For Your Own Sake, Get Some Rest!

I now know what it is like to be sleep-deprived. Caleb was sleeping the worst during months 3, 4, and 5. It was unbearable. It is not just about being tired - it's so much more than that. Sleep affects the ENTIRE composition of your body AND your mind. Sleep affects your weight, and it also affects your mental health. The lack of sleep definitely damaged both aspects of my body.

Sleep and Weight Loss

For those 3 months when Caleb was not sleeping well, I lost ZERO pounds. My body just stopped losing weight. It refused to budge. I also had lost energy and sometimes my apetite. I was utterly exhausted and unmotivated. Healthy foods continued to make up my deit, and I still exercised somewhat regularly, although it was not as often as before. But, without healthy sleep, my weight stayed stagnant! It was very frustrating.

The week after Caleb started sleeping well, causing me to sleep better, I started losing weight again! That was a month ago, and I have lost 4 pounds since then! That is saying something, because I am only 2 pounds above my prepregnancy weight now.

An article on The Diet Channel website states the following:

"Sleep + exercise + a healthy diet = weight loss
"Exercising and eating healthfully is still the way to go. But, lack of shut-eye may soon be considered another risk factor for obesity. Especially since 65 percent of Americans are overweight and 63 percent of people don’t get eight hours of sleep a night. Interestingly, many of those who are overweight also don’t sleep enough."

I totally agree with that, and I am a personal witness that it WORKS!

Sleep and Depression

I am a happy person, as anyone who knows me will attest. I mean, I am passionate about life. I love laughing, it encompasses my entire being. I love exercising and staying healthy. Happy me. Being a mom is also one of the most rewarding and joyful experiences of my life.

However, I have had a large bump in the road that I encountered, due to lack of healthy sleep, and that was postpartum depression. I thought that I hated being pregnant so much that there was no way I would get any kind of postpartum blues or depression. However, I was very wrong. The lack of sleep piled on me and I experienced all the symptoms of postpartum depression for months before I realized it. Looking back on my journal, many times I wrote, "I have a hard time feeling happy, even though I have everything I could ever want."

I did not realize what I was going through until I talked to my sister-in-law and my best friend Nitti, who both told me to go see my doctor. At the point when I finally realized realized it was postpartum depression, I was in the worst of it. It was so bad that I was nauseous constantly and lost my apetite for almost a week. It got better after that week, slowly but surely.

Caleb started sleeping better and I did go see a doctor, who told me that sleep was exactly what I needed. Within days after Caleb and I were sleeping better and longer, I felt almost myself again. I am through the worst of it now and recovering, gratefully.

Postpartum depression is one of the most terrifying things I have ever gone through and I do not wish it on anyone. That being said, here is some advice on avoiding it entirely:

1- If you fear that you are at risk for postpartum depression at all, talk to your OB/GYN before you even have your baby. The doctor can help you prevent it or begin treatment for it before it gets bad. You do not HAVE to experience it. You can nip it in the bud.

2- Make sleep a TOP priority as a mom. It is NOT selfish, it is actually moreso selfless, because you want to be a good mom. Get good sleep and the whole family will benefit.

3- Let some things go. You don't need to be perfect at everything all at once. The house does not need to be spotless. Your hair does not have to be straightened. All that matters is you and your family are happy, healthy, and safe. All will eventually fall into place.

So, go, get sleep! IT IS AWESOME!

My life has dramatically changed since Caleb started sleeping better. I finally decided it was time to let him "cry it out" at 6 months old and see what happens. Well, he immediately started sleeping at least 11 hours a night with one or two awakenings for feedings. I am getting so much more sleep and seeing the benefits every day. I am SO happy as a mom now! I love being Caleb's mommy!