Sleeplessness so early on!

[LDNlady]

Since being about six weeks pregnant I have had real trouble sleeping at night and it's gradually getting worse. I am 14+2 and certainly have no bump to cause me to be uncomfortable in bed. I don't have trouble falling asleep, in fact I am out like a light but after a couple of hours I am awake and very, very rarely manage to get back to sleep properly for the rest of the night then the alarm goes and it's work time. Last night I managed an hour and a half of broken sleep and that was it. I didn't go into work as I felt horrendous and then finally went back to bed at half nine until half one! I feel like I've broken by taking time off work and am worried that if it's causing me trouble now, what will I be like when I am further on? Is this normal or is it worth talking to the doc about it? Sorry if it's a bit of a long one. I'd better go get dressed too. :)

I'm 16 weeks and have been having the same problem since very early on. I'm usually OK until I get up for the loo and then that's it for the night. Although it's frustrating I think that as long as I am lying down resting then that's better than nothing. I am finding that on the days I go to the gym, I sleep better though which is a bit of an incentive to get my lazy self down there.

i havent been able to sleep since i found out I was pregnant, either to anxious or uncomfortable. Getting used to it now though!

I am up nearly every other hour, going to the loo, then worrying about all sorts, going back to sleep, before being awoken by next toilet trip - and I am only eight weeks. Am exhausted !!

Like the OP, I fall asleep literally as soon as my head hits the pillow, but I'm regularly waking up at 4am (why 4am exactly, I don't know) and not always able to go back to sleep. That's a good day. Bad days are when I'm waking up regularly having only just managed to doze off. I'm now 31+4, and have been at this since about wk 20. I've just accepted it as a normal part of pregnancy - haven't bothered mentioning to midwife/GP.

My best tips are:
Try and figure out what wakes you up - is it being uncomfortable in bed (try more pillows/padding), needing the loo (avoid drinking too close to bedtime) - and see if you can eliminate the problem. Unfortunately in my case it's usually a disco-dancing baby, so not a great deal I can do there!
Natal hypnotherapy CD on MP3 player - I can lie in bed and listen to this if I wake up. I either fall back to sleep listening to it, or I fit in another session - either way it's relaxing and I agree with oh4 that resting can often be the next best thing to sleeping.
If I'm still lying awake after an hour, I tend to go downstairs, make myself a mug of hot milk, curl up on the sofa and put News24 on the TV on a sleep timer - it's amazing how often I can fall asleep there when I can't in bed (better position, background noise perhaps).

I manage to fight my way through it at work/during the week and try to make up for it in naps at the weekend - luckily I have a very supportive husband to help with the housework!

I'm pregnant with DS2 and in both pregnancies found sleep hard to come by in the first 17/18 weeks. I would fall asleep easily then wake at 3.30 or 4 then stress myself trying to get back to sleep before DS1 woke at about 6.30. The anxiety that the sleeplessness caused was awful. I was advised to do like AnaYorks suggests and get up go downstairs and do something to distract me - TV music magazine etc... and would also manage to drop off again easier than lying in bed.
There's nothing you can take to help you sleep that I am aware of but maybe a chat with the doc or midwife might give you some more suggestions.
Good luck!

Also a major problem for me, has been since the start I'm now nearly 21 weeks. AnaYorks I'm also a 4am waker expect when the clocks went back and I turned into a 3am waker for a week or so! Interesting to hear you mention natalhypnotherapy my CDs arrived today and I was hoping that the relaxing one might be of some help.

All in all I can count the number of good nights sleep that I have had since getting pregnant on one hand and it's now turning into a major issue with my every day life as I've previously suffered with depression and lack of sleep is a major trigger. Also because I'm a PhD student work never really has any lulls and I can't really do anything to ease the load as it's just me and deadline.

Once I've woken up I tend to listen to podcasts that I've heard before which do lull me back to sleep a bit or at least give me something other than worrying about work to think about. Quite often I do find that I fall asleep before the end.

Hope you find something that works for you soon. I would be interested in hearing what your midwife has to say.

Thanks for your replies. As it stands I can't put my finger on exactly what wakes me, I just seem to wake! I tend not to drink much in the evening to try to avoid the need for the loo in the night. I am going to take my head phones with me to bed from now on and start downloading some podcasts so I have something other than music to listen to. If I listen to music I love I'm bound to sing along and stay awake instead of drop off. Also no doubt DH won't be impressed with a singing wife at 2am :o I have a docs appointment on Fri anyway so will have a chat with him and see what he says too. Thanks again. x

Glad I saw this post I have been the same since I found out. I put it to being anxious but even now when I'm not anxious I wake or wake instantly in the mooning....usually it takes me 40 mins to stir in the morning.

I miss sleep. I miss lay INS more! I want to saviour them before they become a distant memory once bubs arrives x

Had a long chat with a doctor I work with and his belief is night waking (the 3/4am moment) is due to low blood sugar - causes cortisol and adrenaline hence stress and worry too. I really suffered in my first trimester and put it down to general work stress but think about the demands dc is placing on our bodies and our nutrition.

I'd love to be more like Nigella and get up in the night and nosh on a chicken leg but my sleeplessness has been helped by reducing carbs in my dinner, having some nuts/cheese shortly before going to bed and keeping a bag of brazils in my bedside drawer for emergencies. It means that even though I have the inevitable toilet trips they don't turn into long dark nights of the soul.

OP, I could have written your post. In my first pg I didn't have this at all, but now 13 weeks with DC2 and, like you, since 6 weeks have been waking up between 12 - 2am and thats that! I saw my GP last week in tears as I couldn't cope with work part time and 3 year old DS too. She has prescribed me 7 sleeping tablets (of which a half is adequate for me) so every now and then (say, once a week) I can get a good nights sleep to tide me over. Only taken 2 halves and i know people worry about them but, according to the literature (and companies err on the side of caution) these ones (zopiclone) are fine in early pg, but not 3rd trimester or when breast feeding. There often seems to be a martyr culture of having to suffer during pg but I don't think it is always neccesary. Its hard enough, without needing to not take help when you can. My point is, you can take something to help you, and, IMO, you needn't worry or just put up with it.

The other thing which has helped me, as others have said is to immediatly eat something when you wake. I am sure it is partly hunger with me. good luck x

I do sympathise - I also could have posted this. I started waking at 4am almost every night from about 5-6 weeks. (I usually did some laundry!) I raised it with my MW. I decided it was probably due to hormones. It got better when my nausea subsided at about 14/15weeks and I got into a regular eating pattern of every 3-4 hours. I now sleep really well. (Even better when DH sleeps in another room - sounds a bit sad but this is our third and it helps if one of us is on better form. We also disturbed each other).

I'm still convinced it's a hormone thing and that stable blood sugar is related. Hope this helps.