Ocean Dreamer

On Saturday I attended Seattle RESOLVE’s Family Building Conference with the lovely Joy from MotherWilling (more on this and what I learned later.)  In the first session, though, the presenter said that if we learned nothing else that day, we should learn that sleep is critically important for fertility.  I took it to heart.

Now, I know sleep is important.  I’m someone who needs at minimum 8 hours of sleep (and does best with 9  - doesn’t bode well for my potential as a sleep-deprived new mom, does it?)  I can always tell if I’ve had enough sleep by how together I feel the next day.  However, I’m not always great at making sure I get enough sleep.  When I had a partner, I was (usually) fine.  But after I broke up with my ex, I really, really hated bedtime.  Going to sleep by myself really brought home all the negative things about being single.  So I started avoiding it, usually by watching TV and (often) falling asleep in front of the TV and waking up hours later to groggily climb into bed.

Some aspect of this has gone on, off and on, for 2+ years.

So when the presenter made the statement that getting enough sleep was the single most important take-home message of the entire conference, I listened.  And now …

I’ve given myself a bedtime and have kept to it for this week.  I will no longer let myself lay down on the couch to watch TV at night.  And *I feel great.*  Of course, there could be other things involved – like the fact that I only worked 16 hrs this week because of some other, unrelated, health stuff – but still….  I feel more put together, less stressed, etc.  And as a teacher, it makes a huge difference not only to me, but to the kids because I’m more patient and more flexible.

Usually when I make changes like this, they don’t last, but my hope is that this one will stick.  Wish me luck.

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