Sleep Deprivation

After what felt like the zillionth time Nathan woke up last night (I actually lost count at some point)- I began to contemplate the evasiveness of sleep. I'm always tired. It's been so long since I've felt well-rested that I don't honestly remember what it feels like. I started thinking about it and for one reason or another I'm always running a deficit in the sleep column. I've been pondering just how amazing our bodies are that they can deal with such things.
Because I'm slightly sick and twisted, when I'm driving to work in the mornings and I feel like I've been run over by a semi, I chronicle my years of sleep deprivation.
I think I can trace it all back to Early Morning Seminary in high school. I was involved in too many activities with too few hours in the day. I would go on 4-5 hours of sleep a night and then usually sleep excessively on the weekends if possible. This extended to the college years- I pulled quite a few all-nighters trying to get assignments completed on time. Most of the time I simply went to bed too late and then had some required class early in the morning (one painful 7:30 am class comes to mind). The mission came along and that proved to be a new level of tired. By the end of my mission my body was giving out on me- I could fall asleep anywhere at any time. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. :) After undergrad I had 3 jobs at once and often found myself up talking to Britt for hours on end. We talked about anything and everything and yes, we were always tired. Then came Grad School. The all-nighters started again - although I will say that it started getting harder to stay up all night the older I got. I did still sleep in most weekends when possible though.
I think it comes down to a key flaw: I've just never been good at going to bed early enough to match what time I needed to get up. I try but it rarely if ever occurs.
I started teaching school and I spent hours doing lesson plans, putting together materials, grading stuff - you name it and I was up late doing it for school. And then I got pregnant.......Sleep becomes that elusive thing people talk about but you're not quite so sure exists. I was teaching, doing the musical, taking 2 college courses, had 2 callings in church - all while I was growing larger and larger. I thought I had won the tired award, but sadly I was mistaken. I had Nathan and at about 2 or 3 weeks the word "exhausted" took on a whole new meaning. I argue that a couple weeks of sleeplessness could break the strongest of individuals. And there is no such thing as sleeping in on the weekends anymore. In fact, I'm convinced Nathan gets up earlier on purpose.
One could argue that I'm continuing this vicious cycle by staying up to write this instead of going to bed. I'm just truly impressed with our body's ability to endure and function with such little rejuvenation. On that note- I think I'll try to catch some zzzz's before the all too soon morning arrives or Nathan wakes up (I believe Nathan will be the winner of that one....several times- which is how I got started on this whole diatribe of mine to begin with). Good night- happy sleep to you all.