11.20.2013

Beauty Rest

I am so spotty with getting a good night's sleep, it's always been a problem. For as long as we've had this new school schedule, I would be having mediocre-quality sleep all night until The Husband would get up for work and then I would fall into The Best Sleep of the Night. It was only 45 minutes to an hour, but it was deep super sleep, usually involving some very complicated dream sequences. Then Husband would come and wake me up, and really, I need to be up around 7:00 to start the getting ready for school routine anyway. But I was quite groggy and frankly, it's a wonder I haven't snapped Husband's arm off.

Then something changed. Maybe Husband sleeps differently when he's in pain? (perhaps it keeps him more still and from waking me up with his rolling around nonsense?) I seemed to get better sleep during the night and wake up before 7:00 and have some personal quiet time to prepare for the day! This hasn't occurred often, just enough for me to notice.

However I am having anxiety issues before falling asleep. Husband's pain meds, that he takes only before bed, knocks him out in five minutes and I end up staring at the ceiling in the (relative) quiet. With snoring in the background. It is impossible to fall asleep to a soundtrack that grating. 

I need the hour of chatting in bed that we used to have for my brain to unwind. Husband has never been a huge fan, but found it was easier to indulge me (happy wife, happy life man!) 

With this new development I have tried lots of things to try to improve my transition into sleep. Listening to podcasts in the dark was not helping, I got too wound up. ( I am positively bonkers about the podcasts, though- it's like watching TV, but I can do it anywhere! At the park! While doing dishes! It's great)  I tried music, some oils, all sorts of ridiculousness. Nothing was helping. I really hate that 30 minutes of laying in the dark trying not to make lists, trying to wind my brain down, it's awful.

Last night I decided to try something new, and ended up realizing something about myself that I had not been aware of. I am QUITE SENSITIVE to light. My eye doctors have all asked if this was the case, and honestly, I didn't "think" so! (my eyes are blue, which are prone to sensitivity, but on top of that my pupils dilate very easy and open really... wide? I can often forgo getting my eyes dilated at check ups because if the light is dimmed enough, he can just peep in there naturally, which is weird, but convenient) I always wondered what was wrong with me that I had all the signs of light sensitivity but never noticed it.

Well it was because I was not paying attention.

As it turns out, I am VERY sensitive to even the slightest bit of light. The lights on the baby monitor have been keeping me up apparently, and I had no clue. I discovered this, desperate to fall asleep quickly, by breaking out a present my Mom gave me a long time ago and swears by, a Bucky 40 Blinks Sleep Mask. It is not the most "attractive" thing ever. (They cannot even get a model to look good in one) But boy, did I fall asleep quickly after slipping it on. It was like my eyes sighed from relief. Our room, as it so happens, is filled with all kinds of lights that I had never really paid any attention to- the baby monitor, the alarm clock, the slits of light that come in through the shutters, even! I had no idea how much they irritated my eyes, even when my eyes were closed. Again, eyelids are just NOT THICK ENOUGH.

Perhaps this is why I rely on sunglasses so heavily? In the past I have had them on my head at all times. before having to wear glasses so consistently, sunglasses were my constant accessory. If I wasn't wearing them, I was using them to hold back my hair like a headband. I've seriously considered forking out a ton of $ for some Rx sunglasses- that's the dream right there. 

I thought I was keeping the lighting in our house dim because it felt more cozy to me. The Husband constantly complains it is too dark, that he cannot see, and I thought he was just being picky. But hey! Perhaps the dark just felt better on my eyes.

(See! This is yet another reason why I should move to the pacific northwest: ALL THE CLOUDY DAYS.)

It amazes me that I continue to learn new things about myself. (I don't have IT ALL figured out by now? What?!)  I didn't get involved with that Facebook game everyone's is playing right now specifically because I thought "Oh, surely there isn't anything that people don't already know about me. I have a BLOG. I put stuff out there pretty willy nilly. Everyone knows me pretty intimately if they are paying even a modicum of attention." 

But look, here! There are things I am just now finding out about myself! I can now go forward with the knowledge that I am more comfortable in dark places. Dimly lit places with no glaring light sources. Hey! I've never liked going to concerts- could it be that the light shows that often accompany that kind of production hurt my eyes? MAYBE!

This is weird. I'm questioning EVERYTHING now.

Anyway, how are you?\ What is your bedtime routine?




3 comments:

  1. Sleep masks are BEAUTIFUL THINGS! I read a lot on my kindle at night. I hate being the last to sleep at night. I lay awake forever if I am not the first to sleep!

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  2. Oh! My eyes are blue and are also SUPER sensitive to light! I have been having bouts of insomnia from about 1-3 in the morning for the past several weeks. Maybe I should try a sleep mask! I have one, but I've only ever used it for daytime naps when I NEEDED to sleep (newborn days.)

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  3. I have a similar issue w/ lights, but I can't seem to keep anything on my face at night (I have several sleep masks). We don't have a baby monitor, but the light from the Wii in the living room sometimes reflects on my bedroom door and keeps me up.

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