How the fuck are we meant to sleep?

[OnEdge]

34 weeks, can't hardly breath, need a piss every ten minutes, itchy fanjo, snoring husband, two kids, baby kicking, hips aching, thirsty, slightly nauseous and just to top it all, a touch of insomnia thrown in.

It is a living nightmare !!

It*s all training for when the baby is there

you litertally took the words out of my mouth this morning!!! to add to mine I now have a very sore shoulder from only been able to sleep on one side due to odd position baby.
Am 36 weeks now but cant think how I will get through another night!
I remember this all from last time too, and I remember the newborn baby been easier than the last few weeks of pregnancy, yes sleepless nights but at least the sleep you DO get is comfortable!
CANNOT WAIT!

If one more person tells me that it's to practice for when the baby is here, I will scream!!!! (not aimed at you mouse! - just a general comment about non-pregnant people's unhelpful remarks!) And if one more person tells me that having my life disrupted by MW and hospital appointments so that some weeks it is hard to get any sodding flipping thing done is to teach me that when the baby comes I won;t be able to get out and about as easily as I used to, I will KILL THEM!!!! GRRRR!!!!!

Am with you cardamon, so many people have told me that but, as (worryingly) little that i know about babies, I'm sure that they don't wake 10 times a night EVERY...SINGLE....NIGHT. Which is what I'm doing at the moment. And at least in between the screaming you can sleep on stomach and not get a dead arm by lying on side and once the baby has arrived it's unable to use my bladder as a trampoline.

I had mine 12 days ago now (he was my first). I'm totally shattered, get max 1.5 hrs sleep at a go in the night BUT I still feel better now than I did when I was pregnant, plus now I have something to show for it

As for practical advice, swimming was my saviour, 2 hours of near weightlessness was ABSOLUTE BLISS towards the end!!! Go try it if you havent already!

Stick it out, it wont be long til it's all a distant memory!!!

You poor thing OP. 32+2 here. I get out of breath just sitting down. My baby kicks, wiggles or shuffles hundreds of times a day. Am sleeping with six pillows, two for head, the three pillows in one thingy for back, bump and between knees and one for my feet so I can drain all the water. I can't turn over without waking up. I get up to pee three times a night on a good night, and if I restrict what I drink to stop this I wake up madly thirsty. Then the cycle of peeing starts!

Oh, and I'm apparently supposed to put my hands in makeshift splints every night to keep them open rather than curled up, to stop the water retention there. Drew the line at that though!

But I have chucked the husband out into the spare room - he doesn't snore like yours but every time I got back from the loo he was interfering with my carefully crafted pillow sculpture. So he had to go.

Can I just recommend the deep heat warming back pads? I have killer back pain at the mo and in desperation bought some last night in the supermarket and slept sooo much better when I whacked one on. Don't think you are supposed to have them on while sleeping (says on the packet) but honestly, by last night I did not care!!! Only problem is there is only one left in the packet (you only get 2) so now I have to decide whether to crack one open and keep enjoying the relief or wait until it's once again so bad that I can't stand it anymore!!
I think I might have to buy shares in deep heat or something. Can see myself spending a lot of money on them!!

My OH has been banished too auburnlizzy, it's really weird saying goodnight then shuffling off to seperate rooms but it means an extra precious hour or so of sleep. I think the final straw was one of the many times I woke up to pee and when I returned he had rolled over and was hugging my carefully arranged pillow mountain. Which would have normally been really cute had it not been stupid o'clock in the middle of the night and I was being driven mad with exhaustion!

I'm due on Thursday and have found having a bath before bedtime a big help with sleeping. I was being driven mad by discomfort in the night and then waking up at 5am and not being able to switch off my brain.

Feeling your pain, picklesarnie, feeling your pain. I let him come in in the mornings (most usually weekends) if he wants to feel me up or something, that seems to be an ok compromise.

I also have a nice bath before bed, but not too hot because I'm like a furnace at the best of times. A fan helps if the weather's warm, and rolled up bits of cotton wool are good for earplugs (nice and soft and you can't feel them) to drown out this, and other, irritating noises.

Is it ok if the baby kicks like mad against the side you're laying on when you turn over? Or are they protesting because they are getting squished, and therefore you should turn over again sharpish? Maybe Squishers' Remorse is stopping some of us more anxious first timers from sleeping....

I'm 25 weeks and only just starting to find night time a bit of a struggle. One night I need cushions and pillows, the next I can't bear having my movements constricted. I luckily seem to have a pretty strong bladder at this point (but a rapidly deteriorating pelvic floor!) and never have to get up for a wee in the night. I am sure this will change in a month or so.

I'd also like to know the answer to auburnlizzy78's question about squishing the baby when you lie on your side. I just panic that I've squashed his little head and he's desperately trying to get me to move - it's like frantic finger pokes! Or are they much more cushioned than that by the fluid etc? Thanks!

32 weeks here, sleep seems a distant memory!
I actually dread going to bed as I know within 10 mins of being in bed I will need to go for a pee again!

The heartburn is a complete nightmare and I'm going through a bottle every week.

I let my OH sleep in the bed sometimes as I feel guilty but he snores so bad I feel like putting a pillow over his head!

Then I get what I call the jitter bug that seems just to be in my right leg which is really uncomfortable.

The rib pain sets in just when I start to feel comfy! and I have another 8 weeks to go if I dont go over

Sorry just needed to vent that and feel a little better for it

auburnLizzy - Squishers remorse! I love it!

39 weeks here, and I'm absolutely sick of sleeping on my sides (one side until underside hip hurts too much, get up to pee, then sleep on the other.. repeat all night) - back far too uncomfortable, and despite attempting to construct a kind of easter-egg shell from pillows I haven't managed to find any way to sleep any further over on my stomach without getting a lot of complaints from the wriggler..

He's partly descended so I was hoping for some release, but now all I can think about is that his head is wedged while I'm bending his body which makes me worry about breaking him!

Am also 34 weeks and after another 4 am start due to wee, heartburn, insomnia and snoring I FEEL YOUR PAIN LADY!

I think a little light squishing a is fine. They are pretty well cushioned. I think the wriggling is just down to them being disgruntled at being woken from their slumber or being thrown off your bladder that they were using as a trampoline. Previously

Baby was quiet a couple of weeks ago so I'd poke it so they would kick me back. OH said that was cruel and I think I should maybe have pokers remorse now?

I would say squishing is fine. What you also need to remember is that they are more active when you aren't - so all that wriggling, kicking, poking and jumping (I swear she does) is because they have lots of nice blood and energy when you're not using it.

I currently have a foot lodged in my belly button which DH thinks is funny but just hurts. Add SPD, heartburn and swollen feet. And aching hips from lying on my side. And snoring DH. And shouting DS. And random dreams about fish.

Am 33 weeks this week [sigh]. Taking one day (and night) at a time.

Can I just congratulate OP on her appropriate use of swear words? If ever there was a time for swearing, it's late pregnancy with two kids. Fuck sailing serenely about planning water births and deep breaths - am 37 weeks and it's fucking demoralising.

As well as all your own aches and pains and lack of sleep, we now have to contend with friends, family and total twatting strangers asking the same bloody questions day in, day out - 'When's it due?', 'Ooh, not long to go now, eh?', 'You're massive - are you sure it's not twins?'.

Will contribute to any pregnant-and-whingeing-theard...

is anyone else suffering from intensely itchy skin? I don't have much else to complain about (other than searing heartburn most evenings), but this itchiness is driving me crazy! I can't sleep at night for it and even during the day it can come on real strong.

I know that if it's hands and feet it can be a warning sign, but mine is just over my bump, sides and back. My skin is really dry too, but even when it is well moisturised (I do this several times a day with heavy duty stuff) and not flaky, the itching continues.......AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!! I'm only 27 weeks (tomorrow) and if this is how the rest of the pg is going to continue then I don't know what I'll do to cope

Tanmu I feel your pain on the itching. It isn't as bad as yours but I find myself idly scratching at work which gets me funny looks. But my boobs REALLY itch too and that is in any company.

Oh god, I hear ya OP and everyone else. I haven't had a full night's sleep since being pg, and I was even proscribed sleeping tablets at about 3 months as I was getting slightly hysterical. Not that they made any difference. The only thing that gives me any respite (and that isn't saying much is a couple of co-codamol. The only thing that hasn't really bothered me so far, surprisingly, is the weeing thing. By far the worst is pulling ligaments in my side when I turn over, closely followed by the excruciating leg cramps.

DH is mostly on the sofa at the moment.

I just keep thinking - it's only going to get worse, I have 7 weeks, then it's not like I am going to get any sleep as I am going to have a fecking baby to get up too

I am so tired so days I just really struggle to get out of bed and just want to admit to defeat by the world. Fortunately I have a very understanding employer.

PickleSarnie - Poking is good for it, so says my pregnancy book. Stimulates neurological development apparently, so poke away I reckon (gently!).

Thanks folks for the comments about them having spare energy hence the mad wiggling, or just the baby's minor disgruntlement, I feel a bit less guilty now about being an evil wicked mother and daring to lay on my side!

Oh, the leg cramps. YES and they aren't like normal cramps which go away after five seconds are they? They are awful, and you can't walk properly after for a couple of days. I thought I had a thrombosis - seriously. Worst thing you can do I've found is to jerk your leg around trying to get the pain to go - can cause muscle damage. Also I got them after I'd been off my vitamin tablets for a couple of days. I have heard that it might be due to a calcium or magnesium deficiency or a bit of dehydration. Sorted that out and nothing since. Not medically trained by the way. Hope that helps MassiveBumperlicious

38+5 here and thinking I am strange as I don't sleep with a pillow mountain? I do have a body pillow but mostly it just annoys me so I just prop myself on my side. I wouldn't say I was sleeping well (up about 2 times a night and always awake by 6) but no I wonder if I have been squishing baby to get comfortable and should have been using a pillow mountain all this time!!

massivebumperlicious - I got horrible ligament pain last night when I turned over. I shouted out in pain and my DH nearly had a heart attack.

I have SUCH bad back ache at the moment and when I lie on my left hand side it makes it worse as my back does not feel supported properlly. So I can really only lie on my back or my right. Our bed is a standard double and I think we need a much bigger one as we can't properly stretch out when we are both lying flat.

I often the sensation of wanting to be sick when I lie down in the evening. In fact last night, I coughed hard and was sick in my mouth! Lovely.

Oh dear daisystone, that sounds grim. Having a king sized bed is our saviour, not that DH spends much time in it, he is mostly on the sofa.

Zimm, I only have a small pillow mountain, a hillock if you will . I have 2 under my head and one between my legs, but that tends to get lost in the night. I find a pillow under my bump makes me feel a bit sick so I just have a rolled up pillow case tucked under it. Nothing helps at all really! I even bought one of those dream genii things hoping it'd be the answer to my prayers, which of course it wasn't!

38 weeks today and i dread going to bed. I am 'ok' at best during the day, but sleeping- that's a hole nother ball game. I have restless legs to a point where i could easily rival michael flatley in a rapid leg movement contest. I get up roughly 5 times a night to pee, and get the painful hip once i've laid on one side for 3 and a half minutes. This used to mean turning over until i got SPD which now means getting up, rearranging pillows and getting back in to deaden the other hip. Repeat cycle.

If i could sleep standing up i so would.... or hang in the corner like a bat.

It's only thanks to a king size bed and a mountain of understanding that my husband has not killed me yet.