Ode to Oatmeal and Answered Prayers

Midterms are looming over everyone, all-nighters are being pulled, and the line at Starbucks on campus is so long it’s breaking records… Everyone you pass on the sidewalk has heavy bags under their eyes, and most people are wearing oversized hoodies and sweatpants, even though it’s like 70 degrees outside. Yep, it’s the middle of October. Anyone who has ever gone to college knows that the middle of October is absolutely miserable for any student, no matter how many credits they are enrolled in. However, I thought this October was going to be different for me because I am only enrolled in 3 classes, none of which were giving midterms, and I am reasonably ahead on all of my assignments for those classes. Ohhh, was I wrong. The Universe must completely hate my guts, because I have had one of the worst weeks in my college career.

We started Ryan on oatmeal cereal at 3 ½ months because he is always so darn hungry! The night we started it, he slept through the night. He did it again the next night, so I got pretty excited and told James, “See!? I told you things would look up! I told you it wouldn’t be like this for long!” I grinned like an idiot and pranced away, and things changed. They really, really changed.

But not for the better.

Why didn’t anybody warn me that oatmeal was going to make Ryan the gassiest and most restless sleeper ever? Why didn’t somebody say, “Hey Cathy, if you give him that oatmeal he is going to cry until he’s purple in the middle of the night and then fart louder than a grown man."? Why isn’t there a warning on the Gerber oatmeal box? It should say: Warning- May cause mom drowsiness, frustration and uncontrollable tears. I hate oatmeal. I hate it. Ryan will be given bananas next, because oatmeal obviously doesn’t agree with me him.

So now I am walking around with bags under my eyes, wearing an oversized hoodie and glaring at people who I am sure are judging. I am the one pulling all-nighters, but I have no midterms. What gives? Is this some kind of cruel joke? It takes all I have not to stand outside, look up at the sky , and scream to the Heavens, “ARE YOU SERIOUS!?”

This morning Ryan woke up at 5 am and never went back to sleep… Instead he laid beside me and wanted to nurse for comfort because his stomach was hurting, so I let him. He’d fall asleep, toss, turn, grunt, cry, and then latch again. We wrestled until about 9 this morning before I gave up and decided to give him a bottle of formula. I went into the kitchen and started making the bottle, and while it was heating up I decided to say a little prayer (I figured it would be better received than the screaming technique that I mentioned earlier). I asked Heavenly Father to make Ryan comfortable and to help him rest until his stomach pain passed. When I walked back into our bedroom, this is how I found Ryan:

 

Now I am on the living room sofa, listening to my baby sleep over the monitor. I know that the Lord gives us challenges because we have to face adversity in order for us to really appreciate the tender mercies in life. I had my own little Liberty Jail experience this morning, because I felt a lot like Joseph Smith crying out, "Oh God, where art thou?" when I became overwhelmed with my challenges. Heavenly Father's answer applied just as much to my long nights as it did to our beloved prophet in 1839. He replied, “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7). If I have to sacrifice a week’s worth of sleep to hear that squeaky little snore, so be it. If I have to walk around like a zombie with zero fashion sense in the name of gaining experience as a mother, then okay. I can do that.

It’s worth it.