For parents of new babies, crying at night is a tolerated, but oft dreaded, part of the gig. But for one family in Colorado, they will likely never hate to get up with their crying baby again. Without those cries, this family likely would have perished in a house fire.

Having gone through two baby-hoods and all the late night wake-ups that came with them, I am very familiar with the frustration (and the joy and the love) that comes from having a baby. I was also lucky enough to never have a house that burned down (knock wood), but if this happened to me, you better believe I would look at those 1 a.m. wake-ups a little differently.

Maybe we all can learn a little something here.

Having a baby is difficult for any new mom. It can be very easy, in the moment, to get swept into resentment or anger or frustration over our babies and our lack of sleep. But don't throw the baby out with the bath water (literally).

When it comes down to it, every moment we have with our babies is precious. Even those moments you would rather not have at 2:07 a.m. when you were in a deep sleep, dreaming of Patrick Dempsey.

There were times after my son (who was a bad sleeper) was born where I would hallucinate bugs on the wall and sob out of sheer exhaustion.

Now, 3.5 years later, he is an awesome sleeper. I couldn't ask for a better sleeper, in fact. If I had known then how finite those moments were, I would have cursed them less and cuddled him more.

They are so fleeting, those midnight wake-ups. Even though they feel interminable in the moments, they pass by so quickly. No one likes to be awakened from a deep slumber, but let's put it in perspective. That crying baby could actually save your life! And even if he doesn't, at the very least, he won't cry forever. He will soon be big and you will miss these days. I promise. 

Do you get upset when your baby wakes you?