidence and put her right back down. More sleep for both of us. And while that teeny tiny little part of me may still want to smother my wonderfully obnoxious husband, this little trick will keep me sane and give me that little ounce of peace-of-mind I need to keep calm and carry on. Because if there's one thing I've learned so far being a mom, it's that it's not about me anymore. What I want (10 hours of uninterrupted sleep) doesn't matter, and that's okay, because what does matter is the sweetest thing I've ever known. She makes up for the lost sleep because she makes me whole. When she's miserable and I'm miserable and my husband is snoring away happily, it doesn't matter because I know that I'm doing exactly what I was built for. That knowledge can get me through anything. I was made for this and now I'm doing it. It's not easy to explain, but the feeling of doing exactly what you're meant to do, regardless of whether or not you feel like you're doing it right, is the most comforting feeling I've ever felt. Having a purpose and fulfilling that purpose is all that matters. There may be a sense of inadequacy at times, maybe even failure, but failure is so much better than feeling utterly lost. It's so much better than feeling useless, because failure leaves room for success. Thomas Edison tried roughly 10,000 times before he was finally able to produce the carbon filament coil used in light bulbs. When asked about his failure, he replied: “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” 
So it's not just about the little tricks that make things like staying up all night with a sick baby that much easier. It's about having the right perspective. It's about knowing that you're doing it right simply because you're doing it. You're not backing down. You're not giving up. You're not hiding. You're right where you should be. I hope you found as much hope reading this as I did writing it. Thanks for reading.