Kim's Thoughts

Hello, my name is Kim and my sleep number is 45 and I have a bed that hugs me…..so there!!! And, I LOVE IT!!!

Let’s go back a bit……I haven’t had the best luck with new mattresses over the last few years! When I moved into my current home nine years ago, I bought a well-known brand mattress – at a considerable price! In less than two years, it felt lumpy and saggy and resulted in extremely uncomfortable nights! So, I bought another mattress – a much better one that gave me much more pleasurable sleep experiences. But – mattresses just aren’t made like they used to be – you can’t flip them to help them last longer (yes, you can turn them end-to-end, but that just isn’t enough) – you just don’t get the long life out of them like you used to…..but, so goes it with just about everything, these days! Also, as I get older, my arthritis and asthma make it a challenge for any mattress to be comfortable over a 7-8 hour night’s sleep! As a result, my sleep has suffered and I do a lot of tossing and turning and waking up achy, causing me to be tired during the day, so I nap, which makes it harder to sleep at night……and so goes the vicious cycle!!!

So, I started wondering if an adjustable bed might be a good choice for me – one where I can elevate the head and/or feet to help me breathe easier, reduce leg cramps, and keep the pressure off my joints! But, I found that, typically, adjustable beds have memory foam mattresses……I know a lot of people love memory foam mattresses, but I DO NOT!!! Remember that bad mattress I mentioned earlier – the one that lasted less than two years? Well, to help make it last longer, I got a memory foam topper for it – a good one – thick and dense and firm, but still contoured nicely to my body! I hated it worse than the lumpy mattress – I struggled to turn over and get out of it……I gave it several months to “get used to it” and finally put it out to the road! I found out after that you either love or hate memory foam……I guess I’m in the latter group – and, no, I don’t like memory foam pillows, either!!! 🙂 I found out that some regular mattresses can go on adjustable beds, but they don’t always flex the way they really should and I figured I’d probably end up with a crappy mattress on an expensive adjustable frame……so, I had given up on that idea! And, I knew from past experience, I didn’t want to go down the water bed path at all……I’ve had the old kinds and the newer kinds and…..no…..not something I wanted to revisit!

So, I was telling my brother of my plight……how I really needed to find a way to get a decent night’s sleep consistently! He told me, in no uncertain terms, that a Sleep Number Bed would be my solution! I came back with the whole story about hating memory foam……he said, it isn’t memory foam! He had me try out their bed – one they had for 12+ years and was still super happy with! I had to admit, it felt good and I liked the idea of being able to adjust the density as my needs changed and the adjustable base part! So, my research began……I kept going back and forth about spending the money – they aren’t cheap! But, reminded myself that I spent more than the cost I was seeing on the total cost of two mattresses in less than 10 years, so if it lasts me at least that long, I’d be no worse off than I was cost-wise! So, I decided – after several months of deliberation – to get one!

My brother got a “friends and family” discount card at the first of the year and gave it to me. I still hemmed and hawed about it a couple of months until I was at risk of the discount expiring and the stores having to close up for Covid! It was now or never…….so I went to the store in the Galleria Mall in Buffalo – the one where my brother got his! It was just a couple days before the malls were ordered to close…..but, most of the stores inside were already closed – it was like a ghost mall……

The salesman introduced himself and told me his sleep number…..I thought that was cutesy, but also a bit “cult-ish” – LOL – since whenever I’ve talked to a representative on the phone or in the store, they introduce themselves that way…..and my brother and his wife also proudly told me their sleep numbers! I told him I tried my brother’s bed and wanted to look into one like his. He still put me through the whole sales shpeel to “find my sleep number” and try all the different mattresses available. Of course, I ended up right where I thought I needed to be with the one like my brother’s! LOL – but, it was actually a good process to go through to be sure and very educational on how different each one was! I put it on order, got my discount (well worth not missing out on), and they gave me a delivery date of two weeks! SCORE!!!

Then……COVID really took hold…….and they were not allowed to do any in-home deliveries and set-ups!!!! UGH!!! I had a great bed that was paid for, but I couldn’t get! But – I understood and, truth be told, assumed would happen when we made the set-up appointment. So, I waited…….two months later, they were allowed to do deliveries and set-ups, again and I had a new appointment – that I was cautiously optimistic would actually happen and not get canceled!

The day came and I was THRILLED!!!

They set up my new bed and explained all the features and taught me how to do everything……and I had the first best night’s sleep I’d had in a very long time!!!

So, here’s the thing……yes, the adjustable base is a major plus – I set it at “snore” while I sleep and it really is just enough of an elevation of my head to help my breathing!!! I also elevate the feet just a little bit to help circulation and haven’t had any leg cramps in a while! It is also great to elevate the head and feet enough for comfortable reading and watching TV in bed! Cool! But……that isn’t the best part — yes, the adjustable base is a great feature and the adjustable density (sleep number – firmness of the mattress) is amazing – I have my normal sleep number – 45, but if I have a bad arthritis flare up or my back is in bad shape, I adjust it up or down to where it is more comfortable for each specific situation and that really does help a LOT……but, the true best part, in my never to be humble opinion, is the “responsive air”…….that’s what they call it…….I call it my “gentle hug”!!!!

Yes, I said my bed hugs me……and when it does, I gently pat the mattress and say “thanks for the hug” and settle in to comfortable bliss! So – what exactly is “responsive air” (hug)? Well, I turn it on using the app on my phone just before I start to get into my jammies and get ready to go to sleep. It will then adjust itself to a consistent air pressure across the mattress…….then, when I get in and within a few seconds after I settle into the position I want to lay in, it senses my pressure points and adjusts the air to conform to my body……not, like sinking into a memory foam mattress……but, like a gentle “hug” around my body with less pressure on joints like hips and shoulders and knees and more pressure on lower back, etc…….it is amazing!!!! And….it doesn’t end, there……..about once an hour throughout the night, it reassesses my pressure points and if it senses that I have moved and now may not be as comfortable, it readjusts to conform to my new position!!! No – it isn’t disruptive to my sleep – I thought it might be – but it isn’t – I only realize it is happening if I happen to be awake when it does it’s thing…….otherwise, it quietly and subtly adjusts to me to keep me comfortable throughout the night……little hugs whenever I need them!!! How cool is that????

And, another cool feature is the under bed light — if I get up in the middle of the night, the light comes on under the bed and lights up the floor in the room – it stays on until I get back into bed and shuts itself off (or it shuts off after a certain amount of time passes and it looks like I’m not coming back to bed). Yeah, I know…….but, it’s the little things in life that make me smile and go all giddy!!! 🙂

So……needless to say, so far, I am very happy with my new Sleep Number Bed…….I have now had it for almost five months and can’t imagine how I slept without it! My sleep patterns have greatly improved and I don’t wake up all achy, anymore…..no stiff neck or sore joints……no waking myself up snoring…..much less tossing and turning before falling asleep……much less getting up multiple times throughout the night…..much less instances of bouts with insomnia over multiple days!!!

Of course, it doesn’t solve my sleep problems caused by too long of naps during the day or not avoiding caffeine after 6:00 pm or drinking too much after dinner – those can still give me a night here and there of insomnia and are not the fault of the bed – but, when I control those things, the rest is easy – the comfort part is all taken care of – no more insomnia caused by discomfort! Even when I had a long bout with a serious back problem over the last couple of months, the pain crippled me throughout the day, but at night and when I first got out of bed, it was not an issue at all – in fact, I found that if I was in extreme pain, I could go lie down and the responsive air and adjustable pressure helped relieve the pain enough to go on with my day after a little bit!

The app on my phone also tells me a lot about my night – average breaths per minute, heart beats per minute, how many hours of restful sleep vs restless sleep, how many times (if any) I get out of bed, how long it took me to fall asleep……and I can use that info to adjust the factors I can control, if needed, to improve that!

Even Megan and her Lamb Chop agree that it is a pretty darned good bed……..LOL (and, you can see the slight elevation of the head for the “snore” position – hardly noticeable, but effective)

Sweet dreams……..