The little heatwave we've had this past week has caused our family to once again retreat to the living room to seek relief from the humidity and uncomfortable sleeping in our rooms without air conditioning. Unfortunately Baby Bug has had a mild cold this week as well and hasn't been sleeping very consistently. It's difficult for her to breathe lying down and she also can't suck on her pacifier or a bottle for long without having to pause for a breath. Needless to say, we haven't gotten very restful sleep lately. Last night was the worst though. She was restless from 11pm until 2am and then from 2:15am until 4:30am she was awake and uncomfortable and uncontrollably crying in spurts. Since we were all in the same room, none of us got very good sleep. Poor Batman had to get up and go to work and Monkey had to get up and go to school. I had to function enough to keep Baby Bug out of trouble and that was quite the task. My head felt spinny and my body was aching (did I mention that Baby Bug handles her discomfort and exhaustion by climbing all over me?!? Well...she does...and has for the past few days....)
(This photo is not mine but I lost the link and can't remember the search criteria to find it again!)
As such I wasn't terribly motivated to make nutritious food for us to eat. It's a good thing that I don't keep junk food in the house anymore because I would have consumed it all today. I was basically cursing myself come dinner time because I no longer keep frozen pizza (or frozen prepackaged anything really) in the house. I managed to scrounge up a dinner of sauteed chicken breasts, rice, black beans and sweet peas. It was mediocre but hey it wasn't frozen pizza and I had a full plate of food for just under 500 calories.
I DID manage to get in some exercise today, more out of necessity than desire. Baby Bug was refusing her afternoon nap and I was on the brink of insanity, having been trapped in the same room for the past several days (we are short on money again so I have minimal gas to go anywhere, not to mention money to do anything once I get there...) I packed Baby Bug up into her stroller and we took a mile and a half walk. I would have gone further but my body was exhausted after last night's derby practice followed by two hours of midget wrestling and only 4 non-consecutive hours of fitful sleep. Baby Bug did fall asleep and I finally got to lay down.....only to be woken up about 15 minutes later by Monkey returning home (an hour earlier than her dad has dropped her off all week) and loudly requesting to play outside with her friends. I shushed her and sent her outside but then I had to be a awake to listen just in case something happened outside. So, basically no nap for me.
I know I've written about the importance of sleep before but here are some reasons why it's so important.
Taken from http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/importance_of_sleep_and_health:
The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:
- Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
- Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
- Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
- Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
- Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
- Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
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