I need sleep...

Soooo tired... the boy is trying to kill me. I know it. He's hoping that by depriving me of sleep, I'll fall asleep on the road and die and he can assume my place as man of the house...

Work is starting to become a strange blur of smeared scenes. I'll be staring at the screen and it'll kinda...stretch...diagonally, for a couple of seconds and then I'll hear a customer asking if I'm still there, and not remember them calling in the first place, or me calling them. I'll search my windows for a ticket to find out what it was I was supposed to be doing, and realize my software timed out on me. There's nothing quite like the embarrassment of having to ask a customer who they are and why they're talking to you, when you've already been on the phone with them for 20 minutes.

People will talk to me and I know they're probably saying things. Definitely words of some sort, perhaps, unless they aren't, but they just don't make sense. It's like listening to someone speak a foreign language. So I just nod and give a half-laugh. You know the kind, a sort of "heh" that doesn't laugh with the eyes, just the mouth and nod, as if to indicate, yeah I heard what you said, and it's either funny, or I'm agreeing in a sardonic fashion. Most of the time it works, but sometimes it doesn't really apply and makes for an awkward situation.

THEM: "My mother has cancer, why is that funny?"

ME: (oh crap! how do I play this one off?) "Oh, uh... because uh... Seems...everyone and their brother has cancer these days?"

THEM: (puzzled) "What's that got to do with my pants?"

ME: (now I'm confused, but pick something nice and generic) "Well, it seems like you have enough to deal with already, all you need is one more thing causing you problems, right?"

THEM: "All I had to do was switch."

ME: (completely lost) "It's probably for the best, just don't rush into anything."

THEM: "Uh... okay."


Now, it wasn't until later I'd find out what they actually said was something about how their other pair of pants hurt, so they had to wear a dirty pair today...

This is the sort of thing I have to go through now. Half my conversations make no sense to me, the other half I can't even hear enough to hear the wrong words. I kind of feel like I'm sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool, looking up at the swimming images of the world floating on the surface, and all the noise is filtered through several feet of water.

I just got through explaining an incompatibility between MS Office and Adobe Acrobat to a dead phone line. I hadn't actually called the customer yet.

I need sleep.

Libra?

How much sleep do you get on average? Nightly?

You know as well as I, that if we don't get enough sleep at night, we can't function properly the next day.

How long has this been going on - lack of proper sleep?

~Ducky~

Hey Libra! Is your little guy teething or Colic? That is stressful for both parents and baby.Do you have a bedtime routine for him?I have 20+ years and 8 kids worth of experience.
Just a u2u away if you need.
AD

Originally posted by TheDuckster
How much sleep do you get on average? Nightly?

Oh, on average, about 6 hours. Normally I'm in bed between 9:30-11pm, and the alarm goes off at 5am. Until recently, the boy would go to sleep before me, and sleep past the time I woke up. This was before recently. Now I get less than 4 hours a night.

Originally posted by TheDuckster
You know as well as I, that if we don't get enough sleep at night, we can't function properly the next day.

You don't say? :bnghd: LOL....

Originally posted by TheDuckster
How long has this been going on - lack of proper sleep?

Well, recently, for about the last week. Before recently, from about August to November...

Originally posted by AccessDenied
Hey Libra! Is your little guy teething or Colic?

We had something blow in on the wind, and little man's allergies flared up. He can't take antihistemines, though, whereas I can. So he's all stopped up, coughing, sneezing, stuffy head, etc... He'll sleep for a few minutes at a time, then cough or sneeze, waking himself up, at which point he gets upset cause he can't breathe, or the side of his face is covered in cold semi-dried snot from where it's been leaking out, and he starts wailing...

I've had to learn how to sleep in 5-10 minute bursts just to remain semi-functional.

Originally posted by AccessDenied
I have 20+ years and 8 kids worth of experience.

I've seen you on the web-cam, there is no way in hell you've popped out 8 kids. And if so, there's a lot of women out there who are going to want your secret.

In any event, here's what we've tried for the allergies so far:

snot-sucker (aspirator), often in conjunction with saline drops in the nose.

humidifier with the Vicks liquid stuff in the chamber.

Vick's infant baby chest-rub stuff.

steam from shower to loosen flegm.

0.4ml Children's Dimetapp.

begging, pleading, praying.

inclining the head-half of his crib mattress.


Mostly, the problem is the little guy is so exhausted he gets really upset when he wakes himself up, which makes him cry and become stuffed up even more, which wakes him up further, which makes him mad and screamy, which makes it impossible for him or anyone in the surrounding 8 houses to sleep.

reply to post by thelibra


Oh geez, allergies are the worst to deal with.I see you have tried many things already.Have you been able to identify what the allergy is?
I have kids with allergies too.
#1.Do you have pets?
#2.Vaccume his room and change bedding daily.
#3. Stuffed toys are a breeding ground for dust mites.Wash frequently, and put in dryer if possible.
#4.Does anyone in your family have allergies?
#5.Heating vents can blow dust around the room as well.I don't know what kind of heat you have, but I have filters in my heating registers that I change regularly.
#6.I know he is little, but milk products cause mucous to form far more than clear liquids.Perhaps cut down on his milk or formula a bit and offer some 100% pure apple juice.* Warning..that may have a side effect on the other end if he is not used to it.
#7.I know this sounds disgusting to say, but, if the mucous coming from his nose is yellow or greenish in colour, there is an infection present.He could also be suffering from an ear infection.As the eustacean tube is connected to the ear .A lot of babies with bad colds can go on to get ear infections.Have you noticed him tugging or rubbing at his ear?
I would suggest a trip to the doctor.Just to be safe.If for nothing else to eliminate an ear infection.They can get very bad.To a point where the inner ear gets eaten way by the poison produced. NOT GOOD.
I hope I have been of some help.Just u2u me or post here if you need. I hope your little guy feels better soon.Nobody likes to be sick.

*** I do have 8 kids.Ages 21,19,17,13,11,9,7,4. Yes they all popped out of me.I wish I could say I work hard to keep my figure but Iam just blessed with my mother's genes.Yes, I gave birth 8 times over 21 years,and I have only gained an extra 5 pounds since high school to show for it.Trust me, Iam hated by most women for this very reason.
Thank you for the compliment.

In all seriousness, learn to drink coffee.
This is not a smart-arse answer. Seriously.

I often only get 4 hours, it is just not enough.
When things get as you described- I call it a dreamy state, you are a danger to yourself and others.

coffee and a shower to wake up-btw, eating will help wake you up too.

I find hot coffee more effective than drinking it when it has gotten cold.

6 hours? I would whither away quick. I'm an 8 hour girl.

I hope you get some sleep soon

You Poor thing:shk:
Your thread caught my eye because I hate to be deprived of sleep. It is the worst thing I can experience.
They all have great suggestions, so I won't give you any. Just a tiny tale.

When I was a sailor. Yes.
At times I would go 5 or more days with out sleep. Perhaps 15-20 min. at a time.
On day three I knew, I could either throw my self to the sea gulls or chuck my head in in the boiling potatoes.
Day four I knew I should have.
Day five, I didn't have strength to do it. I was a zombie.
Everything would be a haze.

I honestly preferred death to the agony of being awake, being thrown out of my bed.
I would cry, no sob when we could see the shore, just the shore line, or the captain would announce that the storm was passing. That rarely happened.
I think what kept me from being "gull fodder" was that I'd go out on the bow and scream until I was hoarse and my tears where washed into the sea.
Find a place to let it all go.
WIS

Dude!

Been there. Only the once though. When my Boy was little he has some stomach probs that screwed with all our sleep for about a month, he was waking up every hour on the hour or so it seemed.

I always take a while to drop off to sleep.

If you have family that can help out and they offer take them up on it... I know everyone wants to be the prefect mummy and daddy.... but knowing you need a good nights sleep, and getting just one good night a week makes a real difference. (for me anyhow!)

A friend of mine's kid has all sorts of allergies and they got an ionizer thingy I think it's sharp or panasonic!!

Kinda like this one...

It really helped, they even take it on holiday with them. lol!

In Hong Kong they're not too expensive cos the pollution effects like 1 in 4. Which is pretty crappy if you think about it.

Get some sleep.

MonKey

Originally posted by AccessDenied
I would suggest a trip to the doctor.Just to be safe.

We finally did, actually. The wife called me and had me leave work early to take him to the doctor. Turns out he has Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Which explains why it's gone on for so long, and why he's so often coughing and has such a runny nose.

Originally posted by AccessDenied
*** I do have 8 kids.Ages 21,19,17,13,11,9,7,4. Yes they all popped out of me.I wish I could say I work hard to keep my figure but Iam just blessed with my mother's genes.Yes, I gave birth 8 times over 21 years,and I have only gained an extra 5 pounds since high school to show for it.Trust me, Iam hated by most women for this very reason.
Thank you for the compliment.

My wife is going to be pissed. She wanted you to say something like "Oh, take this pill" or "do 15 pilates day"...not "have good genes". I better make something up... maybe I can sell a kidney and get us a treadmill.

Originally posted by mrmonsoon
In all seriousness, learn to drink coffee.
This is not a smart-arse answer. Seriously.

In the last week, I've now started doing 2 pots of coffee a day. Seriously. This is up from the 1 pot of coffee a day I've been drinking since high school, which was up from the cup a day I'd had since around 5 years old... I loves myself some coffee, but I fear I've slowly built up an immunity to it.

Originally posted by jensouth31
6 hours? I would whither away quick. I'm an 8 hour girl.

Ye gads, Jen. I haven't had 8 hours sleep since before I met my wife.

Originally posted by WalkInSilence
When I was a sailor. Yes.

Navy? Merchant Marines? Fisherman? Cargo?
My gramps was a Navy Frogman back in the day, from the sound of it, sailors don't often get to sleep. Must be something about living on a boat.

Originally posted by WalkInSilence
Find a place to let it all go.

Sounds like your situation was a lot worse than mine, though I'm near the point of screaming. I just don't seem to have the energy to. Oh, and I started back going to college again a couple of days ago, so now I can add more demands on what little quiet time exists that would normally be used for sleep.

Originally posted by ChiKeyMonKey
If you have family that can help out and they offer take them up on it... I know everyone wants to be the prefect mummy and daddy.... but knowing you need a good nights sleep, and getting just one good night a week makes a real difference. (for me anyhow!)

Thank god for my mother in law. She thinks our boy hangs the moon, and "demands" her weekly night to babysit him. This does give the wife and I one night of sleep a week, except this last weekend she couldn't watch him. So it's been about 8 days now with less than 4 hours sleep total per 24 hour period. I've started napping at work during lunch.

Originally posted by ChiKeyMonKey
A friend of mine's kid has all sorts of allergies and they got an ionizer thingy I think it's sharp or panasonic!!

Do those work? We were thinking of dumping some of our tax return on an Ionic Breeze or something, to help out with the allergies. I know I have a ton of them, and while the doc said yesterday the boy can't develop allergies till after he's been alive a year or so, it might still be a good idea. I just don't know if they're more a placebo or actually worth it.

If they work, we may just have to consider getting one.

Originally posted by thelibra
Ye gads, Jen. I haven't had 8 hours sleep since before I met my wife.

Try...you'll like it You should make a deal with the wife...this day she gets up with the baby...and you sleep...and then next time it's your turn.

There are some nice men on this board. I always had to get up with the babies, the night shift was not a shared chore at my house.