SPD and sleeping - help!

[Misty9]

So I'm 38wks tomorrow and I've had grumbling SPD since 15wks. Now it's got to the point where, if I sleep on my left I'm in agony, but if I sleep on my right I wake up with acid in my throat and awful heartburn (not sure why/what's being squashed) and sleeping on my back is a distant dream.
How the hell am I supposed to get any sleep??!

Have resorted to the sofa in the early hours as I can sleep propped/sat up with my legs straight out. Is this the only option til the end for me now? :(
Oh, I've got pillows galore but it's the excrutiating pelvic pain on my side which is the problem...

Any suggestions/advice? I'm slowly going mad and dread the night times now :(

Hi i am also 38 weeks and have SPD. the only thing that helps me is a huge body length pillow that I wrap myself around and hug all night long. That and a good supply of paracetamol and rennies in the bedside cabinet.

I got the pillow from Argos and find its much more helpful that trying to arrange and rearrange lots of normal sized pillows around me. If i do move from side to side it just comes with me, wedged between my legs.

To be honest i still have some sleepless nights but without the giant pillow and rennies I don't stand a chance!

Good luck x

If my rampant night time heart burn and reflux continue, I'm gonna try more pillows under head/neck while still sleeping on side (also in the SPD/PGD club) to see if it traps the acid down in the tum. May be too uncomfortable...

A great big drink of Gaviscon helped last night (or rather this morning at 4.30am), sorry if sounds condescending but what antacids have you tried?

It does totally suck, but at least you're on the home stretch so I hope you get some relief soon!

Thanks nigella - I've got a v-pillow which has definitely helped, but still doesn't stop the crunching pain of lying on my left... Oh, and rennies are my best friend :)

God poor you. All I can say is, you're nearly there! Hang on!
I tried to sleep on my side but not right on the hip, leaning back onto a cushion DH shoved behind me.
Also get a big fat cushion for between your knees, not just a pillow. Something as wedgy as possible. It will be too late for you to order one now sorry but others reading this you can get a good wedge cushion from homedics on line, specially shaped for putting between knees.
Have you tried yet the old trick of getting thick towels and putting them under the sheet to make the bed softer? Really works. Try beach towels.
Good luck.

Urgh, misty, it's rubbish, isn't it. 40+4 here and I'm in excruciating pain (mine's down the middle of my pelvis).
I'm resigned to not sleeping more than 2 hour stretches now - haven't had more than that in 2 months now. I've got two pillows and a v pillow under my head and bump (trying to prop myself up to stop the reflux and acid coming back up), a pillow between my legs, and a pillow down the middle of the bed to stop me rolling over accidentally (DH says my delightful pregnancy snoring is better that way)
I have to wake myself up to turn over (or rather the pelvic pain does that if I try to). Am currently sleeping 12-2 on left side, 2-4 on right, 4-6 on left, then it's just too much to be arsed with. I'll grab a couple of hours on the sofa through the day when I can.
So, I've got no advice for you then, have I?! But I understand how crap it is.
Just don't go overdue! :)

Thanks all - yes, I've got a double duvet folded under my sheet. The pillow behind me so I'm not completely on my hip may help - although it tends to hurt more if I'm not aligned on my hip IYSWIM?

Looks like it's the sofa tonight... :(

jennifer I'm really hoping not to go overdue! Poor you - it's crap isn't it. My pain tends to either radiate down the middle of my groin or/and agony in my pelvis and hips. The joys. Oh, I have been waking up to turn over for a while now. My sleep also seems to be in 2hr bursts - practice for breastfeeding everyone helpfully tells me...

Hope you pop soon... :)

Have you tried warm packs, the kind you warm in the microwave, with beads or cherry stones?

aww, bless you wompoopigeon :) I've got a wheat bag so have thought about trying that...also have a support belt from physio which she said I could try wearing in bed...can't see it being too comfy though!

Not sure if there is a solution to be fair... sympathy is helping though

God, misty I hate that line "oh well it's good practice for when she arrives". Bollocks, I need my sleep! I notice the baby's not awake in the middle of the night when I am, she's sleeping very peacefully!
The best thing I've been told by my friend's who've had SPD is that the pain goes the INSTANT the baby is born. All I can say is thank fuck, it needs to!

hehe - my response to that exactly! I have also heard it gets worse earlier with subsequent pregnancies....poppyseed may well be an only child...

settling down on the sofa for the night - poor DH needs his sleep too.

I didn't sleep v much or v well in the last few weeks of my pregnancies. Found a V pillow between my legs and my bump sort of propped up by it too ok. Also had heartburn so would prop myself right up too and spend the night munching Settlers Tums every two hours!

On the plus side, actually felt I had more and better sleep once the baby arrived !!

Yes mine did go away with birth..could walk better 1 day after an EMCS than before!!

Also found 2 nd pregnancy slightly better, think I managed it better. Rested loads from early on, didn't try to be active, got bus not even tried to walk etc. Didn't do bloody pregnancy yoga either! Also I found. Cccupuncture had helped 1st time so started having sessions earlier.