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Edmund Dulac's 1911 illustration of "The Princess and the Pea"
One night Greg and I started counting the "conditions" that need to be right in order for me to fall asleep and sleep well. There are a lot. Like if I had to pick one indulgent characteristic that describes me as a quintessential American, my sleeping habits would be it (followed closely by my shower habits). You don't believe me?
Here's a few of my issues: I need a (very) dark and (very) quiet atmosphere. It must be cool. I can't sleep when I'm hot, especially my feet. This means no socks. I need soft, comfy pajamas. A decent bed and numerous pillows are a must... good pillow support is essential. I also need a pillow for in between my legs (somehow I did this while pregnant and can't stop). That puts my pillow count to around 5.
Bonus points if there are clean sheets made with the right material (ie, soft cotton). I must have brushed teeth and chap stick applied. I also must be relatively "clean" because if I feel gross or smelly, I can't fall asleep. I must start sleeping on my side or I will never fall asleep.
And the most important factor: I must be able to move. If you told me I had to lie perfectly still, I would never be able to fall asleep. Must.move.legs. This means no stupid sheets tucked in under the mattress! When I get to a foreign bed (be it a hotel or a guest room), one of the first things I do is go pull the sheets out. My legs need room to roam, folks. Freedom!
Why am I telling you all this? Why am I inviting you into my bedroom? Admittedly, it's a little TMI. But there is a point. My parents gave us money to buy a new bed. A KING size bed so that maybe, just maybe, we have a little more room for me to flop around without Greg waking up. I want to get a good bed because we spend much of our lifetime sleeping. I have heard enough bad back horror stories to know it's a good investment.
And when I was at the chiropractor for the very first time a few weeks ago (how crazy is that?!) she told me I had two bed choices: TempurPedic or Select Comfort/Sleep Number. Coil beds = bad (according to her, not a salesperson for either might I add). I have heard TempurPedic runs "hot" which is not ideal for me really anytime but especially not summertime in this state. But I recall TempurPedic having that commercial with the bowling ball bouncing on one side and the glass of wine not spilling... and well, that sums us up well.
Both brands are ridiculously expensive but most of the money is coming from good 'ol Mom and Pops for it so we should be able to buy one sometime soon-ish. It will barely fit in our bedroom most likely but if it means we sleep better, it'll be worth it!
So here I am asking for your opinions again... if you have either, please share your thoughts! And for the rest of you, you can just be grateful you don't have to sleep next to this princess.
-Heather
PS- Eli is NINE months old today! And since we are talking about sleep, he's been sleeping like an all-star this week. Yippee! Let's hope he gets his dad's sleeping habits... somehow a man that needs five pillows doesn't seem right...
7 comments:
Sarah and I tried a sleep number bed when we were looking (by try I mean lie in one at their store in the mall) and I wasn't a fan. It felt like 2 beds pushed together and since Sarah tends to sleep in the middle it wasn't comfortable for her.
Don't get a sleep number! We sleep on one at David's sister's when we spend time up there and we hate it!
We have a Select Comfort and love it. I had bad back pain regularly before we got it and, no joke, after the first night, I woke up NOT tired and with NO back pain. That hadn't happened in my entire time in healthcare. I have slept on a tempurpedic at a hotel and thought it was very comparable. It was hot though, I like to sleep cold too. But that was the only time I've slept well in a bed that wasn't my own. Drawback to the great mattresses: traveling=no sleep! Drawback to Select Comfort: requires electricity. Not all the time, only for adjustments, but when the power blinks, it does a click, click, click thing that wakes me up. I think I would wake up without the clicking anyway because then the total electricity hum from the kitchen would be stopped and I would wake up. But the air doesn't go out of the mattress when the power is out. Actually, if you use pillows for cushion, you might be able to decrease your pillow dependance because you can make the bed softer and you feel like your sinking into pillows. Also, we have a Pillow top Select Comfort. A-mazing.
Mom and Dad K here. We have had the same Select Comfort Queen bed for over 20 years. (That was when the beds came with bellows for pumping the air into them (just kidding)). We could not be happier with it. In fact, we are in the process of ordering a Select Comfort King so you and Greg will have the Queen when you come to visit :). We will then have room on the King for Eli as well.
Hi guys,
I used a sleep number in a hotel once...didn't like it but only had the one night to "guess" what number I am. My brother and his wife just bought one and he hates it! My mom had a tempurpedic and we slept on it until just a few months ago...hated it...it is hot, I woke up every time I needed to roll over because I had sunk into this "hole" I made and my arms and legs went numb a lot. I have considerable back issues that make sleeping uncomfortable most places. The sales person for our new bed said that we could have had the old version of tempurpedic though too and they supposedly were not as good as they are now. Either way I would say DONT ever believe the motionless bed story with jumping or bowling balls or whatever. NOT TRUE. We just bought a king firm pillow top Stearns & Foster bed set. We have been sleeping much better. My only complaint is that 2 "dents" are forming where Tracy and I sleep so it looks funny under the bedspread, but doesn't seem to change the comfort level. Just wouldn't get the pillow top again.That's all I'm going to say. All this "dent" talk is making us sound fat:( Love you. Jen P.
Heather, all I have to say is that once you get used to sleeping in a king-sized bed, everything else feels crowded!! :) Jon likes to tell people that the success to a happy marriage is "separate blankets". I like to be tightly cocooned, he likes to have all the sheets pulled out like you described!
I'm surprised you didn't mention that you have to have a certain "side" of the bed. :)
We housesat for people who had a sleep number bed. Yucky. It just felt like a glorified air mattress... I am so jealous of the king size bed! I want one! Especially since last night I slept with my butt hanging off the bed because there was little girl who thought she needed to take up more of the bed than her pregnant mama and daddy combined....
Jon's advice about 2 blankets saved our marriage :) (kidding, but we did take the advice) and since we are sharing info, we don't sleep with any sheet, just 2 blankets.
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