I have been having crazy dreams lately. Whether I am fighting an alien battle alongside Alec Baldwin or standing in a workplace surrounded with every boss I've ever had, I'm not enjoying my shuteye.

According to a recent study, I am not alone; moms don't get good sleep. West Virginia University researchers found that new moms get more sleep than expected, but that it's fragmented. Apparently it's better to get fewer hours of steady sleep than a bunch of hours of bad sleep.

I'm not a new mom at this point, but I'm feeling the side effects of interrupted zzz's. In addition to bad dreams, I have dark circles, and I'm generally in a bad mood. It doesn't help that my husband continues to ask, "What's wrong with you?"

My body is paying the price, too. My toddlers have bruises on their legs from running wild in the backyard. I am black and blue from bumping into inanimate objects -- furniture, sleeping dogs and husbands -- as I stumble through the house to make a bottle or clean up a mess.

I am running on empty. I am not complaining about having children, but they sure wear me out. While the 2-year-olds can reliably sleep through the night, the baby picks and chooses which nights he wants to ruin my REM sleep.

It doesn't help that I'm trying to lose weight during all this madness. I am down to pre-baby weight, but I have about 15 pesky pounds to go. I hate reading that getting enough sleep is essential to successful weight loss; it's not going to happen here.

After a morning walk, I chug a diet soda, hoping it will keep me awake when all I really want to do is sleep. I have to exercise to lose weight, but I would love to get another hour of sleep. Of course that would be great if it were possible, anyway. My children are walking alarm clocks.

As for the soda, that's something I want to drop. I need to drink more water, but the allure of caffeine is too strong for someone who is going through the motions. I also tend to eat like I'm hungover, choosing eggs and bacon over oatmeal.

Parenthood ages us. Some parents still look perfect, but I wonder how their insides look with a lack of proper sleep and poor diets. Perhaps they are keeping it together while I'm just holding on.

Luckily, there is a bright spot -- full of sleep and without crying -- in my near future! My husband's best friend is getting married out of town next month. While I'm looking forward to the wedding and their happiness together, what I'm most excited about is spending two nights in a hotel and catching some ever-elusive sleep.

However, I realize that on the few nights Jack and I get alone, we tend to go out and celebrate rather than call it a night early. It's hard not to seize the moment and enjoy it. Date nights are key, but not always fun when the daters have half-open eyes.

Of course Jack is tired too, but he's perfected the art of sleeping like a dog. He wakes up to feed a baby and passes out, snoring, as soon as the bottle empties. Me, I'm lying in bed thinking about the housework I need to do, the project I have to finish for work, and wondering when my children are going to bed and waking up closer to 7, not to 6.

As I sit here moaning and whining about my crappy nighttime life, I always come back to this: I will miss it one day. There will be a time when no one will yell out, "Mama!" from another room. At some point, I won't have anyone to check on to make sure they are breathing or that their blanket hasn't fallen off. I won't have to tune out the sound of the ceiling fan so I can listen for what sounded like a cry but perhaps was just the dog snoring.

I will miss it all, but I may just be too busy sleeping to obsess about it.