14 weeks pregnant exasperated with insomnia

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Does anyone have any advice on coping with insomnia? For about the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy I have been waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep. Nightmare when you work full time. Today I am so exhausted I have taken a day off sick for the first time in 14 weeks. Read a previous thread this subject where another pregnant lady recommended a series of CD's from SleepTrax only to pay out £60 in desparation and read that they should not be used if you are pregnant!!!! Help :(

I tend to read for an hour or so (on my kindle so as not to wake up DH) and then usually manage to drop off again at some point. If that's not an option I also use a simple breathing exercise -breathe in through your nose as slowly and deeply as possible (so that you can feel the air filling your belly too) and say to yourself "I am breathing in -1", then slowly exhale (still through the nose) and focus on the sensations you feel while saying to yourself "I am breathing out -2" and keep going counting each breath. If you lose count then start again from 1. Sounds daft but I find it very calming and the counting can become so dull that I inevitably fall asleep.

I have suffered from insomnia since the beginning of my pregnancy and am only just starting to enjoy relief from it at 31+6

I don't know how much being off work has helped, but I certainly feel less stressed which means I can get back to sleep more quickly.

I have also noticed I sleep better after reflexology vand massage. I had a pregnancy massage and reflexology session yesterday and slept really peacefully last night. I still had to get up a couple of times because wigglebum is using my bladder as a pillow.

I tried everything and some things worked some of the time, but nothing worked all of the time. Above all, I started to accept that if I woke up at a certain time it was game over. That meant I used that time to relax and enjoy not being at work. Here is a list of some of the things I have tried with varying levels of success:

Tried to stay awake, usually with a bedside light on
cool room
get up and have a glass of milk
use lavender oil on pillow and in bath
have a relaxed pamoer nightvwith yummy food and a nice bath and cosy film in pjs, and lavender oil :)
Read
Write down thoughts, plans, feelings (you might not feel worried or excited, but might be deep down)
Start handing off work to reduce yiur workload. This helps you get your priorities straight
make sure you do stuff for you outside work
excericise, but not just before bed
try not to nap unless you have to. If I nap, I feel groggy and it takes me even longer to get sleep in the night
don't go to bed too early. If I go to sleep before 10:30, even before pregnancy, I will wak up at 1:30 and not get back to sleep before 4
Write a letter, by hand, to a friend, t is qute fu and everyone likes recieving letters in the post
have a shower
avoid caffeine day and night like the plague
don't eat too close to bedtime
try and keep a routine; go to bed and get up at more or less the same time every day, even weekends
advice is not to watch tv, use mobile phones or tablets for an hour and a half before bed, but I found mumsnet helped me while away the hours and deal with any pregnancy questions or concerns I had
use earplugs and eye mask
make sure your sleep area is clear and tidy

I am sure there is more, but that should do for now :)

Hth

I suffered from the same until 15-16 weeks but it's much better now and I generally sleep through the night from about 10/11pm til 7/8am in the morning. So hang in there, it does get better! Making sure the bedroom gets some fresh air usually helps too - even if it just means opening the window for about 15 mins each evening.

Should probably add that "now" is nearly 25 weeks!

I suffered terribly with insomnia when pregnant with DC3 always waking up around 3am. He is now 2 weeks old and surprise surprise this is when he is wide awake every night! Must be more than just a coincidence :)

Thanks all for the great advice, I will certainly try some of them. It's just good to know I'm not going loopy!

I suffered from terrible insomnia with my first pregnancy and in the end took mat leave at 29 weeks after which it slowly improved. This time I'm also struggling but a sahm so I'm much less stressed and coping much better. For me the main source of insomnia is hunger or feeling sick. The consolation last time was that I felt so much less tired once the baby arrived!

I'm exactly the same. I'm at 14 weeks and haven't had a decent night's sleep since about week 3... It's really starting to get to me now, so I'll be sure to take some of the advice from this discussion. Something that I've found helps me get back to sleep is Horlicks, thankfully there's a 'light' variety these days!