april unfiltered
plus, a reading wrap up for april
hi friends, i write to you after a chaotic month. days after my last post, my bff decided we were going on a europe trip for her birthday during the first week of may. thus began a whirlwind couple of weeks organizing a rough itinerary, attempting to pack, and getting all my work projects in order to be gone a full week. as we approach the time to begin travel, i can finally breathe and do an april recap.
it’s been a no heat month and the curls are thriving. let me know if you’d like me to share my updated curly hair routine, i think i’ve cracked the code!
this month has been challenging. i’ve been working through some minor health concerns, and while i wasn’t sure if i felt ready to share, i feel safe doing so here. recently, i was diagnosed with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.
while i feel incredibly affirmed by this diagnosis, i’m also feeling pretty self-conscious. ultimately, i’m sharing because there might be someone who could benefit from knowing they aren’t alone.
my doctor originally referred me to a sleep specialist last october because i was constantly exhausted tired, napping after work almost every day, and snoring very loudly. i’ll be honest here: i did not follow through. i had intense anxiety doing a sleep study and couldn’t bring myself to make the appointment.
fast forward to a few weeks ago…
it was a normal saturday - breakfast and watching ER with matt - then, i laid down for a nap before a busy afternoon. i woke up gasping for air, feeling like i was suffocating. i literally couldn’t get enough air and woke up because i couldn’t breathe. since then, sleep has been a major source of stress for me.
finally, it occurred to me to look into at-home testing. enter: daybreak. i completed two nights of testing from the comfort of my own bed and it confirmed what i feared: i do, in fact, have sleep apnea. if i’m honest, i think i’ve known for awhile. years ago, an ENT warned me about the potential because of the size of my tonsils.
processing this diagnosis has been hard because:
sleep apnea is often under-diagonosed in women
there’s a stigma around using a CPAP machine
my tonsils aren’t going to get smaller - this is a lifelong thing i’ll have to manage
in a few weeks i’ll be choosing a CPAP machine - so if you have any advice i’m all ears! in the mean time i’ll be looking for ways to personalize my CPAP machine with some cutie satin covers.
ultimately, i know that sleeping better will massively improve my quality of life. and that’s something worth working toward. I hope that if there’s something hard you’ve been putting off, this gives you the push you need to take the first step.
april reading wrapped
📖 beautiful exile by catherine cowles | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ i love cowles’ work and will read anything she writes!
📖 say you’ll remember me by abby jimenez | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ i’m convinced abby jimenez cannot write a bad book.
📖 story of my life by lucy score | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ three five star reads this month? i’m on fire and so is lucy score! i LOVED this book
📖 between the pines by amber palmer | ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 this is the first novel i read by amber palmer, and i will be reading the next one in the series. i really liked this! first (of many?) cowboy romances to come.
📖 the queen trials by penelope wright | ⭐⭐⭐.5 this was marketed as the selection series meets the hunger games. on paper it was everything i could’ve wanted in a novel, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me. unsure if i’ll read the rest of the series.
