I'm almost 6 months pregnant and for the last week have had really bad pregnancy insomnia. I can go to sleep ok at around 10pm, but then by 1:30am I'm wide awake! I'm past the point of sheer exhaustion now and my poor hubby and kids are noticing I'm a little cranky! lol I've tried everything from going out on the couch and reading for a little bit, to having a warm glass of milk, to trying to meditate to relax myself back to sleep. Nothing so far has worked! I feel like a walking zombie! Help!
Thank you so much for all the suggestions! After trying all of the non-medicine options, I put a call into my doctor to see if there was anything he would suggest to take. I'm now taking Unisom. I'm sleeping better (tho still waking up a couple times a night, but at least it's not every 20 minutes!).
Funny thing is my doctor said that it might actually be my very active baby keeping me up all night! hehe This little boy is very active and very strong, and the doc said his constant wiggling might be jolting me awake! Goodness! If that's the case, I sure hope he sleeps more when he's born! hehe
Again, thank you all!
W.
Have you tried benadryl? I've done that a few times in pregnancy.Worked for me, hope it does for you.
L.
Maybe baby is waking you up. Kicking and moving around. Turn on the t.v. and watch some Nick at Night it will bore you to sleep. Maybe you are stressing yourself out with a new baby comming. Maybe you should ask hubby to give you a break from the other two so you can relax. Im pretty sure you can take Benadryl when your preg., but you should ask the Dr. first, it will help you fall asleep. I always had the same problems including horrible heart burn and I also got really bad migrianes in my second trimester with my second. Everyone is different I personally did not like being pregnant it felt like my uterus was going to fall out at all times. I sure do Love and enjoy the results though!
The best thing to do is not stress about it. It can create a vicious cycle of insomnia. If you can't sleep, get up and do something around the house and after a half hour or so try again. I know with a 19 month old it's probably hard to take naps, but try to as much as possible.
My mom told me a trick that I always thought was just babble, but when I was pregnant it really worked. She said to start with your head and tell each body part going down to relax. Might work for you too!
I have three kids and have had alot of trouble with insonia when i was pregnant have you tried pillows all around yourself and also there is a tea for sleeping i forget wich brand and i dont really drink tea but this one always put me right to sleep it comes in a blue package
Another relaxation techninique is to tense and relax each set of muscles as you go down your body.
And listening to a relaxation tape has worked for me.
I've not heard of pregnancy insomnia. That term makes me think it might be related to hormones or in some way the condition of being pregnant. Perhaps you wake up because you are not comfortable. And so it would help to discover in what way you are uncomfortable and find a way to take care of that. For example I've heard of propping pillows around certain parts of your body that give you the extra support that your pregnant shape needs. And being pregnant does cause some pain and perhaps taking a pain reliever even before going to bed. I can't remember which one is OK for pregnancy.
I'm not pregnant but sometimes I find writing in my journal helpful. Because I think that the reason I've woke up and can't get back to sleep is because I'm anxious about something. Or if what I need to do the next day keeps running thru my mind I make a list telling myself that I can let go of each task as I write it down.
I also sometimes take an Ativan. One of my friends takes an anti-histamine. I don't know if there is a medication that you can take.
I've also found that when I try to go back to sleep I usually can't because the focus on sleep creates more anxiety. At the same time not sleeping is so frustrating and as you say tiring. With kids and a job one can't just take a nap or sleep in. I hope you find a way to get more sleep.
Try rocking your head back and forth, side to side. It works for me.
A good meditation is the disapearing letter relaxation. Inhale and on the exhale image the letter A disapearing, or just imagine the letter A. Then the next exhale you do B and so on through the whole alphabet. I rarely make it to M, but sometime I have to go through the whole alphabet again. Don't get discouraged.
W.
Talk to your Dr. It may be just a phase. I'm 8 months pregnant now and have been suffering on and off with insomnia this entire pregnancy.
And I swear, it has to be your body's way of preparing yourself for what's to come! lol By this point, I'm coping pretty good on 5 hours (which is totally not like me!)
But here's my tricks:
1)Don't drink anything past dinner time (otherwise I'm up 6 times a night peeing, giving myself the opportunity not to fall back asleep)
2)I have to try to stay up until 12:00. This is really hard most of the time, but my daughter wakes up at 8:00am, and that's when I like to get up too. If I got to bed earlier, I'm up at 4:00am! YUCK!!!
3)Try to make everything as comfortable as possible. Jammies, room temp., extra pillows by the bed if you need them, etc. The less time you have to think about getting comfortable after waking up, the easier it is to fall back asleep.
I hope some of these things work! I know there are still some nights it's totally hopeless....map out the good late night channels on your TV, you'll be happy you did in a few months!
Good luck!
I had this same problem with my son's pregnancy and my doctor told me that it was okay to take Tylonel PM. It worked great for me. He also gave me some prescriptions for allergy medication that makes you sleepy and that helped too. I hope you get this figured out soon, I know how frustrating it can be.
Lauren
I think you should ask your doctor what your options are. You need sleep, insomnia is the worst!!!
I had the same problem, I would take a warm bath and just soak for a little bit and that would help me relax and go to sleep.
try a tablespoon of applecider vinigar in 8 oz of water it will help relax you stay away from caffine as much as possible and also refined sugars these things can keep you awake for hours after you consume them. I had alot of probs with sleeping as well when I got to be about 6mo along as well and these were some of the things that helped me. good luck
I am only 9 weeks along and I have problems with this since just about the beginning. In fact, yesterday I was at a conference most of the day and then I went X-cntry skiing and was absolutely exhausted. I went to bed about 10pm and then was up at 3:30am. I usually cannot sleep past 4:30am since I have been pregnant. I too woke up and read this morning to no avail.
I do not want to take any drugs. I am lucky in many ways as this is our first and right now I have been transitioning careers, so I can nap. Sometimes, if I get up and eat, I can then go back to sleep around 7:30am. However, nap or no nap, I have not found that it makes a difference in being able to sleep the night through.
If you do find something that works, keep me posted. I kind of like the idea of the Letter meditation and plan to try that. I could not do the applecider vinegar thing. That just about makes my stomach quiver at the thought. :-) It is disconcerting that I have had problems since the get-go and to know that it just does not improve further along the road.
Best wishes.
My ob told me it was okay to take half a dose of unisom. It seemed to help me, hopefully it will help you! :0)
