I've talked about how sleep is critical to my well-being and how it also acts as an indicator of a depression flare up. I also mentioned how I tend to model my sleep patterns after my husband since I don't work and that he has a somewhat wonky work schedule lately and that it was to return to normal soon. It didn't and doesn't appear that it will for at least two more weeks, if not until the end of the year. Yes, YEAR!
Bloody hell...
Currently, he goes to work at 4:00 am. That mean he goes to bed anywhere in the 7:00-9:00 pm time frame and his alarm goes off somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00 am. He then has to hit snooze a few times, eventually crawl out of bed, get dressed for work and go about his morning routine in order by leave the home by 3:45 am. Our two dogs, who share our bed, also wake up with him and then come back to bed.
One of my sleep issues if that if I've been asleep for less than 60-90 minutes or more than 4 hours and then wake up for anything more than a trip to the bathroom, I'm typically up for at least several hours. This happened when my husband started this new schedule. I also slept through his alarm and got a blissful night of sleep but that was the exception rather than the rule.
His bed time was not working for me at all. I'm a night owl and do my best everything then. Besides, I had zero desire to wake up around 3:00 am and going to bed at that time would ensure that I was waking up at that time along with him. It wasn't working so I made it work.
I now stay up until his alarm goes off. I then spend some time with him and we chat while he goes through his morning routine. After he leaves, I go to bed and generally sleep until 7:00 or 8:00 am when the dogs wake me up to go outside and have their breakfast. We play around and within an hour, they are ready to cuddle so we head back to bed and get up around noon. It's not perfect but I'm getting what feels like enough sleep. I know that I'm getting enough to judge if increased sleep is out of need or a depression indicator.
What sucks is that if he continues on this weird schedule, it could actually change. The contract he's working on requires that he and his co-worker fix a machine so it is ready for a certain shift. When he worked the overnight shift, it was on machines for first shift. This schedule he is working now is for the machines on second shift. Who knows what machines they will be fixing next and so who knows what hours he will be working and sleeping. All I do know is that I will adapt and make it work for me so I get the sleep I need.
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