migraine

I've suffered from migraines for years. My mom still has a picture that I drew when I was 2 or 3 of my head during a headache. There's a very small body, a large head filled with strong markings and squiggles and lines, and tears pouring out my eyes.

I have gone years without them, though, and then suddenly -- BANG! The last time I had them regularly was when I was pregnant with N, so I've had a long reprieve. Yesterday, though, I was hit hard. It started Friday and I was hoping that I would wake up Saturday without pain. Unfortunately, it woke me dozens of times Friday night and Saturday I was much worse.

My mom is in town and thankfully she took all 3 kids for a few hours in the morning so I was able to lie in bed with cold packs and tears. I retrieved the kids around lunch time and nursed L down for her nap and was able to sleep a bit while the boys watched hours of TV.

DH was on calls about 2 1/2 hours from home, so I knew I wouldn't see him until after 10PM. The pain started to ease around 5PM and I was able prepare a simple dinner and bathe the kids. My head was quiet enough that I was able to read aloud (Redwall . . . which the boys are loving and I'm still unsure about.)

I really hope that this migraine was a result of being tired (I've been trying to follow a new schedule which has me sleeping about 7 hours a night) and stress (myriad places.) I really don't want to start another cycle -- as having 3 kids to care for and coping with this sort of pain will be extremely difficult.

I don't think my new schedule is going to work. I know that people survive on less sleep -- but they're not me. I'm not lazy just because I need 8-9 hours of sleep a night. It's just what I need.