24 wks, Twins, Haven't been able to sleep for weeks

[4030ludders]

Hi. Hoping for some helpful suggestions here. 24 weeks, twins; struggling to sleep at night, due to (1) pain in thighs and hips after I've slept on one side for a while, meaning I have to swap sides and rearrange pillows, and (2) babies sometimes kicking/complaining when I do switch sides (punch punch until I give in and switch back). Have tried various pillows - super long curling one, small wedge one - and in the end have found wedge plus normal soft pillows the best. Has anyone got any suggestions? Am getting desperate and thinking about resorting to using antihistamines to make me drousy enough to ignore the discomfort.

I had spd and my thigh and hips ached terribly when pregnant. My husband would rub my legs and thighs at night and my consultant told me to take paracetamol 4 hourly around the clock to help with pain. Unfortunately, apart from that there is not much else you can do until the babies are born. You have my sympathies, it is tough going.

My dcda girls are nearly 3.

I pretty much gave up on night sleep and just used to cat-nap during the day on the sofa. Is that an option or are you working/looking after other kids etc?

I can cat nap some afternoons with DD. But it's not giving me enough sleep. I will try paracetemol 4 hourly.
What is spd?

Spd is where the ligaments that hold your pelvis together loosen slightly. It basically makes your pelvis a bit unstable and can lead to quite a lot of pain!

I sympathise - I'm only carrying one and I'm uncomfy. The physio gave me an spd belt which helps a bit and I'm sleeping with a maternity pillow too. It's a dream geni and you don't have to rearrange it if you switch sides - just turn over and pull the longer bit back through your legs.

One thing that's really helped me is sleeping on a doubled up duvet under the sheet for a bit more softness (I like a hard mattress but it's hurting my hips!) also try one of those excercise balls you can sit on - I found that helped a tiny bit too.

Honestly, if you're in that much pain/ discomfort, I'd go and ask to see a physio. You've still got a way to go, so demand some help! (And congrats on having twins!)

I've just remembered that I also swapped mattresses with DH - I needed something firmer because I weighed about 20 tonnes (we have zip and link mattresses of different firmness on our bed, which was very lucky!). Have you tried the spare bed, if you have one, to see if that helps? Or could you invest in a mattress topper?

Hi, yes have swapped firm mattress for soft one, which helps a bit, but doesn't stop the pain. When we were away recently the hotel's firm mattress was excrutiating. I think from what you've all said I need to see the doc. I was just trying to put up with it but that doesn't seem to be working. I will look into a topper too, but I will go and see my gp tomorrow. Thank you... any other suggestions most welcome.

I'm 32wks with twins and unfortunately since around 19wks, I've never had a whole unbroken nights sleep.

Similar reasons to you initially, hips absolutely killed, but not in an SPD way, this was true, in the joint pain from being on my side. Also little ones loved to wake up during the night and thought it a perfect opportunity to have a fight between themselves!

Nothing I could do about the active twins, now they're running out of space so that's easing off luckily!

As for the hips, what I found worked to give me at least a few extra hours sleep was a duvet folded over a few times (at least 4 layers minimum, more the better) placed underneath me from my shoulders down to mid thigh. Make sure any padding under your hips also extends to your shoulders - I made the error of just putting padding under my hips and after a week got horrendous rib and shoulder pain from the transferred pressure which took another week to settle! Also put a pillow between your thighs to keep your top hip in a neutral position, as well as a pillow between your calves so your upper leg is straight and not in a 'frog position'.

That's helped me out massively. Still can't get through a whole night but at least I have around 5 hours unbroken sleep and just turn to the opposite side (after a toilet trip! This again helps to stretch my hips and relax them) for the remainder of the night.

Another thing I do after a particularly active day when my hips are at their worst is have a really, really squishy pillow, (or a huge fluffy jumper when I'm away) and lie slightly turned onto my front having a big hug with the squishy thing underneath my chest to make sure bump has room. I keep my bottom leg straight-ish and moved slightly backwards so I can get my weight completely off my hip joint itself, it's more the front wing of my pelvis in contact with the bed and I have my upper leg bent up for support. Again I pop a pill between my thicghs for more support. Not sure if that makes sense?! But I'm still doing that even with a 32wk twin bump.

I went to GP's too, had a physio appointment but all I was given was a hip support for during the day (the time when my hips didn't hurt!) and a few exercises which were relaxing, but didn't particularly help. Hopefully you get on a little better :)