Sunday, November 6, 2011

Night Terrors

Last night was interesting.  We set the clocks back, watched another episode of Modern Family, and finally turned in for the night.  As soon as Whatzit stopped abusing me and I fell asleep, I hear frantic crying through the monitor.  Loud cries for Mommy.  I hopped up quickly and went to check on Kenly.  She was sound asleep, so I covered her up and gave her Benny Bunny and Binky.  I settled back into bed and convinced Whatzit to stop kicking my ribs once again.  About five minutes later, I hear even more frantic screaming though the monitor.  I jumped up, grabbed my pillows, and headed to the spare bedroom.  By the time I opened her bedroom door, Kenly had throw the covers off.  She was flailing in bed and screaming. 

"Mommy.  Mommy.  No.  No.  No."

I reached down to touch her leg because her eyes were wide open.  She looked straight at me and screamed, "Get away from me.  I'm afraid of you."  It was at that point that I realized that she was sound asleep with her eyes open.  She's had a few night terrors before and I never know what to do when they happen.  All the websites say to just sit closely by and let her fight through it, but everything in my heart tells me to stop the terror.  I don't like to see her panic. 

So I grabbed her, held her close, and begged her to open her eyes.  She fought a bit, but as we rocked in the chair she slowly relaxed and realized that Mama was holding her close.  The crying stopped and she whimpered that she needed some water.  We turned on a few lights and headed to the bathroom.  We had some water and used the restroom.  Finally she started making sense.  I asked, "Do you know where you are now?  She replied, "I'm at home with my Mama and my Daddy.  I'm safe."

We rocked and said a nice long prayer asking God to protect her from another night terror.  We snuggled close until she said she felt cold.  I crawled into bed with her and we talked about all the beautiful things she could dream about--butterflies, red birds, blue birds, Halloween candy, rainbows, and waterfalls.

The rest of the night passed peacefully.  It's my prayer that the stress of the baby's arrival will not bring on regular night terrors.  When I discussed these terrors with with Dr. Dephouse, he said that they are perfectly normal and that they will pass with time.  I hate them.  They unnerve me in so many ways.  Please pray that God will build a hedge around her, that she will be protected from these terrors in the night.

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