Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Oh the irony

When I was in college, I told my mom once that I wished I didn't have to sleep. I was very clear on the terms though: I would still want to be ABLE to sleep and everyone else would still NEED to sleep. Because what good would it be to not need sleep if nobody else did either right? Right.

Unfortunately I DO need sleep, so I was not amused when my being a light sleeper turned into full on insomnia. It didn't manifest as typical insomnia, or at least not what I thought of as typical insomnia. I wasn't lying in bed for hours without being able to fall asleep, nor was I waking up in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep. Instead, every time I woke up during the night, it would take me 15 or 20 minutes to get back to sleep. With my super sensitive hearing causing me to wake up usually 5 times a night or more, this quickly became a problem.

I turned to the internet (known around our house as the source of all truth) for more information. That was how I found out that I was in fact experiencing a form of insomnia. Sadly, I was already doing most of what doctors recommend to help: we don't have a TV in our bedroom, I don't use my laptop in bed, I don't drink lots of caffeine and I don't drink any late at night, I don't go to bed until I'm tired, I don't drink or smoke, and there's not a clock in the bedroom. So, I decided to try the one thing that I wasn't already doing-- get up earlier. Seems crazy, but also seems to be working. Apparently, I do better when I only sleep for 7 hours. Who knew? The best part is, getting up so early means most days I get my workout (AM yoga with Rodney Yee) before the baby is awake.

I still wish I didn't NEED sleep, but these days I'm just glad I can.

1 comment:

  1. I'm pretty sure "get up earlier" will never be the answer for me. Any chance I could use your leftover sleep, since you only need 7 and I do best on 9? Thanks, that'd be great :-D

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