Please help me sleep! :(

[3dogsandababy]

Currently 21 weeks pregnant and haven't slept through the night for the last 2ish weeks. I've tried everything but keep waking up through the night, or not even getting to sleep like tonight.
I'm so tired 😩
I've got a full body pregnancy pillow that helped initially but now I can't get comfortable with it or without it. I'm trying to sleep on my left side as recommended but I end up with either a dead leg or arm that I'm laid on. If I sleep on my right side then I wake up with excruciating pain where I keep getting the ligament stretching pain.
What can I do? Does this get better as I don't think I can cope with the lack of sleep for another 4 months and then after with a newborn?!
Please help me 😭

Sorry to say it. But I'm Now 38w and I don't fall asleep till 1.30 am. Ish.. By 3am I'm awake again for at least an hour.. Then dd wakes any time from. 5.30am.. Generally she goes bk off till 7 30ish but I never do..
I'm exhausted.. I'm. Lucky in the fact I can nap in the day of dd does. But often we're out and about so don't always get the chance.

If you're like I was you will get more sleep after the baby is born despite night wakings etc. I was awake until 4am every night until my boys were born.

Oh that's rubbish! It's taking me ages to get comfortable and then by the time that happens I've woken myself up ☹️ I just know I'll be falling asleep at work tomorrow 😴

I feel for you OP. I haven't slept more than two-three hours for at least 12 weeks.

The things you can do:

If sleep doesn't come in 20-30 minutes, get up and do something or read a book. There is no point in lying there.

Don't try to sleep. It will come when it comes.

Keep lights low and TV off / phone off as much as you can.

Camomile tea

Don't nap in the day at all

I’m 40 weeks exactly today and haven’t slept a full night since about week 28 when the heartburn started. It’s honestly torturous. I’m exhausted and constantly falling asleep during the day. And I wake up vomiting in the middle of the night if I so much as dare to lie down for more than twenty minutes at a time. I honestly think I’m going to get more sleep when little one is here. I hope you manage to sleep better than i have!!

I was hoping there was some secret tip to getting a good nights sleep 😩 also doesn't help that DH is snoring his annoying pretty little head off next to me and rolling onto my side of the bed, then has the cheek to say how tired he is in the morning! 😭

I cant remember the last time i had a decent nights sleep too and i also find nothings really works. I am 24 weeks.

Have you tried sleeping somewhere which isnt bed like the sofa. I find it much easier sometimes because my back is supported when i am on my side and my OH isnt snoring or taking over our bed.

Failing that try taking a relaxing bath and maybe getting one of those vapour mist contraptions and some lavendar oil to put in it or some soohing candles.

Try using more than one pillow... like a wall of pillows to get comfortable

I tend to read as i find sleeping useless unti about 2am ish but i am back up in about 2 to 3 hours. I nap during the day so worse case if you can, power nap when u feel tired

I would add i do most of my pregnancy reading and research at this time of night. Have you got instagram. Follow some babygrammers. I follow ppl like the honest midwife and other bloggers or watch videos on youtube about top tips. There is no point in forcing the sleep... it will come when it comes

I can't nap through the day unfortunately as I have to work. I do think I possibly catch up on my sleep at the weekends though as my DH tends to leave me in bed until 10/11am.
My mum also suggested sleeping on the sofa so I'll root around tomorrow to find a spare duvet and give it a go!
Thanks for the suggestions - I'm so desperate to sleep I'll try anything!

I'm 39 weeks and I haven't had a decent nights sleep for months. It was a real struggle when I was working full time but since finishing for maternity leave at 37 weeks I've snoozed during the day which does help. Apparently this is our bodies way of preparing us for babies arrival, although I'm convinced I'll get more sleep once the baby is actually here. Stay strong! I'm assured it's all worth it good luck xx

Nope.

Up to pee every ninety mins.

Fitbit recorded 14 mins of deep sleep last night (and I thought I’d done quite well!)

Meditation apps. Bunch of free ones out there but the one I use most is a paid for one that reads me sleep stories.
Won't say it gets better but it changes. Nap when you can!

I wish I could help you, but I’ve had insomnia since day one of pregnancy. It was the same last time too but at least then I could catch up a bit at weekends, which is impossible with a toddler. I go to the spare room and listen to audiobooks and hypnobirthing tracks in the dark until eventually I drop off again. Last night I managed 9pm-midnight, then away until 4.45 and my son woke at 5.30 this morning

“ Apparently this is our bodies way of preparing us for babies arrival”

I want to punch people who try to tell me this. I had a baby who woke every 45 minutes for the first year of his life. That was very very hard and no amount of your body not allowing you to sleep for a few months prepares you for someone else waking you up frequently at night when you could otherwise sleep

I'm with @ncqtime. I have an app called slumber for when I'm really struggling with this basically every night now at 37 weeks. I by NO means meditate or anything like that but this just seems to work for me even if I do feel a bit
daft I also found the maternity pillow didn't work and instead two separate 'normal' pillows seems to work better for me, one under baby and one in between my legs!

Then there's the obvious, no caffeine before bed or even food as I get shocking indigestion. Hope this helps xx

33 weeks currently. I've had a mixed experience with sleep throughout my whole pregnancy. Some devastating desperate stretches of poor sleep and some blissfully welcome periods of reasonable comfort.
It's very difficult when you arent sleeping because you may feel almost mentally and emotionally tortured by your lack of sleep (I certainly did) but try to take comfort in knowing that things can change.
I also wished there was some secret technique or something I could buy that would save me from the days and nights when I really just wanted to punch my OH in his annoying little peacefully sleeping face but there wasnt. Not that I've found anyway.
The best you can do in my experience is embrace the suckiness of it all and dont put pressure on yourself to sleep. Rest, dont necessarily sleep, when you can. I found that letting myself off the hook for sleeping when I 'should', was actually one of the most helpful things for me. That and just going with what works for as long as it works, if that's 2 weeks on the sofa, 2 days in bed and 3 hours on a bean bag, just go with it.
As for the ligament pain, a midwife suggested I take paracetamol regularly. It doesnt get rid of the pain but I does sometimes take the edge off, especially when I'm trying to get comfy.

Thanks for the suggestions.
I've phoned in sick today (something I hate doing) but just don't think I can function as I do think it's affecting me mentally a bit. Hopefully I can have a nap sometime this morning to catch up a bit

Essential oils and pregnancy relaxation podcasts

I find it helps to leave the bedroom and sit on the sofa with a book and a mug of warm milk for 30 mins or so. I can usually get back to sleep after that (for a while at least, anyway).

I also find avoiding screens makes a difference for me - I was a bit sceptical about this advice but when I was staying with family over Christmas I was charging my phone overnight in a different room, and not looking at it at all did seem to help me get back to sleep quicker. Trying to do the same now I’m back home.

The pain of side sleeping did get better for me, I remember being in agony during the second trimester, but I’d got used to it by about 30 weeks.

Hope you can get some rest.

I agree about avoiding screens - though I briefly look at my phone to turn on my audiobooks app before I lie down in the dark. I find the best thing is to go with it and try to minimise frustration and “I have to get up in X hours!” thoughts. That’s why I distract myself with audiobooks. I won’t deny that I’m shattered after six months of a few hours’ broken sleep followed by toddler early rising (and still three more months to go), but there isn’t a lot I can do about it

I could have written this last night. Stayed awake until really late, don't even know what tine was. My brain won't switch off. I'm trying to have a nap during the day. I know insomnia is common in pregnancy ( this is my 4th baby), but it gets me sometimes and I wish I'll sleep at night more.

This evening I'll try to fall asleep as soon as I put to bed my DD, maybe that will work for me.