Sleep Deprivation
(written 7/19/06 and forgot to post!)
Sleep deprivation is a dangerous thing. That has to be the worst part about being a mom at any stage. I thought when my son was born that those first few months would be the hardest. When he needed fed every 3 hours on the dot. (his choice, not ours) But it does not end there. No where near there!
I have always been a night owl. Even when I was a child my folks would stick me in the kitchen on a chair so I wouldn’t bother my sister and wouldn’t interrupt them. I don’t know if it is physically possible for me to go to bed before midnight if it’s not drug induced.
The Monster has inherited some of this too. We put him to bed at 8 pm and he may be asleep by 10 if we are lucky. If he is asleep before then he wakes up during the night crying. It is as if he were blindsided by the Sandman and when he wakes he has no idea what has happened. So he cries out and if you don’t go in and comfort him he will scream for hours.
But, he has also inherited this early bird thing from who the hell knows where. He is up at 6 am. There is no logic to it. There is no reason. It is a sign from the sleep gods that I am raising their son, not mine. I feel that waking before noon is a sin. His father can sleep for umpteen hours without noticing that the world is moving around him. And it does. He has slept through fire engines and police cars outside his bedroom window. He has slept through hurricanes and nor’easters. I can not. I must be awake during all storms and crisis’. Which leads to the problem.
Last night the Monster woke up right before I was going to bed at 1 am. To ensure he was sleeping well I had to stay awake for another hour. (it’s a mother’s thing} We then had one of those mid summer out of nowhere storms. The type of storm where you can lose power for a long time or just long enough to mess with the alarm clock. So, I decided I needed to set the kitchen timer for 5 am. Husband wakes at 4:30 but can still get out the door at 5 am. I might be nice but I’m no martyr and was going to get that extra half hour if it killed me. I stayed on the couch. Well, as luck would have it somehow in those 2 hours I turned on my back and had a nightmare. I woke about 5 minutes before Husband’s alarm. The storm does not knock out the power. 2 hours of sleep. I finally get back to sleep (on the couch still) only do have the Monster wake me at 6.
I truly wish that this were an isolated case but it is not. It is the norm around here even though the circumstances change. My average sleep time is about 4 hours. Is it any wonder I become almost as cranky as my son by the end of the evening? Is it any wonder I like to have a glass of wine (or 3) every other evening or so? Is it any wonder I REALLY liked the two weeks I had all by myself after my surgery and the Monster stayed at Grandma’s?
Is it any wonder I am writing this half asleep?
Sleep deprivation is a dangerous thing. That has to be the worst part about being a mom at any stage. I thought when my son was born that those first few months would be the hardest. When he needed fed every 3 hours on the dot. (his choice, not ours) But it does not end there. No where near there!
I have always been a night owl. Even when I was a child my folks would stick me in the kitchen on a chair so I wouldn’t bother my sister and wouldn’t interrupt them. I don’t know if it is physically possible for me to go to bed before midnight if it’s not drug induced.
The Monster has inherited some of this too. We put him to bed at 8 pm and he may be asleep by 10 if we are lucky. If he is asleep before then he wakes up during the night crying. It is as if he were blindsided by the Sandman and when he wakes he has no idea what has happened. So he cries out and if you don’t go in and comfort him he will scream for hours.
But, he has also inherited this early bird thing from who the hell knows where. He is up at 6 am. There is no logic to it. There is no reason. It is a sign from the sleep gods that I am raising their son, not mine. I feel that waking before noon is a sin. His father can sleep for umpteen hours without noticing that the world is moving around him. And it does. He has slept through fire engines and police cars outside his bedroom window. He has slept through hurricanes and nor’easters. I can not. I must be awake during all storms and crisis’. Which leads to the problem.
Last night the Monster woke up right before I was going to bed at 1 am. To ensure he was sleeping well I had to stay awake for another hour. (it’s a mother’s thing} We then had one of those mid summer out of nowhere storms. The type of storm where you can lose power for a long time or just long enough to mess with the alarm clock. So, I decided I needed to set the kitchen timer for 5 am. Husband wakes at 4:30 but can still get out the door at 5 am. I might be nice but I’m no martyr and was going to get that extra half hour if it killed me. I stayed on the couch. Well, as luck would have it somehow in those 2 hours I turned on my back and had a nightmare. I woke about 5 minutes before Husband’s alarm. The storm does not knock out the power. 2 hours of sleep. I finally get back to sleep (on the couch still) only do have the Monster wake me at 6.
I truly wish that this were an isolated case but it is not. It is the norm around here even though the circumstances change. My average sleep time is about 4 hours. Is it any wonder I become almost as cranky as my son by the end of the evening? Is it any wonder I like to have a glass of wine (or 3) every other evening or so? Is it any wonder I REALLY liked the two weeks I had all by myself after my surgery and the Monster stayed at Grandma’s?
Is it any wonder I am writing this half asleep?
posted by kelly at 3:40 PM
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