It's like my body is on a timer. I take it to bed when I am tired, and six hours later it wakes up. I check the time with a torch, always wear a wrist watch, and decide whether I have to get up immediately, or if I can snooze for a bit longer. I don't like going from horizontal to vertical in an instance, so I grab the fourth pillow and prop myself up half sitting half lying. I would like one of those hospital beds where you can alter the elevation. But adding a fourth pillow does the same job.
I sit/lie and ponder. What would be a good time to get up. Do I need to pee quickly, or can it wait. I make plans in my head for the days activities. Prioritise my tasks.
I can tell when people are going to work because car headlights flash around my room when they pull out of the road opposite. I remember the times I had 4am starts, and had to get up at three. No more of that thank goodness.
I never fully close my curtains, I like to catch a glimpse of the street light. As a child I was frightened of the dark. Mum always had to leave the landing light on and the bedroom door open, until I dropped off to sleep. These days I drop off almost immediately my head hits the pillow. I have some magazines to read by the bed, but I never make more than ten minutes before I am nodding off.
My six hours of sleep often goes to seven and a half, or even eight, as I gather my thoughts. As we drift towards summer and the days become longer, I will adjust my sleep pattern to take advantage of extended daylight hours. Sun in the morning prompts me to get out of bed earlier.
Ever since I had some of my innards removed (hysterectomy) 16 years ago, it has always felt uncomfortable to lie on my side. So now I always lie on my back the whole night through, with my hands resting on my thighs. I think that is because I was in a lot of pain after the op, and my belly was sore, and I didn't want anything weighty on top of me.
This is the routine I have every night and it works for me. As I lay down on the pillows I tell my head to go to sleep, and I do. Occasionally I wake up for a pee during the night. I pick up the torch which is next to my pillow, and check the time, then go to the bathroom, and don't put the light on. Straight back to the bedroom and it's off to the land of nod again. Sleeping on one's own in a king size bed is bliss.
I did a blog post in 2010 about how I make my nest.
Here's a pic from 2014.Two duvets in the winter.
That looks very cozy, I would never have thought of two duvets. It's gets very cold around here in winter, but the house has very good insulation (thanks to our landlord). I have one very thick duvet and two cushions. I also don't like to get up at once. My sleeping pattern is not my own, because my husband is an night owl, so I end up in bed much later than I would like.
ReplyDeleteLiebe Grüße, Barbara
I doubt very much I could sleep with anyone now. If I did by some miracle find a partner, it would have to be separate bedrooms.
DeleteI have a winter (duckdown) duvet, and a patchwork quilt over that. If very cold, a 2nd quilt goes on.
ReplyDeleteDuckdown is lovely and warm. I cut one up once to make pet beds with it. Oh dear, feathers everywhere. I won't do that again. I like the idea of duckdown jackets.
DeleteHi Ilona if you don't mind my asking why did you have a hysterectomy. I was recently faced with having one and it turned out I did not have the cancer that the gyno doc thought I had ! I do have a severe bladder prolapse tho this was from having a home birth with my 9 pound son over 40 years ago !!! But I am now taking estrogen and progesterin that I buy from Amazon.
ReplyDeleteHi Marlane. I don't mind you asking. When I was 59 I woke in the early hours with a terrific pain in my abdomen. I was in agony, no previous pains. I knew there was something seriously wrong so I called for an ambulance. They arrived pretty quickly and by then I could hardly stand and was hyperventilating and feeling sick. Was given pain killers in the ambulance. In A & E doctors came to see me, asked loads of questions, and I was put in a ward.
DeleteLater that morning they wanted to send me home, I asked what was the problem. They didn't know. I asked for an x-ray, they agreed to do that. They got me in within two hours, and told me I had a very large cyst on my right ovary, then I went home with pain killers.
They said I would have a hysterectomy. I was surprised and said that's a bit drastic. I thought they would go in through a keyhole and do a biopsy. They said, because of my age, taking everything out was the easiest and better option. They said they would make the decision about how they would open me up, after they put me down and they could examine me better. They cut me from top to bottom rather than horizontally because they wanted to get the 10 cm cyst out whole without damaging it.
That was in the March. I had the op in July. It went ok, sore belly as you would expect. I had 12 weeks off work to recover.
I had a letter a couple of months later saying no cancer had been found in what they took out. There was never a diagnosis of cancer anyway. I was relieved.
Thank you Ilona for explaining !! That was quite the experience for you and of interest to all of us women !! It reminds me of when my appendix burst when I was 16. I was in hospital for 3 weeks. Am just fine now over 50 years ago now. Hereford County Hospital England I was born there.
DeleteIt was a bit of a shock to me to become suddenly ill when I have been fit for many years. I remember lying in the ambulance thinking am I going to die. I remember when the morphine went into me and moved through my body. I began to relax and feel at ease. I thought if this is it, maybe dying isn't so bad after all. Now I hope I have a few more years left, and want to keep out of hospitals.
DeleteI'm glad you survived the appendix thing.
That must have been very frightning, glad everything was fine!
DeleteLiebe Grüße, Barbara