Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Night time Nuisances

I can safely say I need more sleep. This morning when I was saying prayers with Dean, I caught myself blessing the appetizers. Now, I don't know what party I'm hosting, nor what appetizers I will be serving, but by golly, they're blessed and ready to eat!

Recently I've been slipping back into my old sleep problems. In high school I struggled going to sleep. I just couldn't seem to shut my mind off. I continually had a monologue going in my head about all I needed to do the next day. I have been doing fine going to bed the first time, but when I am awakened around 4 and on, I can't go back to sleep.

A couple nights ago Dean had a bad night's sleep. Around 4:30 I decided maybe he really was hungry, so I went in to feed him (after listening to him cry for 1/2 hour). I fed him and put him back to bed. But I was wide awake. I laid in bed about 1/2 an hour and decided to just get up and do yoga. I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 4. Not enough sleep.

Two nights ago I was awakened by the chirping of the dead fire alarm batteries. Why do they always, always die at night?? I woke Matt up, but he told me to go unscrew the alarm and take out the batteries. There are 2 I can reach on a chair, but our ceilings are raised. It happened to be the alarm on our raised living room ceiling. I can't even reach it on a latter. I tried to go back to sleep, but I could still hear the annoying chirping through my ear plugs. I made Matt go fix it. We thought taking the batteries out would suffice, but no. We had to go digging through our batteries to find one that fit. (Luckily we had one!)

Then last night Dean woke up around 4:15. I let him fuss until about 4:45 and went in to feed him. Once again I found myself unable to fall back asleep. All I could think about was piano stuff. Recital pieces, how to get kids to understand rhythm better, new games I could play, etc. I couldn't turn my brain off. I tried sleeping on the couch, hoping a change of location would help. Nope. I tried ear plugs. Nope. I tried reading scriptures. That actually helped me dose a bit, so I tried going back to bed at 6:15. I must have fallen asleep somewhat because Matt asked me at 6:40 if I was letting Dean cry through this one. Oh, was he crying? I had my earplugs in.

So I was up for the day. Obviously with not enough sleep.

5 comments:

Cannon said...

well, i have struggled with this tons. my best suggestions are to go to bed earlier (i have a much harder time falling asleep after about 11), eat a healthy snack before bed (half an isagenix shake works best for me), and if it gets too bad, take a unisom or ask your doctor for ambien. after i have had one really good night of sleep, i usually have a lot less trouble going to sleep for the next few nights. sometimes i leave everything undone and just go to bed at 9:30. switching sleeping spots and reading helps me sometimes when i wake up in the middle of the night. good luck. i hate insomnia.

Erin said...

Oh man, this really stinks! I've only experienced insomnia once or twice and it drives me crazy. I really feel for you and hope it gets better soon.

Celia Marie (W.) B. said...

Thanks for the suggestions Amanda. Sometimes I have a small bowl of cereal or string cheese before bed, but I hadn't thought of 1/2 a shake.

Erin, I appreciate your concern. And for your sake I hope Anna starts sleeping better for her naps. =)

It happened again last night, but this time it was just my body waking up at 4 for no reason! I think it's anticipating Dean waking up. I heard him cry around 2 and let him cry it out. I was able to go back to sleep, but woke on my own at 4. Then I was still awake at 4:30 and went in to feed him when he woke up then.

I've vowed to go to bed earlier tonight (I'm shooting for 10:30 in bed), even if Matt doesn't. One potential problem for going to bed earlier than him is that I might wake up when he comes in and not be able to go back to sleep.

Cannon said...

whoa, cannon and matt really are the same dude. cannon is such a night owl, and it has always been hard on my sleeping schedule. i mean, we grew up with parents who went to bed at 10 (always together) and woke up to run at 5:30. 10 is completely unrealistic in our house. 10:30 is my goal, and 11:00 is reality. i go to bed pretty much every night before cannon, but i have to wear earplugs every night or he will wake me up when he comes in. only when my sleep in sensitive like during pregnancy though.

Jacqui said...

Oh Celia, I am so with you. (Read todays post on my blog) I told Olivia to take off her jammies and throw them in the GARAGE today. What? I said this as I pointed to the hamper. i do it ALL of the TIME! AH! It's the worst. My worst insomnia was after Olivia was born. I couldn't go back to sleep after nearly every feeding. It drove me crazy!

One thing that usually works for me is to think of this Enya song that is super relaxing. If I can get that going in my head, I almost always go to sleep. I think it's on her New Moon CD. I also sometimes thing of the number 1 over and over. "One, one, one" I think, as I envision the number in my head. Sometimes I do the "tighten every muscle in your body and slowly release every one" thing. Just some things to try.

GOOD LUCK.