I just have to laugh right now: Pregnancy insomnia.
As if my day/night wasn’t bad already, now I can’t sleep. And I didn’t even take a nap today. Grrr.
Let me elaborate for you:
I didn’t eat dinner because I wasn’t hungry, but I did have to take my prenatal vitamins, so I had a bowl full of grapes. I fell asleep on the couch around 11pm and my sweet husband came down, kissed me and my belly, and then put me to bed. I woke up around 1am to go to the bathroom (gotta love how many times a pregnant woman wakes up in the middle of the night to pee).
I had a hard time going back to sleep because I was hungry. I got up, had some toast, and then went back to bed to try to go to sleep. Yeah, right. I stayed in bed until 3am, which is when Tarzan came to bed. I decided that I didn’t want to keep him up by complaining and tossing and turning, so now I’m in the living room watching TV. The Jetsons to be specific. After all, nothing else is on at 3:47am.
I’m so annoyed right now. I was so excited to go to sleep so that I could end this day and wake up tomorrow and have a better day. Now I have pregnancy insomnia and I’m stuck watching cartoons.
What a crazy day/night it’s been! Maybe I should get off my laptop – I’ve heard that computers keep you awake and that’s the last thing I want. I just want to sleep, so on that note, good night and sleep tight! (I sure hope I can!)
If anyone has/had this problem when they are/were pregnant, please share your tips with me!
You might also want to read:
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- Cloud B Sleep Sheep Review: The ultimate toy that puts Baby Monkey right to sleep every time!
- 13 weeks pregnant: Pregnancy is kicking my a$s
- 26 weeks pregnant: A meltdown about pregnancy, anxiety, and the unknown
= a post from Mommy Jane 
= a post from Daddy Tarzan
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Bless your heart! Being pregnant and not sleeping – what a horrible thing to be experiencing. I had this problem, but it was in my last trimester and my doctor said I could take Unisom. Not sure if this is safe at your stage, so check it out first.
Good luck and sweet dreams!
~Ginny
Hi Ginny,
Thanks for your sympathy. I finally went to sleep at 7am and was up at 830am. Ugh. Luckily I don’t have nights like this too often, so I do hope that this doesn’t start to become the norm. I don’t want to take anything now, but if it gets worse I will talk to my doctor for sure.
LOL this is just the beginning of your sleepless night!!!! once baby is here it will be no sleep at all!!! you”ll get use to it!
Renee’s last blog post..Better the second time around
Aww..doncha hate those nights? With me, if I can’t sleep…I start worrying about things just to add to the joy of not being able to sleep- ugh!
Reading helps me sometimes. Do you like to read? There is a great series written by Diana Gabaldon. The first book is called ‘Outlander’ It’s got romance, adventure, suspense…everything. It’s the story of a young woman who accidentally time-travels to the 1700’s. It’s not all science-fictiony though. Trouble is, you might stay up too late reading- LOL.
By the way, once that baby comes you won’t be so upset about losing sleep. I remember beautiful times in the middle of the night with my babies…nursing them, rocking them, thinking of their futures, having quiet times with them. It’s not all crying and diapers- honest:-) In fact, once they slept through the nights (my daughter at 6 weeks, and my son around 4 months) I used to go in sometimes and pick them up in the middle of the night and rock them while they slept. I kinda missed our middle of the night feedings…imagine that!
Helen’s last blog post..New Year, New Stuff
I’m right there with you. It was a big problem in my first pregnancy, mostly because I actually could nap during the day. I just hit 12 weeks yesterday and I have a 22 month old. Not many chances for naps during the day and I’m exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow. I was up every 3 hours to pee last night and when I woke up at 3, I couldn’t go back to sleep! It was awful.
I’m having this problem lately too (I’m 13 wks). Earlier in the pg, I could nap for hours at a time AND sleep in AND go to bed early. So I got into that routine. Now, I’m up early, can’t nap, in bed at a normal time, but can’t fall asleep. And when I do, I wake up to pee several times, then I’m up early with m/s. Ugh. Sorry I can’t offer help.
there is so much that happens during pregnancy, so much stuff that’s going on inside of you behind the scenes, it’s nuts! I believe worrying about not being able to sleep is probably the biggest culprit. What I learned from my pregnacy was to step into it, and ride each day, each moment fully, and then let it go. Today, sleeplessness, tomorrow maybe not. I was always surprised at how quickly things changed, and what I thought I knew I didn’t know! (Mind you that’s still going on now with the actual baby
)
Regarding the computer and the television and all that jazz. Those electronics do affect your brain’s ability to shut off naturally and fully. Even if you don’t do this all the time, I would suggest sitting and putting on some mellow music, some sweet smelling essential oils and simply breathe. Your ability to calm yourself down and relax on your own, will be KEY AND SO VERY NEEDED during labor and most especially during the 1st couple of weeks of your baby’s life. It takes practice. Make it your own sacred time. I promise you, you soooo won’t regret it!
Babe, sorry to interrupt, but I know you’ll be jumping onto the blog soon. I just wanted you to know that I love you so very much and that you are the best wife in the world. You’re going to be a wonderful mom.
Also, I just wanted to remind you before you go to the grocery store in a little but to add ice cream to the list.
Thanks babe. Love you.
Oh my, I understand completely.
what a life
Just found out I’m pregnant with my first child, what a learning curve. I’m only 2 weeks in and it is now 3:31 am and here I am reading ironically about pregnancy insomnia! Why is it I never heard about this in sexual education, or from my mum who had 8 children!!?!?
I’m having this problem too. I am able to fall asleep fine, but wake up 3 hours later and can’t go back to sleep. I have always slept like a rock, so this is definitely a pregnancy effect. The insomnia started about 10 weeks, and is still a problem at 13 weeks.
I have a hunch that the insomnia is worst on nights when I don’t drink a lot of water during the afternoon/evening, and better when I do. Yes, I do have to get up to pee more, but I am able to fall back asleep. My hypothesis is that I am either diluting or flushing some of the hormones out of my system. I know the hormones are good for the kid, but me not getting any sleep can’t be helping them. I’m trying to strike a decent balance.
Try it – and post your results?
Elizabeth
Here I am up at 3:15 a.m. and actually doing searches on “Insomnia in Pregnancy”
This is my third night of getting barely 4 hours sleep and I have no idea how to stop it! I am almost 16 weeks preggo with my second child and I actually had the same exact problem with my first child about the same time! The problem with me is that I will actually fall to sleep for about 20 minutes at a time and then wake up for an hour or so and then fall asleep for another 20 minutes and this cycle continues throughout the night. I’m wondering if a lot of it is in your head and you are automatically anxious about falling to sleep? I purposely didn’t take a nap today so I would be really tired and I was around 11 or so and now I’m back to where I started from! It’s really frustrated and I don’t really want to take any medication for it 
it does not matter if its for the night or a nap i sleep for 3 hours and wake up. i am 16 weeks pregnant and this has been going on for over a month. with my other 4 pregnancys this did not happen at all. did i mention i wake up to nightmares every 3 hours and end up eating a whole meal then i can go back to sleep just to wake up 3 hours later and do it all again. someone please help!!!!!!
I’m still struggling with it, but have found two more things that help:
mincing an inch of ginger root, boiling in a cup or so of water for 5 minutes, straining and drinking, about 30 minutes before I go to bed. (I add lemon and honey to help get it down.) Obviously I have to get up to pee, but at least I can fall back asleep and the nightmares aren’t so bad.
Also, though I never did take much caffeine, I was also not sensitive to it. Now, apparently, I am hyper sensitive, so no caffeine – NONE – after noon.
I can’t believe how little information there is out there on this problem. It’s an infuriating one! One ridiculous doctor told me everyone has it, that it will probably get worse throughout the pregnancy. I don’t think he’s right on either count! In fact, at 18 weeks, it’s already getting better.
Elizabeth
I am 31 weeks prego and have a hard time sleeping just trying to find some ways to help….. so if u have some tell me please anything can help…… thank u