Category Archives: Sleep

More of the geeky sleep stuff.

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Aha! So there are other nerdy, geeks out there who think all this sleep cycle stuff is kinda interesting, too.

So, now to answer all those questions I keep getting…

How does the app know what phase you are in?

Since you move differently in bed during the different phases, Sleep Cycle uses the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement to determine which sleep phase you are in.

That same accelerometer that lets the girls play MonkeyBall (where you tilt the phone this way and that to get the ball to go somewhere – I don’t know. I’ve never played it…) can sense your movements while you sleep. You put the phone at the top of your bed, right under your fitted sheet so it holds it in place and can detect your movements.

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Are you afraid that the cell waves are going directly into your head?

That was my first worry. But you put the phone into airplane mode – so the wireless is shut off. So no waves. Nowhere near my head. So it is fine.

So…how are you sleeping? Without J. home?

Ha! The first night…miserably. Remember my nice deep sleep when he was home? Well, the first night he was gone looked like this:

sleepgraph_tue

Went to bed / woke up: 11:10 PM / 5:51 AM
Total time: 6h 40m

Just enough little deep sleeps to make it so I wasn’t exhausted on Wednesday morning, but I certainly did not wake refreshed.

So I figured the next night I would be really tired and sleep really well:

sleepgraph_wed

Went to bed / woke up: 11:05 PM / 6:39 AM
Total time: 7h 33m

A much nicer stretch, but it took me 2 hours to fall asleep! I finally had to resort to reading. Still woke up before the alarm. And also woke up with a wicked head cold. NOT feeling refreshed.

So last night, I went back and forth trying to decide whether I should take some Nyquil or not before going to bed. I almost felt flu-ish, fever, chills, just all around horrible. But then, I HATE Nyquil. It makes me loopy and gives me horrible dreams. And especially didn’t want to take it knowing that I didn’t have backup if one of the girls got up or needed me. In the end, I felt just bad enough that I took half a dose knowing that if it just helped me sleep and stopped my runny nose, I might feel better in the morning.

And check last night’s graph out:

sleepgraph_thu
Went to bed / woke up: 11:16 PM / 7:08 AM
Total time: 7h 52m

There isn’t even a line for going to sleep. I think I was asleep in 30 seconds. My “awake peak” was when I had to get up, blow my nose and get a drink at 3. Em didn’t have school today so I didn’t set an alarm and slowly woke up right before 7.

So there you have it. Just need to self-medicate with Nyquil when you are worried about sleeping, I guess. And I did wake up feeling pretty good, but there have been a few other Nyquil side effects today.

We made cupcakes this morning so we could get them in the oven before Addie’s playdate. I put them in and then wandered off to change the beds and pick up the house. Our kitchen is in the back of the house and you really can’t hear a thing that goes on back there. So I didn’t hear my timer. And remember I have a wicked cold, so I can’t even smell the cupcakes baking.

I wandered back into the kitchen with water glasses and such and looked at the oven and thought, “Why is the stove on? I didn’t make eggs this morning, did I?” And as I was about to shut it off remembered that it was on for the CUPCAKES! That were most definitely done.

I’m totally blaming it on the Nyquil…or maybe I got too much sleep last night?

Nah. Definitely the Nyquil.

Oh, it’s a phone, too?

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11

Yeah, so when J. told me two years ago that it was time to upgrade our phones and we “needed” iPhones, I scoffed at him and told him  “I don’t even like to talk on the phone, why do I need to spend money on a nerdy gadget like that?”

And then I got my hot, little hands on one and well, let’s just say I’ve been happy to hear J.’s “See I told you so’s” ever since.

I love having my updated calendar, contacts, email, and Scrabble always with me. Yes, I am kinda addicted to my stupid Scrabble game on there. But playing it does somehow make me feel s-m-a-r-t-e-r (hmm…only an eight point word, but if you could get it on a triple word score….).

Anyhow, J. is forever finding new apps and telling me I should download them. And I usually kind of half-heartedly say ok, and then wait until it is in very high rotation on his phone before I take the time to dump it on mine. The other night he told me that he had downloaded this Sleep Cycle app that figures out what your sleep cycle is and how much quality sleep you get, and so on.  YAWN, (no pun intended) right? I ask him, “Why do you need a nerdy app like that?”

(You see where this is going, right?) The morning after he used it for the first time he showed me his results and…then? I had to have it on my phone! Would it work if we were both using it? Would the data be corrupted? Who has a better sleep cycle? Who REALLY gets more sleep? I think I have become a nerd. I know. But I think it is kinda fascinating!

So I downloaded and ran the app last night. I’ve told at least three friends about the app today. And I cannot wait to get in bed and try it again. (Well, who am I kidding? I just can’t wait to sleep period.)

So check out my sleep chart from last night!

sleepgraph

Went to bed / woke up: 10:50 PM / 6:03 AM
Total time: 7h 12m

Check out how crazy hard I sleep! For hours straight! That peak at about midnight was because Addie’s alarm/cd player inexplicably turned on for no apparent reason. But you can see I didn’t quite wake up allll the way. Now compare that with J.’s. (He actually did wake up, went in to shut off the unexplained alarm, and then helped Addie get back to sleep.)

sleepgraph_j

Went to bed / woke up: 10:52 AM / 5:42 AM
Total time: 6h 50m

He just sent me his, and he is Miami now, so his phone has already shifted to EST. Just subtract 3 hours from his graph, and holy cow! No wonder the boy is so tired! He only gets little tiny bits of deep sleep – and never all at the same time!

The alarm part of the app uses a 30 minute window to wake you up when you are in the lightest sleep phase. Supposedly it is easier and more pleasant to wake up this way. I was wide awake at 5:30 this morning, so I didn’t even get to my alarm, but I’m sure that is only because I had some serious deeeep sleep!

I attribute all my  hard sleeping to day 1 of hard training and just an all-around long day yesterday. It will be even more interesting to see tonight’s since J. isn’t here (and I sleep horribly when he is not here) and compare it to J.’s when he isn’t worried about getting to the airport or being jolted awake by blaring cd-players and children.

Stay tuned…and we can supply you with all the nerdy-ness you need.