I haven't been blogging much lately. It's because I've been tired. No, exhausted. Braindead. Completely devoid of energy.
Why?
Torin spent 6 weeks teething pretty darn hard for his top two teeth. This involved lots of waking screaming (of the "oh my god I'm being flayed alive" type), lots of whining, lots and lots of comfort nursing. The good news is that the last tooth came through a week and a half ago, and his sleep was fixed within just a few days, so he's only waking once at night to be fed again. The bad news is that my brain is stuck in a major "anticipate the horrified-screaming baby all night" mode, so I can't seem to sleep!
This is on top of the regular insomnia, plus insomnia due to hip ache (the less sleep I get, the more it hurts), plus the lingering "anticipate the crying baby all night" mode from the newborn stage that I didn't really grow out of either.
The Analysis:
So last night I wore the fitbit (on a new wrist strap that is far more comfy than the original sleep strap!) to see what it'd say... my nights couldn't really be as bad as I think, right? I read once that insomniacs tend to really exaggerate how much time they spend awake, so maybe I needed a reality check.
Nope, sleep is just as bad as I think. Spent 9.5 hours in bed (didn't count the first hour pr last half hour of tossing and turning). The two big pink stripes in the middle are the beginning and end of a half hour of feeding Torin. The three dark blue (sleep) stripes in the middle left, I was most definitely awake but trying as hard as possible to be still and pretend to sleep for those 10-20 minute chunks.
The three actual chunks of sleep were 1hr 24 minutes, 1hr 2 minutes, and 1hr 17 minutes... for a total of 3hrs 43 minutes, or only 42% of my time in bed asleep. How am I surviving on this?!
No wonder I feel like crap. This is really, really stupid.
What to do?
An experiment! For science!!
I recently read about a way to fix jetlag in one day through fasting, based on some Harvard study. The plan is that you fast for 16 hours, then eat breakfast... it's supposed to get your sleep cycle back onto a regular schedule by training your body to be up and ready for breakfast at the desired time.
Right now I've been on more of a "going to bed at 11pm, falling asleep by 3am, feeding Torin at 4am, waking a few more times, out of bed by 10am" sort of a schedule, but the problem is that by 10 it is too hot for the morning hike... Torin gets super sweaty, red, and grumpy by then end. So then I don't hike, and the day feels even more tired. I need to be getting out for that hike while the weather is still cool.
So, I'm trying it tonight... fasting starting at 4:30pm, waking at 8:30 for a big ol' omelet and coffee immediately and then a hike. Wish me luck!
I have much more to blog about... sister got married, mead was tasty, Stormy had surgery, garden started producing, crochet stuff, travel trailer bunkhouse stuff, random sciency experiments. I just... need... the... mental energy... to... get thoughts typed out. I can't even tell if this whole post made sense. :D
Why?
Torin spent 6 weeks teething pretty darn hard for his top two teeth. This involved lots of waking screaming (of the "oh my god I'm being flayed alive" type), lots of whining, lots and lots of comfort nursing. The good news is that the last tooth came through a week and a half ago, and his sleep was fixed within just a few days, so he's only waking once at night to be fed again. The bad news is that my brain is stuck in a major "anticipate the horrified-screaming baby all night" mode, so I can't seem to sleep!
This is on top of the regular insomnia, plus insomnia due to hip ache (the less sleep I get, the more it hurts), plus the lingering "anticipate the crying baby all night" mode from the newborn stage that I didn't really grow out of either.
The Analysis:
So last night I wore the fitbit (on a new wrist strap that is far more comfy than the original sleep strap!) to see what it'd say... my nights couldn't really be as bad as I think, right? I read once that insomniacs tend to really exaggerate how much time they spend awake, so maybe I needed a reality check.
Nope, sleep is just as bad as I think. Spent 9.5 hours in bed (didn't count the first hour pr last half hour of tossing and turning). The two big pink stripes in the middle are the beginning and end of a half hour of feeding Torin. The three dark blue (sleep) stripes in the middle left, I was most definitely awake but trying as hard as possible to be still and pretend to sleep for those 10-20 minute chunks.
The three actual chunks of sleep were 1hr 24 minutes, 1hr 2 minutes, and 1hr 17 minutes... for a total of 3hrs 43 minutes, or only 42% of my time in bed asleep. How am I surviving on this?!
No wonder I feel like crap. This is really, really stupid.
What to do?
An experiment! For science!!
I recently read about a way to fix jetlag in one day through fasting, based on some Harvard study. The plan is that you fast for 16 hours, then eat breakfast... it's supposed to get your sleep cycle back onto a regular schedule by training your body to be up and ready for breakfast at the desired time.
Right now I've been on more of a "going to bed at 11pm, falling asleep by 3am, feeding Torin at 4am, waking a few more times, out of bed by 10am" sort of a schedule, but the problem is that by 10 it is too hot for the morning hike... Torin gets super sweaty, red, and grumpy by then end. So then I don't hike, and the day feels even more tired. I need to be getting out for that hike while the weather is still cool.
So, I'm trying it tonight... fasting starting at 4:30pm, waking at 8:30 for a big ol' omelet and coffee immediately and then a hike. Wish me luck!
I have much more to blog about... sister got married, mead was tasty, Stormy had surgery, garden started producing, crochet stuff, travel trailer bunkhouse stuff, random sciency experiments. I just... need... the... mental energy... to... get thoughts typed out. I can't even tell if this whole post made sense. :D
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