Insomnia help

[Meandacat]

Can anyone recommend anything for insomnia. I'm 32 +3 wks and have started waking at 3-3.30am and am unable to get back to sleep. Given that I have to be up for work at 6.30 and have an hour's commute each way either side of a full working day, this is draining me completely as well as driving my stress levels up (am already feeling tired and emotional these days. Blub at the drop of a hat).

I'm not sleeping with any special pillows apart from a V-shaped pillow which I cuddle one "arm" of while the other is wedged around my shoulders and down my back, and with a spare (normal) pillow wedged at my front (or my back if I turn over). I feel quite comfortable so I don't think it's this which is keeping me awake. That said, previously when I couldn't sleep (both before and since getting pregnant) moving to our large sofa, which I'm able to make more of a nest in, has worked. But that's no longer doing the trick.

I just wondered if anyone could suggest any safe remedies I can try. It'll be a double dose of hot milk and Horlicks tonight but is there anything else?

I had this with my DD. Its awful so really sympathise. How do you usually sleep? - I usually sleep on stomach and although I felt comfortable with cushions, buying a full length body pillow definately helped (so I could lie on front angled to the side) and the problem did not reoccur with DS's pregnancy. Am still sleeping fine now (although wake up during night for toilet though) but can get back to sleep (am 29 weeks).

I had acupuncture which was expensive and provided some relief, also worth trying the homeopathic sleep remedies as that helped more than anything else. Also bath with lavender oil before bed..

Eventually though I was in such a state I had to go to GP and get sleeping pills. I just couldn't function.

Thanks - I appreciate the sympathy. I'm not good without sleep. I love my sleep. (I know there is worse to come when baby arrives, but at least I won't have to face an office-ful of people then).

I'm seeing a midwife tomorrow so will ask here what remedies she suggests.

I should add that I don't seem to have any trouble falling asleep - just the waking up after a few hours and then that's it!

I get it too and haven't found anything that helps. Horlicks sometimes works, but it can also make me need to pee more and then I can't get back to sleep again.

I find staying away from the computer after 8 or 9 helps - I'm guaranteed a bad night if I mess about online until just before I sleep.

But the only real cure is birth. I had this with my first pregnancy too, and it was only after the baby was born that I could so very easily have slept through the night. But of course, there isn't a chance then.

I had this at about 34 weeks - I'm convinced it was anxiety, as I was the same as you, no probs dropping off, tired enough, comfy enough, up for work in the mornings... it was horrendous and I started to think I was going mad, I love my sleep so much...but I'd be wide awake around 3am, 4am for hours thinking about the baby, names, giving birth, getting things ready...

I finished work at 36 weeks and it has now gone away and I'm able to get an ok night's sleep with only a couple of half-asleep trips to the loo.
Knowing I can relax a bit without work to worry about, and knowing we have everything we need for the baby has mad me chill out a bit - so I can only put it down to that.

Hope it eases off for you soon - sleep deprivation is so horrible, I know we've got worse to come blah blah blah but at least we're getting up for a good reason then!

Meandacat - i got much better sleep after DD was born. The hormones you make during breastfeeding make you very sleepy so although i was obviously up in the night (and sometimes even twice) i had no problem going straight back to sleep. so it was much better after she was born.

i did try sleeping all night & leaving expressed milk for DH at weekend but TBH i woke up with full breasts so didn't help!!!

Thanks everyone - it helps to know I'm not alone with this , although I suspected I wouldn't be.

stressheaderic - I'm actually hoping to work til 38 weeks! My job isn't stressful, but the commute makes it a really long day. I did actually email my boss when I got in this morning (at 7.30 - decided at 5.30 that I might as well get up and head in) to ask if there was any chance of working from home the odd day, which is perfectly possible with what I'm tasked with right now. I just think that knowing I have that option may help alleviate the stress of lying there awake and therefore actually help me get back to sleep better. But she just left without acknowledging it!

meandacat, I'm 33wks and have had insomnia for the last few weeks, up at about 2-4 every night. Some days I've been up since 4 and then 2 YO DS wakes up at 5.30, and I've got to work! That's why I'm finishing work at 35 weeks, it's just not worth going on any longer. Is there any chance you can have a nap at work at lunchtime - there might be a first aid room at your work where you could have a lie-down? The commute really takes it out of you in later weeks - could you finish work earlier than 38 weeks or I would definitely opt to work at home some of the time. I don't think it's necessarily stress, just your hormones are kicking in to prepare you for shorter bursts of sleep at night once you have the little one.

Meandacat - I also think it was anxiety as had worrying dreams... but in my case avoiding liquids in the hour before bedtime PLUS a hot bath at bedtime seems to allow me to sleep for longer before I woke up (needing to wee).

I ended up using up annual leave to take every wednesday off from 32 weeks, to let me catch up on sleep during day.

Update from yesterday:

Boss has agreed to let me work from home if I'm really struggling and as long as I'm quiet about it (office politics).

I borrowed a special pillow from a neighbour who recently had a baby and additionally did the pillow between the knees thing. More importantly, following what everyone was saying here, I decided not to fight it but just to go with the flow, read, watch a bit of cr*p TV etc if I wake up, and not get worked up about it.

Lo and behold I slept right through last night! I was ecstatic to be woken by the alarm this morning. So stress obviously played a big part.

Also, I notice that baby feels like she is lying in a completely different position today. My stomach had been rock hard lately, and I felt extremely bulky & heavy. But today I could almost forget I'm pregnant (apart from the foot/head/hand that is pressing on my left hip).

Thanks to everyone who chipped in. It made me feel so much better.

fab that you had a better night & that you can work from home some times. pillow between your legs is a life-saver. hope you have a good night again tonight