He Sleeps

For 8 years, The Husband didn't sleep. Army dictated his sleeping schedule and it turns out Army doesn't need that much sleep. The Army Husband slept 3-4 hours over 2-3 days. He saw no need in sleeping more than that and neither did Army.

Fact: sleep IS important.

The Docs discussed his the lack of sleep during the last few months of Army. They said things like "You should sleep more. You should have a sleep routine. You should get at least 6-8 hours of rest every night. Sleep is vital to your recovery. Sleep is crucial for cognitive function. Sleep is crucial for brain injury recovery. Sleep is required for psychological recovery. You must sleep." Army said things like "See that desert: go out there for days on end, observe both day and night missions, run night fire exercises, try and train the unprepared, and if you have time after all of that, you might be able to close your eyes in your HMMWV, but watch out for the coyotes that like to sleep with you." And then there were the few days that Army said "Eww you stink, go home, shower, sleep, come back out in 2 days", The Husband spent those nights with our friend, Wadio (aka Radio aka Small Torture Device For Light Sleepers Like Me) on the night stand listening to everything that was going on in the desert, so that if there was a problem, he could be consulted.

Army doesn't really appreciate sleep the way The Husband's brain needed it to.

But Civilian Land, oh Civilian Land, it does appreciate sleep. And so we hoped The Husband would treasure it as well.

Except He didn't.

He didn't treasure it on sleeping medications (two different ones--who can't sleep on Ambien?!?! The Husband.), he didn't treasure it on medications that weren't considered sleeping medications but were supposed to help his mind to chill out enough to sleep (not at all...), he didn't treasure it even after learning he has sleep apnea and got a CPAP to help (at that point he was just pretty pissed about being "tethered" to his side of the bed while I enjoyed having half of the bed ALL TO MYSELF...).

But a few months ago, he started sleeping.

I wish I could say what it was. I don't know exactly. It's not a medication (or maybe it is?). It's not a change in environment (or maybe it was?). It's not a change in stress level (or maybe it is?). It's not a psychological change (or maybe it was?). I'm honestly not sure.

But one Saturday a few months ago, I woke up, the sun was shining and The Husband was snoring. Then the next day, he was snoring after I was as well. He didn't know why he was suddenly sleeping in either, he didn't remember being up during the night but he wasn't sure. Around that same time, we got the new FitBit thingie and as an added bonus it tracks sleep!

Turns out, The Husband sleeps these days.

He still has rough nights, but they're more uncommon than common these days. He's napping less. He's alert and functional ALL DAY LONG, which I have mixed feelings about with all these kids home for the Summer...so much noise in my house.

It's been 3 years since The Husband said goodbye to Army dictating his sleep schedule, and finally, he sleeps.

Now if we could only get that 10 year old to treasure sleep too.