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Posts Tagged ‘insomnia’

All Work and No Play is Not What Erin Did Today

Friday, September 12th, 2008

No work for me today.  Yesterday the newbie and I got through everything that needed to be done, and seeing as how I was feeling rather extraordinarily pregnant I thought that today might be a good day for her to fly solo and get some rest for myself. (Payroll starts Monday.) Last night was another non-sleeping night, although instead of digging out the headlamp John put out for me to use while he’s asleep so I can read, I just kind of laid there.  I laid there, that is, until about 3 am when we had an unexpected visitor.

We’ve had a little kitty coming around our living room window (basement apartment) for about a week or so.  It comes to the window, presses it’s paws against the screen, and mews.  I’ve decided “mew” is too meek a work for the sound it represents, because it’s actually an incredibly annoying/screetchy noise.  Usually we put the curtain down and he goes away.  But last night he found our bedroom window- a window I keep open because as a pregnant woman, I need AIR.  So there he is, screetching away outside the screen (I presume) looking at us down in our bed.  As John stirred I said under my breath, “Don’t move.” As if we were dealing with a T-Rex or a bee, and not an animal that can probably see us clearly in the dark whether we are moving or not.  The worst part was we couldn’t even just close the window because it’s the swinging kind that would trap the kitten between the window and the screen, not alleviating the problem.  As John gained conciousness he turned to me and said, “Hand me my water bottle.”  He then opened it and doused the little kitty with more water than I would have thought possible, dousing our duvet in the process.  That cat was gone so fast I thought we had been dreaming.  Except for the wet sheets.  That was a good time.

After that I did manage to fall asleep on and off until about 8am, at which time I realised, for real, that I was not going to handle working today.  New signs of impending labor present themselves every day (impending defined as any time between a few minutes from now and 41 weeks…) which are all interesting and sometimes disconcerting to deal with.  On top of it all, my body is just plain hard to maneuver around.  I remember when I first got pregnant and I opened the scriptures expecting some amazing spiritual message about carrying a new life inside of me and all I got was, “Yea, and wo unto them which are with child, for they shall be heavy and cannot flee; therefore, they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish.”  That was definitely one of those, “Thanks, God” moments.  I’ve actually had quite a bit of entertainment looking up “pregnancy” scriptures.  If you need help finding them some of the better ones can be found listed under the word “travail” in the topical guide/idex.  Anyway…

So I got up and took my time getting showered/dressed.  We did manage a visit to Alicia and new baby Spencer today.  I thought it anyone would understand me dashing to the bathroom every so often it would be someone who just went through the whole process, so it was a good visit.  I’m torn between resting as much as I possibly can this weekend and trying to wear myself out to see if I can induce some action.  Since I’m not sure anything I do will induce anything, I’ll probably just go with the flow.  Do stuff when I have energy, rest when I don’t.  We will see.  I’m am definitely, definitely with Camper making his appearance any time now.  Any…time…now…

Confessions of a Pregnant Insomniac

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Soo…I am a zombie.  I laid down to go to bed last night and knew it was going to be fruitless.  It’s amazing how I can tell.  So I read Stepford Wives to see if I could make myself tired, or at least be entertained.  (It’s a short book, doesn’t take long to get through.)  After that I was still wide awake with an achy back.  John brought me the ice pack and that helped for a bit, but I soon noticed that every time I moved or shifted I was waking him up a little.  I think he’s convinced that the baby will pop out any minute.  So I went out into the living room and watched TV for a couple of hours and then laid back down.  6am seems to be the magic hour where I can sleep for a bit, that was a relief.  But I’m starting to HATE going to bed!  Sleeping during the day seems to work out ok, I can get comfy and sleep soundly, but when it gets dark and quiet and TIME to sleep, my body rebels.  I have to go to the bathroom, I have brackston hicks, the baby kicks and keeps me awake, I can’t lay comfortably for my back.  Last night my belly was just sooo harrrrddd.  So pregnant ladies- what do I do?  I hear this is normal, but what do you DO so that you don’t go crazy watching infomercials at 3am?  I considered going out for a walk, but figured if I was eaten by a horse or ran into a crazy stalker or even just fell over John and my Mom would be very mad.  So in the house I stayed.  Suggestions welcome.