It was early in the morning, I am not sure exactly when, but Kristy had gotten up to feed Abby. The girl eats all the time. Luckily, she is starting to show signs of 3 and 4 hour periods at night so if we share shift and do every other feeding, each of us can get a decent bit of sleep. On this particular night I was especially tired and Kristy was going to do me the favor of all the feedings that night. Well after feeding her for an hour and having Abby fuss for another 45 minutes, Kristy was at the end of her rope and I got up to comfort Abby so that Kristy could finally get back to sleep. Honestly neither of us could tell if she was still hungry or just gassy and fussy, so I was prepared to do what it took to get her past it.
When I first got up, the time was 2:30 am, she did not seem particularly hungry so I reserved myself to just sitting in the arm chair next to her bassinet and waited her out. Of course I drifted in and out of sleep but awoke at the slightest whimper. When she would not stop fussing I held her belly down on my chest, a position she LOVES, and reclined the arm chair deciding to rest with her a bit. Again I drifted in and out of sleep. I was not sure how much time had passed but I found myself suddenly talking to my best friend from high school, Ley. Keep in mind that I have been out of high school since 1989. It seemed so real. We were at my parent’s home in NY and I, still holding Abby on my chest as if by Velcro, was fully immersed in this alter-reality. Ley and I decided that it would be a good idea to go out and get pizza, despite the hour. In this dream it was also 2:30 am. And so we left and we drove through the back roads of my home town searching for a place that would sell pizza at this crazy hour. Again, it seemed so real.
I awoke for a small bit and repositioned Abby with her head to the other side, still belly down on my chest, and was immediately propelled back into the scene. This time, the back roads of NY took us to the local roads that I now know, here in NH. Just like that without travelling 5 hours to get there I was in a more familiar place. At this point in the story, since Ley was following me in his car and I was driving separate, I had discovered that I lost him on the way. Maybe too quick of a turn, a red light I made it through and he didn’t, but he was nowhere to be found. With no best friend and no pizza shops open, I decided to head home.
Again I awoke, Abby was still content and I decided to change her position to holding her, cradle style, in my arm. Closing my eyes it was now sunny and I was no longer driving a car, but peddling a bike up the bare rock face of a steep mountain. For some reason there were at least 5 dogs all chasing me and nipping at my feet. The baby was in the basket on the front of the bike, much like Toto to Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ. My legs were killing me because not only was I peddling furiously to get away from the dogs, but was doing this without my hands on the handle bar. After that I woke up with some leg cramps. The time now was 4:00 am. I ended up not needing to feed Abby at all and put her back in her bassinet where she rested soundly until morning.
Consequently I had pizza for lunch today.
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