Naptime for Mommy
Jun 25th, 2008 by Bethany
When I’m not pregnant I very rarely take naps. Why? 1) Because I don’t really get that tired during the day. 2) Because even if I am that tired it’s hard to figure out how to get the kids to both go to sleep at the same time or be in an otherwise safe state while I sleep, so I just don’t do it.
Pregnant me is different because I get soooo tired for no reason other than that an inch-long unrecognizable baby is sucking me dry of energy. The last few days I’ve napped during the day, despite objection #2 above. Today I got lucky and was able to get both kids down for a nap at once, thereby freeing myself to also sleep. Other days I’ve slept while Maggie napped, rationalizing that Degen is old enough to take care of himself in baby-proofed areas. I’ve also snoozed on the couch in front of the TV as the kids watched My Friends Tigger and Pooh or whatever else popped on the kids station or roamed the house freely. It’s nice to have my father-in-law, Dick, around as an emergency backup adult for the times when I involuntarily collapse on the couch. At least someone else would (probably) hear the kids crying.
I vaguely remember something like this when I was pregnant with Maggie, only it was different then because I had only one child and he was less than a year and a half old. That meant he didn’t get offended when I’d put him in front of the TV for hours while I slept, no matter how guilty I felt about it. He happily played with his toys and watched his videos over and over and over again. Not so, now. When I try to sleep when Degen is awake now, he’ll run up and shake me, screaming “Wake up, Mommy! Open your eyes!” repeatedly. Hard instructions to resist.
Why is it that when I wake up in the morning I feel refreshed and rested, but when I nap during the day I usually feel like I just need another nap? I HAVE to take the naps, but they just aren’t very restful. I seem to feel slightly less nauseated in the evenings when I nap during the day, which is payoff enough to justify them to myself, but why won’t they wake my head up too? Ten minutes or three hours, it doesn’t seem to make a difference how long the nap is, I just don’t feel a whole lot better in the end. Hmph.
For those of you who are wondering if the next nine months are going to be a play-by-play of my pregnancy, brace yourselves for the worst because I’m hardly interested in anything else at the moment. In fact, my brain probably isn’t clear enough at the moment to speak reliably on any other subject. In fact, when I think of the things I’ve said in the past that were most embarrassing and thoughtless, nearly all of them were while I was pregnant (a couple were during high school or while I was dating Colin, but they are the minority of the group). There are times when I really wish I could go hide alone in an air-conditioned cave at the outskirts of town for a few months and just sleep and eat while I’m pregnant, then re-join society when I’m fit to interact pleasantly and coherently. Aren’t there societies that let women do that while they’re pregnant? I think someone told me so once and it stuck with me…except the part about what they were called and how to find them and join them. I guess I’m doing the next best thing right now–living with family who help take care of me and forgive me more readily than the rest of the world might.
After all that, I’m finally starting to awake from the haze my nap left me in. And the kids are still asleep! Yay! What to do with all this lack of energy while I have some free time? 
I just love listening to your pregnant mind! You are a hoot.