What Happened to My Sleep??

In my twenties, I was a good sleeper. A really good sleeper.

And in my thirties too. I remember Hubby and I enjoying many a lazy weekend lie in, relishing the lack of the weekday alarm clock which was the only thing capable of rousing me from my slumber in those happy, carefree, sleepeasy days.

*sigh*

Then I had children. And as we all know, that will seriously f*@k with your sleep patterns.

However ..... my two boys now sleep very well most of the time. And being little, they have this amazing ability of sleeping for eleven or twelve hours at night. Giving me plenty of time for a good nights kip most nights. Or so you'd think.

I'm well known in our house for dozing on the couch of an evening. I get passed around 10 p.m. and I find it hard to watch TV, read or sit in front of this big ol' PC screen without getting sleepy.

I go to bed and not long after, I'm asleep and happily snoring. But then a few hours later, I wake up. I'll check the kids, peep out the window into the dark (not sure why I do that). Maybe even have a pee and a smoke. But I'm exhausted, I don't get enough sleep - I wonder what I'm doing awake and go back to bed.

I toss and turn, I can't get comfortable. I may even have a twinge in my neck or my shoulder that's preventing me from settling but eventually, I nod off again.

This random waking up, sometimes coupled with a little person wake up or two, can happen again in the early hours. I'll eventually awake proper at around 6 a.m. and no matter what, if that sun is up outside my window - then there's no hope in hell I'm nodding off again. Often as not, I'm up before Hubby and kids, sleepily shuffling around the kitchen with a cup of tea in my hand trying to get my day going.



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Is it just a routine I need to break? From years of being woken at random intervals by my lovely children. Ahem. I don't think so. Man, I'm tired. Why would I not be able to sleep when given the opportunity to do so? Hubby even offers to do the early mornings at the weekend (kids up, washed, dressed, breakfast "get OFF your brother!!" etc) so I can have a lie in. If only I could!! I just lie there listening to all the distant commotion in the lounge and kitchen, wishing I could switch off and sleep.

So I 'went to see' Dr. Oz.

Doctor to billions of hypochondriacs and people who can't afford/can't be arsed to go see a real Doc in the flesh. Turns out, I could be Perimenopausal. WTF??!! Can we use a real word please? Pre-menopausal would have made more sense.

Okay, so maybe my hormone levels are starting to drop. I'm still menstruating (and I apologise for using the 'M' word, to those who still find it yukky to talk about). I'm not hot sweats, abandon wombed or anything yet, you understand.

But I'll try his tips for Foods That Help You Snooze. I haven't the foggiest idea what Chia seeds are (cue next housework delaying Google search) but I can get with the idea of eating parmesan popcorn and bananas of an evening. Yes siree.

Any other tips for knocking myself out at night? Tips that don't include lavender pillows, any kind of herbal tea, alcohol, drugs or mallets to the head. Tried all those.