I feel like crap.
For the past two nights I’ve woken up every hour or so, and wake up a final time in the morning feeling like utter garbage. I wake up to pee, I wake up because Tammy’s snoring, I wake up because I’m uncomfortable, I wake up because I’m too hot, I wake up because I’m too cold, I wake up because my back hurts, my arm hurts, my what-the-fuck-ever hurts. And last night I woke up at 3am because my stomach hurt. I was up for almost two hours with stomach pain – menstrual like cramps, nausea, a few stabbing pains here and there.
So what the fuck people. I’m sorry if I’m coming across as a whining pregnant lady to a bunch of people who would love nothing more to be in my shoes, but I’m desperate here. I know it’s only two nights, but I’m a sleeper. I crave sleep. Deep, luxurious sleep that you melt into. When I don’t sleep, nothing works right. I’m clumsy, thick tongued, sore throated, queasy, short tempered, close to tears.
And today I have the added bonus of my stomach *still* hurting. Plus my fingers are swollen, which makes trying to type and do any kind of work freaking annoying.
What do I do? How do I sleep? How do I fix this? Any and all advice is welcome.
The Mamas Rapscallion 
The biggest thing that I suggest to my clients is a high protein snack before bed. Some women like the sterotypical warm milk as their snack option. A hard boiled egg, PB sammy, or some turkey are good options too.
And check with you OB/midwife. Some say Melatonin is great during pregnancy others advise against it. If you’re not opposed to extra drugs, benadryl and unisom are usually considered safe for pregnancy…again, you’ll want to check with your OB/midwife to make sure though.
I had insomnia sometimes with my first pregnancy, but I wouldn’t be sleeping at all this time if not for the half-tab of unisom I take every night. I’m not in love with having to do that, but I just cannot deal with my jobs and my toddler on three hours a night, you know?
Also, sometimes I find that if I think about it, I will realize that what’s keeping me up is hunger. (My bladder is what wakes me.) It’s tricky, because I’m not used to thinking about hunger cues at three am, and hypoglycemia means I am often past the point of feeling normal cues by the time I wake up. But I won’t fall asleep until I eat something. Toast with ricotta was my go-to last time (when I had to eat in the middle of literally every night); this time around I am worried the toaster will wake the toddler, so I just eat whatever the hell I can find that has protein in it. I never thought I’d be bored by eating.
I think you should have a warm pad on you hurting areas. Put your feet up fro the swelling, eat some saltine crackers for the nausea, hot apple cider would give you a little sugar but not too much, try to go to sleep before your partner or make sure they are on their stomach, this helps their snoring. Have a fan blowing on you when you sleep. It will help drowned out more of the snoring and it will keep you comfortable as far as your body temps. Drop me a message sometimes, I got lots of tips. LOL I’m a mother of 5.
Hope this helps!
A half-tab of Unisom was the only thing that got me through the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. I wasn’t crazy about taking the extra meds so I was glad when I could finally sleep again — but now I’m up again all the time. How many weeks are you now? Around 30 weeks was when I stopped sleeping well, and it’s been like that ever since. I’m debating taking the Unisom again, but I’ve only got a few days left so I figure I should just get used to it.
You poor thing! I am a sleeper, too, so I totally understand your pain. When I was seeing an acupuncturist for infertility, she would sometimes address other issues I was having, like sleeplessness. So maybe try acupuncture?
I’ve heard lying on your left side while sleeping can help with swelling. I don’t have any advice for insomnia, I’ve heard it’s very common during pregnancy and most of the things that work for me (keeping a schedule, no caffeine after a certain time) wouldn’t be useful as it’s not normal insomnia you have.
I suffered from AWFUL insomnia throughout my entire pregnancy. I’ve never been so miserable. It made me into a very angry, sad zombie. My midwife told me that taking a Unisom every other night or so wouldn’t hurt me or the baby. It helped, a little. I suggest that.
Otherwise, I also suggest Reiki and/or acupuncture.
I don’t have any particular advice, just empathy. I’m currently waking up every couple of hours all night long too. Fortunately, I’m able to get back to sleep pretty quickly most of the time, but the few nights that I couldn’t were really miserable. Hoping this gets better for you soon.