I Am a New Woman

Last night was my first night using my new CPAP (Continued Positive Airway Pressure) machine and I awoke this morning feeling like a new woman! Well for one thing, when I woke up this morning, a couple of minutes before the first alarm, I was AWAKE. I know, you’re saying “DUH,” but it was such a strange sensation that I literally sat there in bed trying to name it for several minutes.

I picked the machine up Monday afternoon and upon getting home with my new toy, I got ready for bed, plugged it in, put distilled water in the humidifier thingee and popped the mask on my face. I was ready for sleep. Of course I first had to suffer through the investigation of my two roommates. Both Sophie and Gizmo had to sniff and analyze the strange alien-like thing that appeared to be digesting my nose. After I passed inspection, I tried to go to sleep, but I think I was so excited that it took me a while to calm down. After getting myself into a position that was both conducive to sleep and did not smudge my mask out of place, I went to sleep.

My normal mornings were like this: 6:30 - alarm goes off; 6:40 - the sound finally penetrates the depths of my sleep and I turn off the alarm and start the long-winding journey toward consciousness; 7:00 - the second alarm goes off and I turn off the alarm, but turn on the TV and I again journey toward consciousness, but since I’d only had 15-20 minutes of sleep this time, the journey isn’t so long, but is equally arduous; 7:00 to7:15 - I snuggle and cuddle with my babies and watch either V-H1 (because mornings are the ONLY time they actually air music videos anymore) or the first few minutes of the Today Show (until I get sick of either the news or the interplay between the hosts); 7:15 to7:20 - I start telling the cats that I HAVE to get up; 7:20 to7:45 - I get up and hobble into the bathroom to shower, brush the teeth, put on the contacts, etc.; 7:45 - get dressed, sit down to put on socks and shoes; 7:55 - wake up when one of the cats pounces on the bed; 8:00 - wobble outside to the car and drive to work (I start work at 8:15).

But today, again, I was awake BEFORE the alarm. I sat there and cuddled with the cats and watched the local news morning show until I was sick of the news and/or the interplay between the hosts and I turned over the V-H1. When the second alarm went off at 7, I told the kids that I had to get up. I got up, did the whole bathroom thing, got dressed, skirmished a couple of times on World Domination in Facebook, then got to work early. I was SO perky at work, I think people thought that I’d been kidnapped and replaced by a pod person. I was all “Good Morning!” and “Howdy!” and I was smiling! (Those who know me know that although I’m ambulatory, I don’t really wake up until 10 and even then I’m not perky.) AND, if that weren’t crazy enough, I actually took the stairs between our office floors … not once, but SEVEN times!!! Oh, and normally I’m yawning all day because I’m just tired. But the first yawn didn’t come until about 5:30! It was incredible.

All this perky awakeness is tiring though, so I’m ready to go to bed.