Say nighty-night and kiss me

Daily prompt : Mr Sandman

What kind of sleeper are you?

Do you drop off like a stone and awaken refreshed, or do you need pitch black and silence to drift off to dream?

I love sleep !

So comforting and sweet.

I can fall asleep pretty easily.

After a long day – I can easily catch 40 winks sitting on the Central Line going from West to East. It can get embarrassing – especially if I start leaning on the person sitting next to me or if the book that I have been ‘reading’ falls out of my hand. Oops…

When I used to do night shifts in the hospital, sleep was elusive. Now of course – the juniors are not meant to sleep during a night shift. However in the days when we were afforded an on call room with a bed – I found it fairly easy to sleep. I would find that sleeping in the day time after a night shift was never as refreshing as sleeping at home at night. So I found I was always tired during a week of nights. However the sleep in an on call room was light and nervous because the knowledge the bleep can and will go off at any minute.

Now – thankfully the days of night shifts are over and I get to sleep in my own bed at night. I do not think that I sleep very heavily – the slightest thing can wake me up. However at the same time – I can easily fall asleep with the radio quietly murmuring in the background. I feel my best when I have had at least six hours sleep. After eight hours I feel restored and refreshed and I am ready to face the day.

I often feel that my sleep is luxurious! I spend every clinic taking sleep histories from the parents of my patients and it seems that sleep is a rare commodity. My friends and colleagues my age all have small children too which mean that lie-ins and a full nights sleep are things of the past. It does make me feel more than a little guilty but I will have children one day and it will be the same…