insomnia

[sienna tree]

Uggh!  I can fall asleep but it's when I wake up in the middle of the night to pee, I can't fall back to sleep.  I lay there hoping that it will eventually come.  It never seems to come anymore.  I'm exhausted!  Any advice? 

[montessorimama1]

If it's any consolation, you're not alone... I've had insomnia since I tested positive and I'm at 19 weeks now so you can imagine my exhaustion.  Some days are better than others in the insomnia department, but it's just like you describe it and always around 2am.  There are three things that have worked for me:

1. Don't take a nap during the day if you can help it (don't know if you're doing it).  The more tired I am at night, the less I suffer from insomnia.

2. When you get up to the bathroom, don't think.  Instead of letting your brain start to think random thoughts, choose a word and repeat it all the way to the bathroom and back.  I choose "sleep", and I repeat it over and over again until I'm back in bed so that my brain doesn't start running off with what I have to do the next day or other random useless thoughts that will then keep me awake.

3. Use a meaningless mantra to lull you back to sleep.  Once in bed, repeat a set of sounds that have no meaning to you, which is another way of discouraging your brain from picking up speed.  I use "om nama shivaya", which is a meditation mantra, and it works really well.

Hope this helps... :)  I see it as practice for when the baby's born.  Gotta look on the bright side, right?

[lactatinggirl]

I've only been unable to fall back asleep a few times thus far and I just basically go with it. If I lay in bed I'll just think about the fact that I'm not sleeping and drive myself crazy. So I'll read a book (always good for getting me drowsy if it's the right time of day) or just do another activity for a little while and try again. It used to be considered normal for people to wake up and stay up for an hour or so in the middle of the night. Now that we all obsess about it (and are trying to hard to limit our sleep to begin with) it's a much bigger deal to do what our natural rhythms tell us to. Maybe try going to bed a bit earlier or sleep in later if possible or make up for it?

[maptome]

I've been cosleeping and waking every few hours for about 2 years.  Melatonin before bed was helping me with insomnia, but my midwife told me not to take it during pregnancy.  I have the same kind of insomnia, not a problem falling asleep, but I have a problem when I wake up.  I still get up frequently, but only about one of those times do I stay awake.  I find it really helps to take a Valerian when I realize that I'm not going to fall asleep naturally.  My midwife says it's okay, and it helps me fall asleep, and I think it's even helping to control my nightmares (one of the reasons why I have a hard time going back to sleep).  I think it also helps to go to bed as early as you can, just to help alleviate the pressure to sleep.  Like, if you normally sleep 7 hours, go to bed an hour earlier or something, that way you know if you're up for an hour in the middle of the night, you still have a chance getting plenty of sleep.  I've been battling insomnia since I was a child, so I know it's rough.  And, just a warning, if this is your first baby, I got really really bad insomnia postpartum, like maybe 4 hours of sleep total for the entire the first week.  Also, there are some good free meditation podcasts that help me fall asleep sometimes.  Good luck, and I hope it gets better for you.

[sienna tree]

So I went to an herb fair this weekend and talked with someone who works with pregnant ladies. I have been nervous about what herbs I can take while pregnant so I had stopped taking them (except nettles/red raspberry).  Now I have more confidence again after speaking with her.  Here is a formula she gave us for insomnia.  I am going to start playing around with it tonight with the herbs that I do have out of this formula. 

o   Skullcap 3 parts

o   Oatstraw 2 parts

o   Chamomile 2 parts

o   Linden 2 parts

o   Passionflower 1 part

o   Ginger or mint ¼ - 1/8 part

§  Make a cup of tea 2 hours before going to bed then ½ cup right before bed.

[sienna tree]

Oh yeah.  I forgot to mention that for me valerian doesn't work.  It kind of has the opposite effect on me. 

[element2012]

Oh my goodness, I used to sleep like a rock! Better than a rock!  Oh how I miss that... now I am sleeping fitfully at best.  Any little noise will wake me up (ahem, DH). I can't get comfortable at all.  I thought I was the only one muttering "sleep" to myself to keep all this shuffling from waking me up, lol.  When I get up to pee, I try to barely open my eyes, only opening them enough to not walking into/fall into anything on my way the toilet.  While there, I try to basically stay asleep, then vaguely sleep walk back to bed.  It seems to help.  I try not to let those wakeful thoughts come to mind about projects I need to finish, etc, just try to keep my brain and energy in basically walking sleep.  You can also try a white noise generator, like rain or the jungle...

Friends say, "make sure you get lots of sleep now...".  Ha! My body has decided that now is the perfect time to train me for not sleeping.

[chilichiki]

I slept good for the first couple of weeks...my body was always exhausted!!  But lately I have been having horrible insomnia too.  If I don't go to sleep the very second I am tired, it takes me forever to get to sleep.  And, like you, once I get up to go to the bathroom...forget about it!  I lay in bed wishing for sleep until it is morning and time to start the whole cycle over again.  Doesn't help that it is next to impossible for me to ever get comfortable.  Yay pregnancy!

[Marinwoo]

I have the same problem (which is why I'm writing this right now).  I go to bed at 10ish and sleep until about 3 and then I'm up from then until 6-7am when I finally can sleep for a few hours.  Obviously this is a problem if I want to, oh I don't know, have a job :).    The worst part is that the baby wakes up too and starts kicking me and then I get (she gets?) really hungry, like ravenous, and I have to have a snack or else!   

Anyway, the only advice I have, which is the only thing that works for me, is to get up and do something until I get tired enough to fall asleep.