So the noise thing isn't working.  If it's loud enough to mask the birds in the morning, it wakes me up on it's own.  The best thing I found was a recording of Victoria Falls, and I turned it into a 10 hour long track with an hour long fade in, set to start at 4am. 

How about earplugs?  Is it healthy to wear earplugs every night?  I'm hesitant to do so because of the pressure they put in your ear canal. 

Does anyone have any earplugs they can recommend that may be better in this way?

My friend Robert Rich wears earplugs every night and has for decades.  I'll ask him what kind he wears.

RD I don't think the soft foam earplugs will cause you harm if used over 7 or 8 hours. Wax being pushed towards the eardrum might be a problem (and this can aggravate tinnitus), but I have never experienced it. I used to wear earplugs for nearly entire days when I studied in the library and had people check my ears a few times. Though I would remove them and reinsert them occasionally for comfort reasons.

Maybe Torpedo will weigh in his opinion if he sees this thread.

I just found this big online earplug store and got a bunch of different kinds to try until I go customs. 

I tried these last night.  They are kind of like a wad fo blue tak that you seal over the top of the ear canal.  Problem is that to get a seal, you have to push on them, and then during the night the pillow keeps pushing and by the morning they had gotten pushed inside the ear canal a bit, and with the seal it created some pain from pressure.  Both ears feel sore and pressurized now or kind of numb which is kind of worrying. 

Anyone tried these? 

http://www.earplugstore.com/macwhitadsiz.html