Severe Insomnia

So, I've had a crazy three week stint of insomnia, where the most sleep I've gotten is two nights of 6 hours (with the aid of sleeping pills), and the rest has been 3, with 6 days of no sleep at all... and several times of taking sleeping pills without sleeping and just having the nausea and tummy-aches for nothing...
SOOOOOOOOOOOOO this post is to share what I've learned from this about insomnia and what I've learned about myself and to celebrate that for the first night since the week before mother's day I have slept!! HOOOOORRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!

So, much of what I learned about insomnia I learned from the Mayo Clinic website, my sister, and the library. Here you go:

Sometimes you get insomnia because you have something life-changing happen (someone dies, or you're getting married, buying a house, a new baby etc) or because you are stressed about something (finals, work, whatever). Sometimes it comes from bad sleeping habits -- too many nights staying up cleaning or whatever. Or sometimes, it happens like it seemed to for me, for no good reason at all.

What's condusive to good sleep? A clean room. A regular sleep time. A sleep routine (reading, brushing teeth, soaking feet). A dark room. Ear plugs or a noise machine... don't stress about not sleeping -- for the most part other than headaches, you can still get through the day on a lot of prayer. What if all that's not working? Well, check with your doctor to rule out your thyroid or other problems. Possibly taking a sleeping pill, or a melatonin supplement which doesn't work for everyone, just those whose body is not producing enough melatonin on their own. I tried that last night. My doctor, who'd experienced severe insomnia last year when his father died, suggested counting breaths -- every time you exhale counting. I just did 1-10 over and over and then I'd wake up and realize I'd slept. It was wonderful!!

What I've learned from this experience:
God listens to all our prayers and helps you do the things you need to do, even if it's difficult at times. Even if He doesn't take the trial immediately away (I don't know how many times I've prayed to sleep in the past 3 weeks), He's still there and loves us.

I love Ryan more every day. He's slept on the couch a lot recently, worried that his snoring was part of my problem. He is so selfless and kind, and so willing to 'roll with the punches' if the house isn't as clean as I'd like, or watch the girls so I can take a bath, or make dinner... he's amazing. He is pretty much superman, and I love him madly!

I love my sister, Jenny, who has experienced so much. It's too bad for her that she's been the trail blazer on somethings, but it's been great for the rest of us, because it was nice to know that she knew what I felt like. She's awesome.

So, the break-down. I love God, and He loves me. I love my husband, and he loves me. I love my kids and they love me. I love my sister, and she loves me. I love my family, and they love me.