Bugger! Just as we thought we were about to break through we get sleep deprivation symptoms during the day.
Alex was a zombie all day long. Naps seemed to have no effect on him. It didn't matter what we did to try to wake him up, showers, bike rides, walks, exercise, food, nothing worked. Sometimes he would feel a little better while we were doing an activity like riding bikes, but as soon as we stopped he was falling asleep on his feet again.
I wasn't in quite as bad a shape, but I couldn't concentrate at all for the entire day. I felt tired, and my legs and feet were really sore. It wasn't difficult making it between naps, but it didn't feel real productive.
We think part of the problem for Alex is that he tried to catch two naps in a row in the car when he was out with some friends. Even though he was able to lay down and rest he didn't really sleep. That probably put him in significant debt.
I think that as we have adapted we have built up a sleep debt and even though we are getting good naps they would be just enough to maintain, not enough to pay off the existing debt. That is best case, and we really aren't at best case yet. In fact, remembering what we have read on other blogs, it seems like a crash around day 8-10 is pretty normal. We've decided to increase the nap frequency until we feel better by doing an extra nap at the two hour mark in each period. We'll add the extra naps as long as we are tired.
We did a couple of extra naps today and it didn't seem like we were catching up, but when we went swimming late at night we left the pool feeling refreshed and like the morning shifts wouldn't be horrible. Also, my legs and feet feel much better after spending a little time in the whirlpool.