My Arsenal

I have a confession. I have several friends who are all about three to eight inches tall that live on my nightstand. They've always lived at our house, but since my pregnancy began, we've become so close so that they've taken a prominent place on my nightstand to keep their nighttime vigil over me. Their names are Tums, Extra Strength Tylenol, Dasani, Chapstick, Synthroid, and my newest best friend, Tylenol PM. Yes, I have recently come to realize just how many drugs and remedies I have been using. It's all very legit, of course, Tums, for obvious reasons, the bottle of water for when I wake up in the night parched, or when I need to chug the Tylenol...I usually drink an entire bottle of water between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7a.m., is that weird? Chapstick, also for when I wake up in the night, my thyroid medication which I take upon waking up in the morning. But this Tylenol PM, this is a new friend. At different points in this pregnancy I have had trouble sleeping. I can't get comfortable on either side, and when I can and fall asleep, I'm up two hours later to go to the bathroom, and then the fight starts all over again. Not to mention that now that we're two months away, I've turned into crazy lady and need to finish ALL unfinished projects (whether or not they're related to the baby... for example, my rabid desire to organize all the quotes and inspirational thoughts I've collected over my lifetime) in addition to getting everyone in my family to the dentist, eye doctor, dermatologist, and get their hair cut, pictures taken, and shots up to date, before my two months are up, which makes me stay up at night thinking about what I need to schedule next or what I need to write down before I forget. I can't settle down. I can't tell you how many times I have stayed awake at night looking at the texturing on our walls. Sleep has always come very easy to me, just ask Coach, I'm usually out in the time it takes him to turn off the light and get in bed himself. So not being able to sleep has been frustrating for me. I know, chalk it up to good preparation for when the baby comes, but MY point is, I know I'm not going to sleep well when the baby comes, so why not stock up on as much sleep as I can now while there's still time. Well, when I mentioned this to my good buddy, ole Dr. McGuirk, he told me that Tylenol PM was perfectly safe to take during pregnancy, every night if I wanted. I was happy to know this but reluctant to try it, just because I have tried to avoid taking Tylenol, etc., except for very good reasons (like for the migraines I was having a while back). Well, last night, I was so fed up with not being able to sleep, I looked at the bottle and I decided I should give it a try. So, according to directions, I popped two of those little babies in my mouth and down the hatch they went. "This medication causes drowsiness," it said on the label, and I thought to myself, "Good, I hope so!" Well, I don't know what 50 mg of diphenhydramine hydrochloride is, except to say they're not kidding when they call it a sleep aide. I slept so soundly! I did wake up to go to the bathroom, but immediately was able to go back to sleep. I haven't slept so soundly in a long, long, LONG time (say, like, 8 months). The only problem was, that when morning came, and the sun came up, I wasn't ready to wake up! I got up, I THINK I played with Princess (I can't really remember), we ate breakfast, and then after Coach got up, I went back to sleep and slept for several more hours. It was probably around 12 hours total that I slept before feeling totally conscious, not to mention functional. Apparently, after talking with some people, usually only ONE of these little Tylenol PMs are more than enough to knock you out for a while. So, basically, I was plastered and it's a good thing I didn't have to drive anywhere or operate heavy machinery because I would have been a serious liability. I have come to realize you have to be careful with these sleep aides, because aide you they will. Maybe a little too much. And even though McGuirk said I could take them every night, I seriously doubt I will because I need to be conscious upon waking in the morning. It's a good thing I tried this on the weekend so Coach could be the primary caregiver while I recovered from my apparent overdose. So, while Tylenol PM will stay on my nightstand with the rest of my little arsenal of friends, I won't be taking two at a time anymore.