how do you ever sleep???

[mudpuddle]

I have been so cranky all the time because I can never get a good nights sleep. : I feel like my belly is sooo big, and theres no more room for the baby, every time he moves he kicks my ribs and it kills. I can never find a position that's comfortable, even with a million pillows. And if by some miracle I do get comfortable, I have to get up to pee! I literally get up every 45 minutes. I'm getting miserable. Its making my whole body ache during the day, bc I just can't get a good nights sleep. This has been going on for the last 3 weeks or so and I just can't take it anymore!! I thought about getting one of those huge body pillows, thinking that might help me get more comfortable, but I just can't see how its worth the money since theres only a few weeks left, and its not a garantee that It'll even make it better.

I also work at home, on a computer, untill midnight. I try to go to bed right after that, but I find that after looking at a computer screen for 9 hours it's like my brain is fried and I just can't relax enough to sleep. Does anyone know what I mean? It's like I wish there was just an 'off' switch, my brain is on overload. :

[wanderinggypsy]

I know what you mean! I'm having a lot of sleepless nights too and it's ROUGH.

That's unfortunate about your work schedule, because I know myself, I can't fall asleep right after finishing work, especially if I"m working on a computer. It's like I need an hour or two just to let my brainwaves get back to normal... reading usually helps, but at that time of night who's really in the mood to crack open a book, right? And then there's the laying in bed and watching the clock and starting to stress out over "i have to be up in 5 and a half hours!!!" syndrome thing... ugh.

It won't be long, however, that our nights will be a whole other kind of sleepless - the kind induced by a little creature who wants to nurse and cuddle from dusk til dawn - I can't wait!

[MonTana Mama]

I have rules for myself-

no TV, computer after 8pm

don't drink anything after 6pm-I really have gulp down fluids in the afternoon

and NO napping! if I nap w ds, then I sleep terrible. if you do need a nap, the earlier the better and no more than 20 minutes.

no chocolate in evening

Try a warm bath. I really think you need to try not to be on the comp. so late-studies say it causes the neurons to overfire, making sleep difficult.

We have alot of sleep issues in our family and these are most imp. things I have while researching.

Good luck!!!

[Bkwyrm]

Benadryl. Otherwise I can't sleep because I can't BREATHE!!

I wake up to go to the bathroom quite a lot, though. And because our house is dry, I also wake up because I'm thirsty. Or because the cats are fighting at the foot of the bed. Or because the house creaked. Or....
I wake up a lot.
But I've been an insomniac for 20 years, so this isn't all that new for me.

[scsigrl]

Not in your DDC but...

Is this your firsdt baby?

If so, consider it conditioning for when baby gets here That is what DH told me in the last month or so.

Only a little longer! Try and enjoy it if you have the energy to

[Gumby]

Sometimes I wish I could sleep in a hot tub...oh that sounds so nice right now...

Hang in there...Happy solstice...

[LilMomma83]

I have insomnia too but I my MW has me taking Benadryl for PUPPS - I itch just as bad (DH says I even scratch in my sleep - yikes!); but it sure knocks me out - I can sleep 4hrs straight!!! I will probably take it now, wake up when DH leaves for work at 4:30am and take it once more and wake up around 8 or 9am...I don't think that is too bad - it might be worth taking Benadryl even if for no other reason than to sleep better!!! I also steal DH's pillows after he leaves for work and it seams when I prop myself up more I breath better and have last heartburn which helps me sleep better too.

[wanderinggypsy]

Again... I could be enjoying sleeping for another hour and a half but my internal clock had me up waaaayyy before dawn today.

[MommytoTwo]

I need to go to bed earlier since that is teh only time I can fall asleep and be happy. In the middle of the night I wake up because my hip aches, so I get up to pee come back to bed, flip over, then baby has hiccups so that keeps me up. By the time I am falling asleep again my hip hurts already so I flip back to the original side... ugh.

[neetling]

I have to take Tylenol or my rx for Darvocet before bed and again in the middle of the night or really early AM to get some relief from my sching hips. Otherwise I wake up a lot in pain or super early in the AM.

[marnie]

yeah, sleeping is not happening here, either. i did get a body pillow- not a fancy one but a $20 one from bed, bath, and beyond. If i don't use use it after this pregnancy, my 4 year old would love to adopt it.

for me, the $20 is worth it, even for a few weeks. it makes all the difference to me.

[crunchy_mama]

not much sleep going on here either. I wake up every 2 hrs for a pee, which is the fine the first 2 times, but by the 3rd time I am just awake. Plus, very unfortunately Luke has decided to wake up super early, so by the time I am about to fall back asleep, he is awake for the day, very, very frustrating. I have tried not drinking liquids for hours before bed, it doesn't work. I don't know where all the fluid comes from. I have tried the magnesium supplement Calm, it doesn't help either. I am also waking up starving. I am trying to eat enough during the day, but it seems it is never enough.

[Cmildenb]

Exactly!

I have the same sleep problems and I usually go three days with very little sleep and waking up in the night every hour to painfully turn over and look at the clock. By the third day I usually am prime for a meltdown during the day, but then I can usually get one good night's sleep with stretches of 2-3 hrs without waking up. Luxury, huh?

I find that if I limit my time in bed to 8 hours then I avoid the sore hips thing. So, I usually try to zone out to tv or a book until the last possible minute, and I also try to drink tons of water so that I am not feeling dehydrated because that will make me ache and feel sore, too. I also eat a big meal right before going to bed so that I won't wake up due to hunger.

It usually works, but some nights are just unexplainable and I have to remind myself to have patience and know I will get my sleep soon. I also like to think of it as body training for the all-night feeds that are coming soon.

Good luck, we are all in the same boat, so you are not alone.

[luminesce]

Despite being big which makes it completely impossible to turn over without waking up and making a concious effort to do so - I've been sleeping pretty soundly.... until last night, ugh. I don't know if it was a random occurance or if my body is now starting to prep me for sleepless nights. I tossed and turned with strange dreams the whole time. This is the second night in a row I dreamed oddly about an oven catching on fire and exploding or blowing up a building. What on earth is up with that?!

[mudpuddle]

heh. thanks guys. good to know we're all in the same boat. I try to tell myself that its just practice for when the baby arrives, but even then hopefully I'll be getting some sleep. (i know, I have my fingers crossed)

It's just really starting to wear me down now that it's so close to the end.

[mudpuddle]

I really wish I could get off the computer sooner, but I just can't afford to stop working yet, and theres no way i could switch my hours. :

and about the benedryl... i ususally don't like to take it because it makes me really drowsy the next morning.. but last night I gave in and took some, and I was actually able to sleep for a few hours at a time.

I still feel really out of it today though. *sigh*

[srbushey]

Try pelvic rocking before going to bed. Get on all fours and tuck your hips in and out alternately, about 20 times or so. This gets your hips and pelvis relaxed and moves the baby out of the way so you can actually empty your bladder before going to sleep.

Pillows are a lifesaver. And yeah, baths work wonders for me too. I am also up on the computer late, just to get me tired enough to sleep. Anyway, I've been sleeping almost through the night, maybe only getting up once or twice. I don't know how else I could endure these last 2 weeks! Arrgh. But it'll be worth it all.

[mommyof2soon2b3]

I know EXACTLY how you feel...I wake up SEVERAL times a night to either turn over due to extreme hip pain, go pee or eat something then it takes forever to get back to sleep because dh thinks it needs to be 80 in the house and I lay there sweating pillows don't help at all for me like they use to...Last night I couldn't sleep in our brand new VERY expensive (normally comfy) bed I had to pop in a boring movie and slept on the couch every time I woke up it sucked cuz I had to go all the way upstairs to pee and pop the movie back in just so I could kinda sleep...Not to mention I keep having horrible nightmares and I was suppose to have my baby on the 21st but doc decided LAST minute(2 days before) to change my c-section to the 27th...I can't wait...Last night all I wanted to do was sleep on my tummy...UGH