I can't take this late pregnancy insomnia anymore

[Rainbowhairdontcare]

I'm 36 weeks and every night without fail I wake up between 1 and 3. Id say I fall asleep around 10:30.

I can't go back to sleep. I end up with intrusive thoughts and anxiety about things I rarely think about. My poor DH sometimes wakes up and has a chat with me (it usually works) but I can't keep dragging him into this.

I'm tired at work and the thought of potentially 4 more weeks of this is driving me nuts .

Last night I was able to go back to sleep but ended up waking up screaming.

Have you ever tried Valerian tea? It's a herbal tea that I find never fails to help me get off to sleep. You could try it before bed or get up for one when you wake up. Might make getting up in the morning harder but might be worth it. Though you might just want to check it's safe in pregnancy.

Thank you Dusty I see the MW tomorrow and will ask. I just saw a link between long periods of insomnia and PND .. that didn't help

Sorry you’re suffering, I had this too and it’s rubbish. I used to listen to audiobooks with headphones and say to myself that I wasn’t trying to get to sleep I was just enjoying the story. It would take a while for me to get back to sleep but it helped block out the nasty head squirrels and the panic counting down til my alarm. Also did breathing exercises and relaxation techniques I did at yoga. I hope you find something that helps you, it seems so unfair to be sleep deprived before your sleep-thief is even born!

Hi. I suffer from insomnia. During pregnancy it was awful as you are also, y’know, uncomfortable, acid reflux, giant baby inside you

What if you ‘embraced’ it? So during those awake times, watch some of your favourite programmes/documentaries or listen to an audio book, music etc. I listened to pregnancy meditation. So instead of panicking and allowing the intrusive thoughts to develop, you are instead filling it with happy and relaxing things. If you go back to sleep, great. If not, then at least you’re relaxed.

You can find a link to anything negative on the internet. On the flip side, pregnancy insomnia is also related to preparing us for the periods of frequent waking with a newborn.

Do speak to your MW about the anxiety though

Ok, listen to me as I’ve been where you are thrice.

For me I ended up getting CBT on the NHS as they fast tracked me due to being pregnant.

Please tell your midwife how you are feeling TODAY. The intrusive thoughts and insomnia are anxiety related and that’s enough to spur them into action.

The single best piece of advice I was given was imagine your intrusive thought is a beach ball at the seaside. If you’re paddling and a beach ball come along, don’t try pushing it away. It’ll just try and “stick” to you.

Just let the beach ball bob in the waves by your side. If you don’t push it, it will eventually bob away on its own.

I hope this helps you, and may I also suggest please don’t torture yourself by seeking out sadness on the web - even if it has a talent for finding you when at your most vulnerable.

Stick to ebooks, funny things like the News Quiz, having pretend shopping sprees on Jojo or White Company (yes I lived in Surrey), Gratitude app, white noise etc.

I used to listen to a very academic podcast called In Our Time and imagined every word they said typed up in the Teletext of my mind. That would usually focus my brain away from destructive chatter and into sleepy land.

MASSIVE POST.

Good luck. The last few weeks are the pits.

I forgot to mention I've always had insomnia (as long as I can remember, maybe 3?) And I've never needed much sleep.

However ive noticed that during this pregnancy is something upsets me it takes me a few days/weeks to get back to my "balance". I had a disagreement with DH on Friday night and that triggered these episodes.

I think I'm scared of childbirth and being a mum again, but my brain inst as of focusing on that is focusing on random rubbish, I don't know which one is better.

I've been to the perinatal MH team and back then they said they couldn't do much for me as it was very episodical and I was in no danger.