I’ve been gambling with sleep for awhile now. I hadn’t realized how much I intentionally did so, until I gave birth to another child. At that point, sleep became a gift I no longer controlled.
And I missed it.
Desperately.
Oh, my missing it didn’t happen right away. First, I snapped at everyone. Then, I cried. I cried a lot. Next, I snapped and cried. Everyone and everything was wrong wrong wrong. Couldn’t they see how much the mess and my feelings were their fault??
So, I made sleep a priority. I snuck in naps wherever I could, even at the expense of cleaning. To help block out the light and sound of no one else sleeping, I set a pillow over my head. I set my phone’s timer for 45 minutes so I wouldn’t nap too long -then I’d often sleep another hour after it went off.
Slowly, slowly, the world wasn’t so horribly awful.
Actually; the world brightened up right away. It stayed bright once the newborn baby slept better and I could get sleep more consistently.
Hormones also play a HUGE role, of course. I need to remind myself of that as well. Sleep alone, however, was and is helpful enough that I highly recommend it.
If you are in The Newborn Phase, The Teething Phase, or even The Have Children Phase; don’t get caught in the trap of insomnia like me. Step back and take inventory of how many trips to deep REM you’re taking. There’s only so many times you can neglect your health, so many cups of coffee you can drink.
Trust me. Zzzzzzzz
©2020 Chelsea Owens
*As a parting note, there are way too many stock photos of women ‘sleeping’ in full makeup. That is gross, and no one actually does that.
I Didn't Want to Be a Mother 
I agree. You should see me in the morning…….and I never wake up till after three cups of tea. Is the baby sleeping through the night yet?
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He’s been sleeping through the night for a while, but he’ll throw out a missed night here and there to keep us on our toes.
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Don’t tell anyone, but when I used to wear makeup I went to bed without washing my face. My face has not fallen off yet!! 😳🤣
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😀 😀 That’s good to know.
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I don’t wear makeup now. I have genes that my face is still not all wrinkled up.
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I am finally sleeping again after over a decade of newborns, nursing and insomnia. It takes a long time to break the bad habits that come from being woken up all night for years… sleep has a remarkable effect on my mental state and it was one step (along with running, scripture memory and eating healthier) that helped me to overcome my depression.
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And seriously… sleeping in makeup?!? Reminds me of those Venus commercials where all the women shaving their legs had legs that were already waxed 🤦🏼♀️
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😀 Those commercials also don’t show anyone trying to shave her armpits.
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❤ You're right. Unfortunately, I was just getting into those better habits when I got pregnant again!
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That happened to me as well with my last one 😕 Thankfully the little guy that joined our family made it all worth it!
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