Dreaming in first 40 min. common?

[ModestMouse]

Last night I went to bed at 11, layed in bed for at least 15 minutes then fall asleep. I remember 3 dreams then I became lucid and woke up. I checked the clock, it said 12 am. I thought this was odd because I was under the impression that NREM was the fist part of sleep -- that's why you can't WILD first thing at night. Am I wrong? How long does the first NREM stages take before you hit REM typically? I can't find this in wikipedia.

[BillyBob]

It is possible to dream extremely early in the night.... although it could just be that you had a false awakening later in the night about your clock saying it was 12.... (this has happened to me) then you just went back to bed in the dream and fell unconcious I'v personally WILDed before any previous sleep and iv heard of many other people that have as well

[ModestMouse]

Thanks Billy. Here's how the dreams went. Dream 1: I dreamt I was driving but very drowsy and drunk and I was thankful when a cop went by. Dream 2: I dreamt I was pushing a dresser out of my bedroom accross railroad tracks in the middle of my house. When I went over the railroad tracks there was a large bang as the dresser fell out of my hands. This scenario happens through a couple of FA's. Dream 3: I am in a black void and realize I'm dreaming. I do a few flips like i'm in zero G then rub my hands together. I have the sensation that I am still in bed after this though so I try to get out of bed but end up waking up. After dream 3 I looked at the time and thought that's strange and did many RC's , but I was awake and stayed awake thinking about my dreams for a half hour (that's how I still remember them). What's interesting is in dream 1 feel drowsy, then dream 2 I hear a loud noise. Sounds like HI type stuff. Weird. My body must have felt the need to insert a quick REM cycle at the start of my sleep....