The End of an Era

Ladies and Gentlemen, Sleep has left the building.

I knew this would happen, and yet, here I am - with nine and a half weeks left in my pregnancy, slightly devastated that it has happened already. Sure, I’ve had moments of tossing and turning while I adjusted to a growing belly and sleeping almost exclusively on my left side (Note for those of you who have never been pregnant: Apparently sleeping on your left provides the best bloodflow to the baby) But I thought I still had time.

I knew the end of 8 hours of blissful sleep was nearing - but not now. not yet - I’m not ready to say goodbye! As my belly has grown to epic proportions, my ability to sleep comfortably has diminished considerably (no matter how many pillows I stuff around my body) Add to that about 6 bathroom breaks a night and not being able to easily fall back asleep - and my average sleep time has fallen to just under 5 hours and going downhill fast. It doesn’t matter if I go to bed early or try to sleep in - same results.

I know in many ways that this is all just preparation for life with a newborn - adjusting my body to multiple middle of the night feedings and diaper changes - but I just feel like the time went by so fast and I didn’t savor sleeping as much as I should have. I took it for granted, and now it’s gone.

Who knows how many years stand between me and a good night’s sleep now… depending on how large our family grows it could be 5? 10 years maybe?

*Sigh* Like they always say “you don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone.” We had a good long run together - me and restfulness. 27 happy years. I don’t know when we’ll meet again, but I sure do look forward to the day. So long my good friend, sleep.