Let Sleeping Docs Lie

For years Tony has complained that the dogs wake him up at night by wandering around at all hours hoping someone will let them go outside. Now and then he will be awakened by Lucy dog standing over him, head cocked, wondering why he is growling at her. All of this activity has my dear man up at 5 am and spending most of his day feeling tired out.

I never thought of Tony as having a sleep problem...he falls asleep in the car, in restaurants between courses, mid-conversation, while changing channels on the tv; so I've chalked his weird sleeping patterns up to the occupational hazard of being an obstetrician.

In my younger day, I could sleep through a rocket launch. Tony used to get a call in the wee hours, go to the hospital, deliver a baby, come home and crawl back into bed without me stirring. However, I now have a post-menopausal-early- motherhood brain which is wired to automatically wake up at 4 am, or at any other time when one of the kids may stir, sneeze or roll over. And once I'm up, its show time.

It took Tony awhile to accept that he snores. What we discovered recently is that the dogs sleep soundly when he is on call all night at the hospital. My theory is that they think his snores are dog-speak for lets go outside and find squirrels. His musical tones don't really keep me awake...its what happens when he stops snoring that flips my old ER nurse switch...yup he stops breathing. We've tried the nose strips, bricks under the head of the bed, special pillows and the classic elbow nudge with only fleeting success. My recent fantasies about buying a home defibrillator have convinced him it is time for a sleep study.

So tonight I loaded him up with a big meal and glass of wine...usually the recipe for a thunderous night...and sent him off to the sleep lab for a ten hour study of his night-time antics. However, my inner control freak won't let me sleep tonight as I worry if the technician will stay awake and give Tony a nudge if his O2 sats drop off.

But my bigger worry is that maybe he'll get the best sleep of his life and we'll discover that it's my hot flashes and snoring disturbing him.