YAWN

I think in most posts, I mention being tired. The easy answer, I know, is "go to bed earlier." That sounds so simple, but for one thing I'm definitely a night owl; there's very little I love more than my quiet house, when it's just they hubby and I. The other issue and more problematic, is that if I go to bed early, I have a hard time falling back asleep after the 3AM BG check (we don't feel comfortable letting her go through the night most nights). Whereas, if I go to bed closer to midnight, 3AM is a blip, I sleepwalk through my duties and am able to fall right back asleep without issue 90% of the time. So, no matter what, for lack of a better term, my sleep is screwed up every weeknight. Because I don't work*, I take the weeknight shifts and hubby does the weekend. All the more reason to say TGIF! Even his nights, though, I still usually wake up to his alarm or his movements. 

Another disadvantage with going to bed early, is that I then find myself having to wake up twice during the night (unless hubby stays up until after 11), and I honestly hate nothing more than my alarm clock. (I have 2 alarm clocks: the clock radio is for the morning wake up and the iTouch is for night time alarms.)  Sidenote -- In the past year+, I have developed certain skills. It's nothing applicable to anything else in life nor anything to really be proud of, but, for example, I can check blood sugar in the dark better than anyone. (thank you for the applause; thank you, thank you ;) ) Another skill I have, but actually started when I was younger - stemming from having to wear a head gear at night - is my ability to take off or turn off things in my sleep.

So, back to that alarm clock... my subconscious also hates my alarm clock. I somehow have been turning off the 3AM alarm in my sleep. The only solid nights of sleep I was getting was when I was neglecting my daughter. So a few nights ago, I finally moved the iTouch onto a dresser that forces me to get out of bed. It was good I did, because that first night of doing so, after K's BG was 251 mg/dl at nearly midnight, she dropped to 50 mg/dl at 3AM. And we had just decreased the amount of insulin she gets from 12- 3 (aka "decreased the basal rate during that time"). I woke her up a little; gave her juice. It was one of the rare 10% of nights that I couldn't go back to sleep after going to bed after midnight. K couldn't sleep either; she was calling for me 20 minutes later saying her tummy hurt (which is her classic symptom for being low). I checked her again and she had come up to 83 mg/dl. Pretty good, but at 3:20 in the morning, I feared she might drop again, so I gave her a little more juice. I rubbed her hair, kissed her cheek the way most parents comfort a sick child, but I find myself doing every night, and bid her farewell, again. I still had trouble getting back to sleep. That was Tuesday AM and I'm still playing catch up - or maybe falling even further behind... 
None of my babies were great sleepers. Don't even get me started on my #2 child, but it seems like right when things were starting to mellow (because K was not a great sleeper even at 3)  - diabetes came and disrupted the sleep again. Oy.


* ok, regarding that work comment from up above, before you other "SAHM" snap at me, after all these years, I still don't know how to say "I don't work for $ and spend most my time caring for my children and my home" (thank you Kristin Maschka for detailing this dilemma in your book, This Is Not How I Thought It Would Be") - yes, I know it's a full time job in itself, but I don't need the same brain power my husband does for his job- or a restful sleep to stay awake while reading/reviewing boring stuff like he does. That's just the way we operate. It seems to work.