Pregnant and I can't sleep

[esgill]

I am so tired. During my first trimester, I slept a lot in spite of nausea and leg cramps. Now the nausea has for the most part eased (I'm at 23 weeks) but I wake up every 2 hours or so with severe hip pain and leg cramps in either leg. The hip pain feels like a deep toothache/burning. It seems to be a result of side sleeping – usually I sleep half on my side and half on my tummy but that's less accessible now. I would find relief on my back but I've been avoiding it. Some websites say to avoid sleeping on your back from the second trimester, even if the research says from 28 weeks, I don't want to take an unnecessary risk. I end up sitting up propped up by loads of cushions and stretching my legs while flexing my feet to try and give relief but I'm wondering if anyone else has found a solution to this. I wondered about trying some kind of pad under my hip bones. I have a v-shaped pillow and it's not been helping.

If your hips are hurting could you have PGP? Look it up, it’s not serious for baby just makes pregnancy very uncomfortable. I slept in a chair for my last pregnancy being in a bed was too painful. A softer mattress topper may help, there is a particular way to sleep with pillow between knees which is used for recovery after surgery as well….you’d have to Google it I can’t quite remember what you do! Good luck!

I got a long pregnancy pillow

Pregnancy pillow or try a pillow/blanket under your belly to prop it up and pillow between your legs. Ideally you want your spine, legs and ankles aligned.

I suffered with horrible leg cramps in this pregnancy and I started taking magnesium and they literally went away instantly, worth a try?

@birdglasspen that could make sense, but I haven't had the symptoms except when sleeping and for a few hours after waking up, so I'm assuming it's the pressure of sleeping on my side rather than pelvic girdle pain? I have been sleeping with a pillow in this position and it doesn't seem to help much. It does get me to sleep but I still wake up a few hours later with horrendous hip and leg pain.

Have you tried putting a small cushion sized pillow between your knees? Made the world of difference for me. Also make sure you getting enough iron and magnesium.

The advice about not sleeping on your back is imo a bit ott and causes women lots of unnecessary worry and discomfort.

If you spend hours and hours on your back, then maybe that's a problem, especially later in pregnancy. But rigidly laying on your side when you're uncomfortable is not less risky - getting good quality sleep is so important for you and you don't want to cause yourself any pelvic alignment issues as this can effect your birth.

The guidance is to do with possible compression of an artery, but you will know if this is happening - you will feel dizzy and unwell. Your body is not going to let you compress an artery without telling you about it first.

So as long as you're comfortable and feeling well, lay on your back for relief.

And see an osteopath!