I need sleep - help, becoming a real problem!

[bumperlicious]

Hi all (I have posted this on the sleep pages but need all the help I can get!)
I'm 26 weeks pg and haven't had a full night's sleep in well, 26 weeks! But has got worse in the last month.

Reasons that I seem to be waking up:
Leg cramps
Can't breath through nose so v dry mouth
DH snoring
Hot and sweaty
No reason what so ever!
If I do actually sleep I wake up really early

Also not good at actually getting to sleep, especially if I wake up in the night.

Have bought a lavender pillow and relaxing bath bombs but still not much help. I'm also a terrible napper - if I actually get to sleep in the day I just wake up feeling worse.

It is causing me to row with DH (feel he is partly to blame due to snoring, which has only started recently), but also I have had to take the day off work today after a bad night, as last week with hormones and sleep deprivation I was grumpy, unprofessional and cried every day - mortifying! It is making me unable to deal with small things rationally and eating into my precious annual leave at work. Can anyone recommend anything????

The only thing that helped me was lavender oil in a bath just before bed.

I used to get up in the middle of the night and have a lavender bath again sometimes. It seemed to do the trick (5 drops lavender)

have you got a body/maternity pillow you can wrap yourself round?

and have you got a spare room dh can sleep in, then you have your big bed to yourself. my dh was turfed out by 26 weeks.

hiya!!!!
i'm 28week's pregnant and have been like you for a while now.
i seem to wake all night and sleep all day i have try'd many thing's and the only thing that seem's to work is a good book!!!
and it is only gonna get worse when baby arrives(he or she is getting you ready for them sleepless night's)hope you get some sleep soon xxnikie

Hi - Oh do I sympathise with you! I am 35 weeks pg and really suffered with just not being able to get to sleep - would lie there for hours - tried all sorts e.g. baths, lavender etc etc. In the end I went to see a medical herbalist - think potions - and now have some water based flower remedies which were made up specifically for me - work a treat - safe for pg - have just 5mls in a small glass of water 1/2 hour before bed and I can actually fall asleep. If you do decide to have a go at it - tell them you don't want the alcohol based ones - they taste yak - go for water based & flowers.

Sounds a bit alternative I know - but I am so pleased. Last pg I also tried accupuncture which worked too but not as well as the flower waters.

Good luck

Sympathy from me too! I am gutted by being completely unable to sleep, it's soooooo frustrating!
I am 33 weeks now, and over the last few weeks the restless leg syndrome has been getting worse, and seems to have spread to my arms (don't even know if this is possible)
I have tried (with varying success) totally cutting out tea, coffee and chocolate (unfortunately this did help the jumpy legs ) having long bath with book before bed, and then massaging in loads of moisturiser all over legs and arms (and of course bump)swimming/walking to use up restless leg energy.
I have also tried eating big tea quite late on, as this always made me sleepy before pg!
Also imo horlicks is worth a try, or hot milk and honey if you prefer.
honestly though, try anything and everything!

hope it gets better for you soon - the end is in sight!

Thanks for the tips. DH has had an ongoing cold which seems to have bought on the snoring. He has been sleeping in the spare room too but that just makes me feel a bit sad. I do have one of those V pillows, but found that it woke me up if I tried to turn over because I kind of pinned me down. Maybe I'll give it another go though.
Although I put it mostly down to physically not be able to sleep, or sleeping lightly, part of the problem is that I can't switch off at night. And when I do wake up in the night I just lay and fret about not sleeping, convinced that any minute I'll fall back asleep and if I get out of bed I will be even more awake.

I'm aware that it is only going to get worse when the baby is born, but not so worried about that because at least I won't have to go into work, which is part of the problem at the moment.

Does anyone have any mental techniques for switching off? I was never any good at meditation!

Try practising your labour breathing exercises - will slow down your breathing and gives something to focus on. I find tickling my ankles helps with the restless legs. I sleep in the spare bed regularly as dh also snores and it all just gets too much!

Have you tried keeping a journal describing your day (only to yourself) and how you've been feeling. It could help with getting whatever is running through your mind onto paper and therefore, out of your head (if that makes sense!?). Fill each day out before you settle down for the night and if you wake up thinking about something, jot down another paragraph or two to get things out... There's no need to do anything with it, you could throw it out (preferably shred it) or build it as a pregnancy diary. As you build it, you can then read back over previous weeks to see how things have progressed.

I might try this myself actually lol!

Hope you find something that helps...

I have to say.. i spent most of my third trimester asleep in the spare room with my pregnancy pillow for company, just returning to my own bed for the last hour for a cuddle.

I tried everything to sleep next to my snoring DH, including ear plugs and anti-snoring devices for him, but i gave up. My tossing and turning was disturbing him just as much.

Sometimes it easier to admit defeat than to suffer.

You all have my sympathies too, and total understanding. I'm not as far along as you guys, only 12+6, but I'm sleeping terribly due to the constant trips to the loo. I've got a stinking cold too which doesn't help, PLUS I'm on nights this week, so yesterday I slept about 3 hours, waking up every hour when I did get to sleep. I'm like the walking dead!!! I blubbed like a baby yesterday when I finally got up after such a fractured day's sleep, dh just looked at me with bemusement as I sobbed! Despite what everyone warns me, I'm sure having a small baby can't be this bad, apart from anything, I won't have to work at the same time, and certainly not night shifts!

Hi Bump

Your body is going to take all the sleep you need, you may as weird as it sounds, need much less than you think right now. So try not to worry.

Other tips -leg cramps do some exercises before bed - stand on one leg and brush your sole of foot over rug or carpet 20 each side, and also put toes up against wall to stretch. bananas can also help, as the potassium is good for cramps.

Try sleeping with a cotton banket, those breathable hospital ones.

Have a snack one hour before bedtime, some carbs are good like toast or banana. Stops you waking up from hunger and gives your body fuel for sleep.

Also try some eucalyptus oil, inhale to clear airways

I think the journal idea of purple's was great too, might try that myself.