Maybe a stretch but anyone else have sleep apnea and pg?

[nick&jonmom]

I have central sleep hypo-apnea, and though it doesn't usually cause a lot of problems with me, now that I'm pg (6mths) it seems to be increasing. My dr may have me do another sleep study but in the meantime I'm worried about my baby and wondering if she's getting a lack of oxygen while I'm having my no/low breathing episodes. It seems to happen most often when I'm on my back, so of course I try not to by putting a pillow behind me, but somehow in my sleep I always end up on my back! Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat or has been and has had a positive outcome?
~Thanks~

[MaerynPearl]

I was not diagnosed with sleep apnea until after both of my children were born... even though once it was diagnosed it was obvious I had had it since I was quite young, well before I got pregnant with them.

It also became obvious that that was probably why they woke me up in the middle of the night while I was being monitored for a placental abruption to put an oxygen mask on me (the abruption had NOTHING to do with the apnea... we had nearly gotten in a car accident and the sudden slamming on the breaks is what caused it... but my son was fine anyway)

I do not see that it has caused any problems at all in my son... he is first in his class and shows no signs of any disorders at all... and my daughter isnt even 5 yet but already knows how to spell her name (its 8 letters long!) can recognize numbers and letters... knows her address and phone number... so Im pretty sure it didnt hurt her much either!

One way I found to avoid sleeping on my back as much as it sucked to avoid... was to sew tennis balls to either shoulder blade and the lower spine area of an old t-shirt and wear that to bed. Its really not comfortable to sleep on them so when you roll over onto your back and cannot get them to move out from under you, you are likely to roll back onto your side.

[tarasattva]

I have moderate to severe sleep apnea and sleep with a CPAP every night.

I was treated long before I got pregnant so I can't speak to your concerns about risks to the baby, but wanted you to know you weren't alone and offer to answer any questions that I might be able to.

[nick&jonmom]

Well, I may have to give the tennis ball shirt a try, that's such a craetive idea! Did either of you find that sleeping on your back worsened your symptoms? I just was told that I have a sleep study appt scheduled for Jan 25, so it leaves a lot time between now and then for me to try to do something to reduce the episodes.
I was wondering if your apneas were central or obstrucitve? What exactly is a cpap? My last sleep study was 5 1/2 yrs ago and the dr wanted me to do another one to check other stuff out, but during it my breathing slowed to almost nothing 40 times during 8 hours. Since I never followed up with it, I didnt' hear anything abou treatments etc. I did however have my 2nd ds since then but notinced my symptoms lessened during that pg, whereas with this one they sem to be worsening...? Thanks so much for your responses, it really does help to know that I'm not alone and maybe it's not as bad as it seems for the baby.

[MaerynPearl]

Mine was obstructive, I had abnormally large tonsils and adenoids, if I laid on my back it became absolutely horrible. For the longest time I thought it was NORMAL to be unable to breathe through your nose. Isn't that so weird? I mean, now that I have had them out for 3 years it amazes me that I thought that was normal. After having the surgery I ended up getting several bloody noses because I couldn't STOP breathing through my nose... I was just so amazed lol.

That said, having gotten them out has stopped the sleep apnea but not my sleep disorders... I had to have a sleep study this past year too (to be sure the sleep apnea was gone) and while I do not have that I do have RLS (I had no clue until then!) and will move my legs in my sleep, waking me back up.

Sleep disorders suck

[Gracerenee]

Me!

I only have sleep apnea when pregnant and it gets worse the further along in the pregnancy I get. I had it with my last pregnancy and my daughter is 3 and just fine. I too was worried this time around because it is much worse than last time. Sometimes I would wake up gasping for air, and sometimes I would dream that I was suffocating. I had a sleep study but it was too early in my pregnancy I think to really show anything. Now I have less than 4 weeks to go and am just trying to hang in there and hoping my babe is doing okay at night!

[nick&jonmom]

Originally Posted by Gracerenee

I only have sleep apnea when pregnant and it gets worse the further along in the pregnancy I get. I had it with my last pregnancy and my daughter is 3 and just fine. I too was worried this time around because it is much worse than last time. Sometimes I would wake up gasping for air, and sometimes I would dream that I was suffocating. I had a sleep study but it was too early in my pregnancy I think to really show anything. Now I have less than 4 weeks to go and am just trying to hang in there and hoping my babe is doing okay at night!

Yeah, I wake up either gasping or just plain not breathig and have to suck in lots of air. I also have dreams that go along with the apnea about drowning mostly....some people tend to think it must be anxiety, I however completely disagree with this theory and I'm very positive of when this all started for me. It was after an extended exposure to chemiclas: new bed, new futon couch that smelled horribly of formaldehyde, new carpet with thickest padding in entire house and new paint (not low voc) that was never properly aired out before we moved in, all within a few months. I had terrible breathing problems at night and was eventually hosptialized for heart problems and other stuff that was never diagnosed, though I kept telling them about all the chemiclas, but of course that wasn't it, it HAD to be anxiety; here take klonopin, that should help. Yeah, I was way realxed but my sleep apnea got even worse cause of the sedative! Sorry for the ramble, I just get so upset when people doubt that you know your own body!
It's so good to know that our babies are likely doing ok in there, even though we don't breath right at night!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and stories, I truly appreciate it!!

[moondiapers]

I didn't need to do another sleep study. My Cpap has a memory stick that I send to the Pulmonologist so he can see how I'm doing....he adjusts the settings on the card after downloading my data and mails it back to me. As soon as I instert it in the machine and turn it on I have new settings.

[moondiapers]

Oh, I did have to switch to nasal pillows and ditch the mask though...because I need to be sleeping on my side and that doesn't work with a mask.

[jillmamma]

Me too! I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea when I had a sleep study 2 years ago (after already having my first 2 kids). Scary thing was that my total time of stopping breathing episodes addied up to an hour a night! I now use a CPAP and mask every night to help me breathe. I am a side sleeper anyway, and I found that buying a memory foam pillow has done wonders to allow me to sleep on my side with the mask. I definitely am snoring less and sleeping better this pregnancy with the machine.

[bananabee]

I don't have sleep apnea (I have narcolepsy) but know where they sell a CPAP pillow you can sleep on your side with. I've heard really good things about them from friends, also that they make for great nursing pillows. Here's the link:

http://shop.talkaboutsleep.com/cpap-pillows

[7swans]

Hi everyone, I'm rather new here and I'm happy to see this thread. I also have sleep apnea and am 21 weeks pregnant. I've found that sleeping on my side does help, although it makes it very difficult/impossible to use the mask. The pillows that bananabee posted look really cool, but I don't know if I could give up my Snoogle! I've slept so much better since I got it.

One of my big concerns is co-sleeping after the baby is born. We've got an arm's reach sleigh bed and I think I'm just going to skip the CPAP for a while. I may use it one night a week or so, and have my DP sleep on the baby's side. Are any of you planning on co-sleeping?

[moondiapers]

Originally Posted by 7swans

Hi everyone, I'm rather new here and I'm happy to see this thread. I also have sleep apnea and am 21 weeks pregnant. I've found that sleeping on my side does help, although it makes it very difficult/impossible to use the mask. The pillows that bananabee posted look really cool, but I don't know if I could give up my Snoogle! I've slept so much better since I got it.

One of my big concerns is co-sleeping after the baby is born. We've got an arm's reach sleigh bed and I think I'm just going to skip the CPAP for a while. I may use it one night a week or so, and have my DP sleep on the baby's side. Are any of you planning on co-sleeping?

you can also order nasal pillows from your Cpap supplier. It's instead of a mask, and allows more movement in your sleep.