Losing my sleep

If I were to ask you, “What as per you are the most important things one needs for survival?” The typical answers would be – Air, Water, food, money etc etc. However, the last couple of days taught me there is something else that we take for granted however, is essential for survival – SLEEP!

The last couple of months have been somewhat torturous on my sleep. The last trimester of my pregnancy, coupled with the humid sultry summer of Mumbai had me waking up in the middle of night not knowing what to do.I would simply roam around the house like a zombie, have a glass of water, feel the kicks of the baby and plug into some good music that would help me sleep. Initially, everyone would wake up with me to offer me a glass of water and suggest ways to get a sound sleep. But, soon as this became a daily phenomenon, their sleep too preferred to keep them away from giving me company.

As I would crib about my sleep issues over morning tea, mom in law would try to comfort me by telling me it was perfectly normal and soon I would be able to get back to my normal sleeping routine. I would count the days to my due date, smile and say, “ok….x days to a good sleep”.

I still remember the time when I was about to be taken to the Operation Theatre. I told my mom in law how tired I felt due to sleep deprivation and once the baby would be born, the first thing I would do would be to have 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep! She smiled and told me, “Once the baby is born, all you will do is rest, rest and rest!” What could be better best! I wondered.

However, if everything goes well as planned, life wouldn’t be so exciting, isn’t it? Since the day little S was born, I haven’t been able to manage even the basic 6 hours of sleep! Mom in law and I have become such a pro at these midnight jagrans that I once even suggested her we can open our own jagran mandli! The baby, it seems is a true nocturnal, for all formulas to make him sleep at night fail. However, in the morning, when it’s time for us to get up and get going with the daily chores, little S makes up for his sleep, even without us having to make an effort. So the moment he is asleep, even if we are starving, we rush to take a nap coz we never know when the volcano erupts!

 I have tried to keep curtains drawn in the morning to give an impression of night. Still, he knows its daytime and he has to make up for the sleep loss. When kids are basically innocent and not knowing anything, how do they understand whether its night or day?

Did some googling on sleep and found this interesting chart on how much sleep do we actually need

Also found this interesting link on how sleep affects our body…

https://sleep.org/

So for all my friends who are ready to welcome the stork in their homes, I offer an advice my friends too offered me but fell on deaf ears – Make the most of the sleep time you have coz once the little one arrives, you will find sleep more precious than any other thing!

P.S. I was telling mom in law how great it would be if we have a sleep God. We could appease him to make our kids sleep at night! Need I mention her reaction? Lol!