Friday Focus 23/10/20 – Insomnia

This week has felt like a constant battle against insomnia; struggling to try and get a reasonable night’s sleep. I feel like I’m permanently tired at the moment in spite of doing my best to go to bed early and try to catch up on sleep.

 

The word 'insomnia' in lilac

 

I go off to sleep easily enough, but the problem is that if I get woken during the night, it takes me ages to be able to fall asleep again. Thomas is currently waking once or twice each night and once he’s settled again, I’m usually then awake for the next 2-3 hours, finally dozing off just as he wakes again! Plus Sophie likes to climb in with us if she wakes in the night (which I don’t usually mind) and that has been disturbing me too. I’ve asked her to stay in her bed or sleep in Jessica’s bed in our room if she wakes and wants to be with us for now, at least until I’ve had a few more restful nights.

 

My husband has tried to do what he can – getting up with the kids so I can attempt to get just a little more sleep (if only I could actually sleep for that time!) I envy him his ability to fall asleep easily every time, and to sleep through most things! Even if he got up with Thomas in the night, I’d have still woken up first and had the same problem of not getting back to sleep. Plus mummy milk is the one thing that will settle Thomas back down quickly and Daddy can’t provide that.

 

I’ve cut out caffeine in the evenings, tried relaxing music and mindfulness tracks aimed at encouraging sleep, avoided looking at my phone in the night, counted endless sheep but that brain of mine just will not switch off at 3am! Let’s hope that Thomas will start sleeping through again soon so I can have at least one undisturbed night!

 

Things that have made me smile this week

  • Watching Sophie and Thomas dancing along to Strictly.

 

  • A meal with my in-laws to celebrate Grandad’s birthday.

 

  • Sunny spells and being able to have some toys set up in the garden.

 

Thomas playing with PAW Patrol and Ben and Holly toys in the tuff tray in the garden

 

  • Sophie’s excitement at counting down the days to her birthday next week.

 

  • Finding my rehearsal bag from the concert we were rehearsing when Jessica died. I last used it for a Sunday rehearsal at church – the last Sunday that Jessica was there with us. Inside were a couple of drawings that she did in Junior Church that morning plus a cut out of her hands. Something to treasure.

 

Two of Jessica's drawings from Junior Church and a cut out of her hands

 

Word of the Week linky

6 thoughts on “Friday Focus 23/10/20 – Insomnia

  1. Insomnia is awful, I hope you manage to get some sleep soon. My drugs make me go out quickly, but if I wake up in the night I find it really hard to get back to sleep again. Plus I’ve started waking up at around 5 am every day…then I get tired in the day. You just can’t win, can you. I wish I could say I had a little one to cuddle in the night, but I know how tiring even that can be. Hopefully things will settle down again soon. x

    1. Thank you Anne. Those night-time cuddles are nice but not so nice being tired in the day. Thankfully last night was a little better.

  2. Oh no! It’s rubbish when you can’t get enough sleep. It sounds like you’ve had a lot of unsettled nights. I hope you get some sleep soon. x

  3. Jessica’s drawings leave no doubt of the character’s feelings. Very expressive and one to treasure. I hope you get some sleep. Insomnia really saps energy. It has been good to have a few outdoor days this week. Hope this week is a more restful week for you. #wotw

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