Month 8: All through the night

With everyone telling you to get as much sleep as you can before the baby comes, trying to ‘will’ yourself into the land of nod can cause more stress and less rest…

Any woman who’s been pregnant will tell you that one of the first signs of pregnancy is overwhelming fatigue. The kind of fatigue that has you falling asleep with your face in your porridge! This “natural” lethargy occurs due to the rise in the hormone progesterone, which is important in maintaining your pregnancy but is also why you feel so tired. As your body begins to “grow another human”, your metabolic processes change, and burning all that fuel drains your energy reserves. So you’d think you’d have no problem sleeping at night…

FIRST TRIMESTER SLEEP BUSTERS

These could be emotional and physical. Although there are major changes going on in your body – outwardly, there’s not much to see. As your uterus begins to expand, it presses against your bladder, which is trying to keep its place within the pelvis. Until the uterus has moved up and out of the pelvis, you’re going to make frequent trips to the loo during the day – and especially at night. Other changes – like tender breasts, leg cramps, and nausea and vomiting – also prevent you from getting your muchneeded shut-eye.

Emotionally, coming to terms with an unplanned pregnancy and worrying about relationships and financial constraints have a huge part to play also.

SECOND TRIMESTER SLEEP BUSTERS

Although you tend to sleep better in your second trimester, as your body goes through a “cooling off” period after the massive energy burn of the first trimester, you may still have problems with the quality of your sleep. With your second trimester comes heartburn (so now your bladder is not so squished, but your stomach is getting pushed around) and reflux, as acid is pushed up into the oesophagus. Lying down (to nap or sleep) often makes this worse. Leg cramps can strike in the middle of the night, and you may wake up in huge discomfort, clutching your calf.

THIRD TRIMESTER SLEEP BUSTERS

For most pregnant women sleep disturbances only really become a big nuisance in the third trimester. As you approach the last six weeks, your body is really bearing the strain of the effects of pregnancy. It becomes more difficult to breathe properly, your legs and feet ache, your baby’s metabolism revs up as yours starts to wind down in the evenings, and the constant movements of the baby may keep you awake. Your bladder has you up going to the loo many times during the night. You may also be pondering the reality of the birth drawing near, and any concerns that you may not have dealt with crowd your emotions and your mind.

These options may help ease the transition from a hard day into the twilight zone of sleep.

Your mattress should be firm enough to support your curves. It’s helpful to have a pillow or two between your legs, so that your upper leg is even with your hip bone.

Try to establish regular sleeping routines, including naps in the day. Avoid becoming overtired.

Soft gentle massage will release the feel-good hormones in your body, reducing tension and enhancing relaxation.

A warm aromatherapy bath (4 drops of lavender oil in your bathwater) before going to bed, or a little lavender oil on your pillow, will settle and relax you. This is more powerful than you think! Rescue Remedy drops or tablets are safe to take in pregnancy and are very effective in treating anxiety and emotional concerns. (It helps babies too!) Avoid products containing caffeine, and perhaps a small glass of warm milk will suffice – just before turning off the light.

Make sure your room is dark enough – this is also a consideration if you are lucky enough to nap in the day.

Use weekends to lie in.

Wear loose sleepwear, and make sure you aren’t too hot or too cold.

Turn off the TV at least half an hour before retiring.

Keep a diary next to your bed, to write down all those ideas and chores that pop into your head as you’re drifting off. Once your thoughts are down in black and white, they’ll be there when you wake up in the morning to deal with. Cut down on fluids after 6pm. This will help decrease those midnight shuffles to the loo.

Keep some salty cracker biscuits next to your bed if the “munchies” or nausea strikes and you just have to eat a little something, as this will save the trip to the pantry.

Daily exercise and fresh air soothes the soul, works the body and builds the immune system. Try and exercise early in the morning, or early evening, as a late workout could rev up your engines and prevent you from falling asleep easily.

Attend a relaxation/visualisation class with a childbirth educator – this will help you learn ways to switch off and re-focus, and teach you calming breathing techniques.

Finding a comfortable sleeping position as your pregnancy grows becomes a challenge. You’ll find that in the latter stages of pregnancy you’ll need to shift positions more frequently, so you may not get the same amount of sleep in eight hours that you would normally.

Sleeping on your side is best while you’re pregnant. If you’ve always been a back or stomach sleeper, you might have trouble getting used to sleeping on your side. Sleeping on your left side may benefit your baby by improving blood flow and therefore nutrients to the placenta. Turning from side to side while favouring your left side is probably the best strategy.

Many moms worry about sleeping on their back. Back sleeping can cause some moms to experience dizziness. While it may be comfortable to start with, should you feel any dizziness or heart palpitations, you’ll instinctively turn onto your side when you become uncomfortable. When you’re sleeping on your back, the weight of your uterus lies on the spine, back muscles, intestines and major blood vessels. This could lead to muscle aches and pains and impaired circulation, which is uncomfortable for you and can reduce circulation to your baby. Back sleeping can cause snoring and, with increased weight, could lead to sleep apnoea.

If you constantly find yourself on your back, place a thin pillow under your right side so that you “tip” your body to the left and take the pressure off your major blood vessels.

Many mothers worry that they will hurt their baby if they adopt certain sleeping positions. Babies don’t feel discomfort in their positions as we do. Don’t stress about baby’s discomfort, concentrate on your own comfort.