Sleep Deprivation... A classic normal.

I think somehow God was preparing me to handle a diabetes diagnosis in one of my children. Think about it. From before the time Clifford was born, I hardly ever slept, due to reasons out of my control, but still had a significant lack of sleep. Pregnancy didn't really help in the sleep department either. Then Clifford was born, well we all know how well newborns sleep don't we. He was in newborn sleep mode until 21 months, which btw was the time when his baby sister Abigale was born. Abby really never reached the ability to sleep through the night until she was 4, but before that time Miss Hayleigh was born and proved to be just like her siblings in the sleeping department. It wasn't until Chad helped to sleep train all of them they started sleeping through the night. But by this time I was already pregnant with the twins and uncomfortable from the get go with morning sickness that lasted all day well into 22 weeks of pregnancy. By the time the morning sickness subsided I was already too huge, and cramped inside by two bouncing baby girls that sleep just wasn't in the picture. Diabetes by the way entered into our lives shortly after we found out we were expecting.

So I like to look at the sleep deprivation as a challenge. Because if you think about it, even with diabetes in the picture I've already have been quite sleep deprived for around 9 years now. I know I can function on little to no sleep for an extended period of time. I've learned to understand just how my body works in that at the 8-9 day mark of only 2 to 3 hours of sleep per night I crash, and I crash hard. I think once I surprised myself and made it almost 2 weeks straight before hitting that sleep wall. It's pretty funny that I actually get excited when I get more than 5 hours of sleep in a night.

Although sleep deprivation is not easy for everyone. Caffeine however is our best friends in the department of lack of sleep when it comes to Diabetes. I guess in a way I am thankful for the preparation for the lack of sleep that would be created when Diabetes entered the picture, because by the time it happened, I already knew how much I could function and on how little sleep.