week 1: remedies for sleep deprivation
I’m sleep deprived. The signs are clear: grumpiness, propensity to get ill, and a terrible short term memory. I remember these symptoms from the months following my son’s birth, three years ago. I was like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde: I’d wake up in the morning feeling very sorry for myself. I’d snap at my mom and anyone who was trying to help. Then I would take my afternoon nap and awaken with a smile and effusive signs of love for all those around me. Nighttime would come around again and with it, the rollercoaster of emotions. Four months after his birth, he was a better sleeper, but my brain was still slow. Weeks after returning to work I took the highway the wrong way and was back in San Francisco before realizing that I had been driving north for 15 minutes, not South as I had intended.
Having lived through this once, I’m a little wiser the second time around. Here are my personal remedies for dealing with the first 4 months after birth and keeping some of your intellectual mojo…
Remedy for grumpiness: take a nap every day for as many months as you need. This sounds simple, but if you take a nap you’ll be happy at least part of the day. Don’t skip the nap. Like now, I’m skipping my nap to figure out this blogging technology. Bad idea.
Remedy for frequent illnesses: strengthen your immune system. I’m not one to give lessons, as I have had mastitis and strep throat in the past three months. Yet, I do know these simple habits are helping me build strength for the future.
- vitamins: last year, my husband and I took a nutrition course with Simla Somturk, nutritonist extraordinaire. My favorite feature of her program was the “grocery tour” day: she walked us through aisles of vitamins and food supplements, helping us make sense of all those little bottles I previously walked by with a blank stare. She helped me choose the set of vitamins for my body: I now take vitamin C , vitamin D, Calcium/Magnesium, Vitamin B6 and Omega oils daily. This works much better for me than a multi-vitamin, which tended to sap my energy. Read more from Simla here: http://enjoydelicioushealth.com
- homeopathy: I know a witch doctor who lives in Marin; she happens to be an M.D. and a doctor of homeopathy, but she has the mystery and wisdom of a witch doctor. She looks you in the eye, asks you a few questions about your sleeping, eating and emotional habits then prescribes a remedy to strengthen your immunity. It’s called a constitutional remedy and is a traditional practice among homeopaths. All four of us have had our “constitutions read”, and anytime we feel a little under the weather we take our constitutional. I’ll write more about homeopathy another week - it’s fascinating.
- body work: days after giving birth I had my masseuse come to our house for a nice hour long massage. She’s done this five or six times in the past 3 months, on days when my husband and I are tight and sore from carrying and caring for little ones. The important message here is that we have a “masseuse” - someone whose worked with our bodies for over five years and knows how to find the sore spots. This is far more important than finding a nice spa with relaxing music and warm towels (our masseuse does that too); it’s also considerably cheaper. If you live in San Francisco, try Amy Howard. She’s magical. www.bodytherapy-sf.com/
Remedy for loss of short term memory: exercise your brain. My husband gets to go back to work weeks after our children our born. Every morning, when he leaves the house, I feel a little twitch of envy. While it’s not realistic for me to take on professional responsibilities while I’m recovering from delivery and breastfeeding my child six times a day, I’m trying hard to keep my brain active. I read, I write in my journal and I play the piano. The piano has been my saving grace. Every time I learn a new song, I can feel my little neurons fire up in such a forgiving way: I make mistakes but these make me want to try harder; I can sing along and when I finally nail a song, my son and I can have a little concert. Watch our video in the next post.
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