sleep now while you can...

[BigKicker]

So many people have said this to me and as i lie here in bed awake for the last 3 hours I want to smack every single one of them. I've had more pees than I can count and I cannot get comfy, baby is wide awake and having great fun kicking my sides along with using my bladder as a punch bag. So to all those wise people advising me to enjoy my sleep while I can and to somehow stock up on it now.... go do one.

Well it seems I'm not alone which makes me feel better! I'm 33 weeks now so I'm guessing this doesn't get any better. I feel a bit more positive from the words of those of you who are sleeping better now dc has arrived. I've been lying awake thinking about strapping the baby to dh for 9 months once it arrives as I watch him sleep soundly. Worryingly enough it seems I get a little angry without sleep....!!

OP I was really suffering with this at 33 weeks. I'm guessing you're still working? That will make it easier and as Heffalump says do try and prioritise a nap. I used to think that it was too late at, say, 6pm to have a snooze in case I didn't sleep. But it didn't have a negative impact - quite the opposite. And if it means you stay up a bit later, well, so what. Less frustrating than being awake at 3am.

completely agree, I'll have a nap as late as 7 pm now! I still sleep better at night. Before I was pregnant I wouldn't nap at all because it would mean I wouldnt sleep at all that night. Now it seems my body works completely differently.

It's almost as helpful as when people point out to me that I haven't given birth yet.... 'oh you haven't had the baby yet then?'. Erm....well.... Yes I did but then I enjoyed carrying a big bump around so much that I sellotaped a new one on as soon as the baby came out.

39+4 and grouchy!!!

Just a little tip for when baby arrives... I have been staying up with baby in the living room feeding/ cuddling until 11.00pm (napping on the sofa while she sleeps in Moses basket for an hour or so) and then she has been waking for feeds at 2.30pm and then 5.30/5.45am. My toddler gets up at 6.00am. This has been really manageable for me and I have felt quite rested. Just thought I would tell you what has worked for me so far incase it is done help to you! It has felt easier going to bed later and feeling like I have not had to get up lots in the night IYKWIM? (The first two nights were the hardest as she was up lots and I was still very tired after delivery but it got much better very quickly!) good luck!

I am on DC#4. I have SPD in pregnancy, and a certain amount of pregnancy-related insomnia. Once baby is born, it is so much better in my opinion, and I breastfeed exclusively (and my babies are crap sleepers too, really crap in one case) The sleep quality vastly improves. I still feel tired, and some days are horrific, but things gradually improve rather than gradually get worse.

Basically in the last month or so it is not necessarily a bad thing to not sleep all that well, because you are then preparing for the lack of sleep you'll be getting post birth. Your body adapts to getting by on less sleep. I actually feel for people who have a whole 9 hours pre birth each night and then go to 1-2 hours straight after.. that's far far worse.

No point grabbing whatever sleep you can because you can't stockpile it, more is the pity!

OP, I sympathise completely. I'm 35+1 and have slept for 3 consecutive hours 4 times in 35 weeks. Usually it's 45min to an hour at a time, then a period of being awake depending on how much hip/pelvic pain or snoring from DH there is to contend with. I can't nap. On the rare occasion that I'm tired enough to doze for half an hour, it just cements the fact that I won't sleep at all that night.

I don't expect it to get better for a while, but I fail to see how it can get much worse. At least a hungry/upset baby is a good reason to be up in the night.