Sleep deprivation is kicking my ass

Sleep deprivation is bad for marriage. Daily, if not multiple times a day, I find myself wanting to scream at Eric for the smallest things. Luckily, he hasn't been in the room at the time, and I soon get over myself.

Sleep deprivation is bad for baby. I spend most of her awake hours wishing she was asleep. While she does sleep a lot, most of her time is spent eating and/or dealing with eating: spitting up and pooping. So most of my time is spent giving her food, wiping her bum, and looking at her with a worried expression while I watch her little body try to keep her food down. This quickly gets very, very old.

Sleep deprivation is bad for my blog. Not only haven't I been blogging, but I skipped a day's photograph last week. *sigh*

Sleep deprivation is bad for my sleep disorders. I spend as much time as I can off of my feet, which my body takes to mean I'm "relaxing", which means it's time for my RLS to start up. Some days I can't nap or even sit down without having to deal with my legs wanting to constantly kick and squirm. Which makes for a very humorous picture, I'm sure, for anyone watching me holding the baby while she's kicking and squirming too. But the real problem with RLS is the medication I take, and trying to work in the after-midnight feeding while dealing with nausea and extreme sleepiness. We've developed a sleep schedule where I go to bed much earlier than Eric, he stays up late to give her a late-night feeding, which usually means I get a full 5 hours of sleep before I have to get up to feed her around 2am. Usually. This usually means that the nausea/doped-up feeling has passed. Usually. As an extra bonus, earlier this week I got real evidence of something I long suspected: I have REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. So much for the experiment with co-sleeping.

Sleep deprivation is bad for my pain. Spending as much time as possible off of my feet, means a lot of time sitting on my bum, which means my sciatica is kicking my ass more than every. Literally. Between my arthritic knees and my sciatica-pained butt, the only time I'm comfortable is when I'm laying down. Hence the experiment with co-sleeping. Since that's out the window… well, I'm kind of just screwed all over. Extra bonus? I somehow mucked up my right wrist, so moving it in some directions is painful, and moving it in other directions is excruciating. Sleeping, feedings, bottle washing, carrying baby… all are that much more difficult. No one said this was going to be easy, but come on!

Sleep deprivation is bad for my social life. Social life? What's that? Wait, I'm supposed to be able to leave the house? Not when I smell this bad and my eyes are drooping this low. With greasy hair and ripe clothing, I went grocery shopping and ran to the pharmacy yesterday out of sheer desperation. Boy did my ass pay for that.