Sleep-wrecked

Urgh.  My beautiful firstborn has had a horrible disturbed night in pain, cutting a molar, which has involved nighttime vigils by mummy, who at such times is the source of all consolation.  And I feel utterly sleep-wrecked, after only one night.

I now feel that were someone to interrogate me (for some improbable and far fetched reason involving a Gilbert & Sullivan standard case of mistaken identity) I would pretty much crack if they looked a bit cross or said I couldn't have a cup of tea.

Tactic:  batten down the hatches, keep everything as calm as possible and pick my battles with the children & Mr LAL (ie, none) until recovery sets in.  Oh, and a lot of tea. And Carbs.

We got away with the whole sleep issue very lightly and it was really only a problem during the standard night feeding months -but now after just one night of it I really can't imagine how we ever coped with the broken nights (mind you, based on photographic evidence, it wasn't pretty).

But then I looked back further to life B.E.  (before escape) - in fact B.C (before children).  Self and Mr Life After Law lived and worked at big firms and were surrounded by the play-hard-work-hard culture (which translates roughly as long hours of deals or whatever going on right into the night followed by celebratory drinks and back to churning out highly specialised expert advice the next day with no drop in quality - not, I have to admit, that this particularly suited either of us).

So is there some magic secret to surviving on not-very-much-sleep-at-all? (NOT illegal substances, thank you, settle down at the back) Other than a dependence on caffeine that sees you twitching if you haven't had four espresso by 11?  Clearly adrenaline (and in some cases, pure testosterone) has a lot to answer for - but how long can anyone sustain life at that pitch?

I and Mr LAL are lucky that our sleep-deprivation torture was only ever fairly time limited (18 months at a time) and we've found some of the things that help sooth the sleep-wrecked zombie in every parent!
(insert own Julie Andrews soundtrack if this list isn't already cheesy enough):
the children's delight in anything - it's the way they laugh;
the smell of salty sea air on a warm breeze (particularly if there is the chance of an icecream/cold white wine spritzer);
the sound of leather on willow in the sunshine (cricket, you dirty blighters) ditto the white wine spritzer;
sofa time in front of a real fire; and
singing with an orchestra (with permission, not by sneaking in - and this is obviously me as it would bring Mr LAL so far away from the point of relaxation as to threaten a heart attack)

Simple pleasures, and by and large not hard to find or pay for!

So basically this can be summed up as :
(1)  That I remember Life In Law as really quite hard work some of the time;
(2) I like holidays; and
(3) I am reminded, yet again, by one sleepless night (!)  that I really don't think another baby would be sensible!