Sleep Update

As of January 1st, my plan was to kick my sleep disorder (SD) in the butt, get off the meds and be normal. I have reading a lot about natural remedies or daily things I can do to manage my SD. I don't want to be on meds if I don't have to and I really don't want to be on them so that I can make a baby.

As I have mentioned befire, I did this because I was talking to the doctor in December about how I wanted to get pregnant and I received some news that was a little hard to swallow. He said, no doubt about it, my SD will get worse once I get pregnant. Typically, from what I was told, a woman in her first trimester is already tired - adjusting to hormones and it must take a lot of resources to create a life! My SD will make my tiredness extremely more difficult for me to function well. Sounds sad, right? Even worse is that it won't get better during the 2nd trimester, as it would for most women, it will continue to be rough all the way through until I'm done breast feeding, the baby is sleeping through the night and I'm back on my meds every night. What to do?

I talked to my doctor about alternative methods to manage my SD. He was all for it. I love a doctor that is ok with me choosing an alternative method. It was still kind of scary hearing what he had to say. What he told me is that I have to treat my pregnancy like I'm a soldier preparing for battle. What does that mean?

That means I have to be extremely disciplined and regimented and consistent. This regimen, as I have mentioned in previous posts, involves:
1. no sugar
2. no caffeine
3. sleep at the same time each day
4. wake at the same time each day (even weekends)
5. exercise regularly
6. eat protein (meat and nuts!)only at breakfast and lunch
7. complex carbs for dinner
8. avoid herbs like cayenne and rosemary at dinner
9. take short walks throughout the day
10. no alcohol

Soooo....how has it been going. I was "good" one day of the first week of January, then it fell apart. It was still right after the holidays where people were still giving me candies, cookies and coffee cards. Also, no meat for dinner is more difficult if you eat at a restaurant or go to a social function. I had to up my dosage of sleeping pills in order to off-set falling off the wagon :)

Week 2 was better. I was "good" for most of the days. I had some bad days and I got a chai latte - not a coffee, and ate some sugar. I found that if I severely decrease my sugar intake I'm ok, but I'm still working on kicking it entirely. I discovered that the greatest thing I could do for myself is NOT EAT MEAT at dinner. Wow! What a difference it made to me. I didn't realize how much better I felt when I slept on a protein free stomach! That's still hard when you go out for dinner, though, which makes it even more obvious that I should be avoiding meats at dinner.

Then there was mama's birthday. I was all good until dinner where i ate chicken, dessert and had a small glass of wine. Boo. What's a girl to do when everyone is eating it? I have to be better to myself and make the choice for my body than my socializing.

So, as I move into week 3, I've already learned a few things. I am good about sleep/wake until waking on the weekend. I am good about eating as long as my favorite goodies aren't around (white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, chocolate covered fruit, reese's pieces). I need to check the sugar/caffeine content of chai latte's because they are yummy. No meat for dinner. I need to be stronger during social events and, lastly, it's working!

So my plan for week 3 is:
1. keep same wake/sleep cycle even on the weekend
2. just say NO to sugar even more (hey, I can try to quit cold turkey or I can wean myself, which is better?)
3. no meat for dinner is awesome for me!
4. exercise at least every other day

I think that's manageable.