Insomnia

I am typing this at 3:45am and honestly feel like I am losing my mind :o

About 3 weeks ago, falling asleep started becoming more and more difficult for me (since having DS I could usually fall asleep in seconds so I found this quite surprising). I am now at the stage where I am only managing to fall asleep between 2am and 4am. Night after night.

I have an 18 month old whom I need to care for during the day and it is just getting harder and harder to function properly on such little sleep. Bubs is due in 7.5 weeks and I honestly don't know how I will cope doing this for another 2 months :(

I have tried napping while DS has his afternoon sleep (I seem to be able to fall asleep then). I have also tried just pushing through the day without any sleep in the hope that I will be exhausted and will sleep that night. This doesn't work either. Night times are becoming such an anxious time for me, which is clearly not helping things and just resulting in a vicious cycle.

Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? Did you seek medical intervention? Any suggestions you may have (besides the usual warm milk, bath, lavender, staying up until you are tired etc. suggestions - none of which are working for me), would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I'm not pregnant and I'm having this problem. I understand.

Although when I was I also found that I would wake up at the same time each night. Thus was the time my labour started.

All I can suggest is talk to your doctor next visit and try to sleep when u vcan.

I would just think this is a part of pg? I hear of so many women suffering from it I actually just replied to a similar thread! Let me know if you find a cure!

I suffered from it too. Then found it weird that hours before my waters broke i fell asleep on the couch at 5:30pm :lol: then went like 36 hours straight with no sleep at all.

Yes, I have pregnancy insomnia. It sucks. I can fall asleep easily enough, but I wake up a zillion times a night. I also sleep in the day with DD because otherwise I would be a zombie.

I think its a hormonal thing because its very common in the third trimester. *Sigh* I just wish actually having the baby would guarantee more sleep!

Hope you have a better night tonight. I know about that night-time anxiety...its really hard. Do you have any emergency essence?

I'm in the same boat. It's driving my bonkers! I do seem to fall asleep fine but then I'm up every two hours to go to the toilet. By 3am I'm wide awake AND I'm hungry. So I get up and have a bowl of cereal, get on BB and check my e-mails. By 5am I go back to bed and then I have my best sleep until around 6.30/7.00am. By the end of each day I feel like a wreck. I try to tell myself that it is training for when my baby is born but if I don't get some decent sleep soon I don't know how I will be able to manage with a newborn!

Yup I have insomnia too. But I can't even nap in the arvos! I have found that if DH puts something boring on the tv and gives my feet a rub, I do fall asleep around 10pm on the couch though...

Sorry to be brief... on iPod w cranky toddler. Just wanted to add that getting yourself into a deep meditative state can be almost as good for body and mind as having real sleep. Maybe download some tracks with progressive muscle relaxation or guided meditations. At least then you'll be giving your body a good rest and staving off some of that anxiety. Also awesome practice for the birth, as we know that creating a meditative state is excellent for pain management.

All the best, insomnia SUCKS.

I can totally relate. I am usually a night owl at the best of times, but the third trimester for me is always tough - I average 3-5 hours a night, sometimes not going to bed till around the 4am mark, and then I *try* to get sleep in the day time. But with a 16 month old who only likes to sleep for 2 hrs max (but usually closer to 1-1.5) in the day and then the 2 older kids to run around to after school activities etc, I am just wasted all the time at the moment :( I guess if nothing else it gets us in the groove of sleeplessness for when bub is actually here and feeding through the night. Not much of a consolation tho! :D

Hello, I have had insomnia from day dot with this pregnancy & the best decision I made was to talk to my Ob about it and request a mild sedative. It have been a godsend to be able to sleep and wake up refreshed the next day. I would talk to your caregiver about it and see if a sedative would be a good solution for you.

Good luck xo

Thank you all so much for your suggestions - I really appreciate it. I am seeing my doctor tomorrow and will chat to him about it and find out what options (if any) are available to me. Fortunately my DH has a bit of a work break at the moment (he works for himself), so he has been getting up to DS at night and letting me a have a bit of a sleep in on the really bad nights.

For those of you also suffering, I hope you find a solution and get some well-deserved sleep x