Sleep training, night 1

In the spirit of staying positive, here are a few things that are possibly (but not necessarily) worse than hearing your baby "cry-it-out" at night:

1) Knowing you really need to work out.  Putting on your workout clothes, then putting coats/hats/shoes on both your kids, loading up both kids in the stroller, then walking out of the garage and realizing that a 58 degree morning has turned to a windy 40 degree afternoon.  Workout denied.  And your husband isn't coming home before bedtime.
2) Putting sheets on a bed that is flush to the wall.  Also putting sheets on a crib which is at the lowest setting.  Also doing this many times per week because of bladder/diaper problems.
3) Getting home from the grocery story and realizing that you forgot the ONE thing you really need.  Which was starred and underlined on the list you made.  Or realizing you bought it, and left it in the cart.
4) Not having a baby.

Ok, this is really taking a sad turn, so I'll stop there.

We are doing a little sleep-training in our house.  Last night was night #1 and it wasn't fun.  Jackson's schedule for the past week was pretty consistent.  Consistently terrible.  It generally looked like this:

Asleep 8 pm.  Wake up 11, wake up 2:30, wake up 4:30, wake up 5:30.  This varied by a half hour or so (although the 5:30 wake up has been eerily consistent for weeks now), but you get the point.  I'm just not that good of a person when I have to wake up 4 times a night for 6 months in a row (although there was a point we were down to 2 times a night), so extreme measures needed to be taken. 

Last night, J woke up at 10:30.  The UNC basketball game had just ended, Eric wouldn't be home for a few hours, and I decided since there's no good time to let your baby cry, tonight would be the night.  Fast forward an hour....and he's finally asleep.  Its amazing how and hour nap from your kids can feel like a brief moment in time, but that same kid screams for an hour and you feel like you've aged 5 years.  I know some moms would tell me I'm terrible and some moms would tell me I'm long overdue, but ultimately, I do think this will be the best for Jackson and for me.  The key word is ultimately.  Not last night, and probably not tonight.

He did wake again at 3:30 and I fed him.  And he woke up at 5:30 and I fed him.  Baby steps, people.  But I put him awake in his crib for TWO naps today AND at bedtime and he fell asleep on his own, with minimal fussing.  This is HUGE progress for my baby who fights sleep likes its nobody's business.

I'm currently facing an internal debate.  Do I go to sleep now, only to be waken shortly (inevitably right after I fall asleep) and then have to suffer through a long period of crying?  Or do I stay awake anticipating its arrival (knowing its much easier to deal with something when you haven't slept yet) but with the potential that J may actually sleep until the AM hour?  Is there another option?  Shut the door and sleep on our 3rd floor's (comfortable) couch and let Eric deal with it?  Plan 3 is sounding really good....