Insomnia: stress vs pregnancy

[MamaBoo]

I hope this helps: I had Insomnia when I was pregnant. I just slept less at certain times. I had a full term pregnancy and a healthy baby. However, worry can also keep you up. However, I don't think it has any real impact on pregnancy. I know it is hard not to worry. I was a wreck due to worry and stress. I have OCD that I can normally control myself without medication. However, during my 2nd trimester, I had to be medicated because it got so out of control. I would wash my hands continuously and shower constantly. I was afraid of picking up something that would cause me to loose my little one. I did do better once I was on a low dose of medicine. I'm not saying that you need to be medicated, most people don't. However, I am saying that it is normal to stress and you can still have a good outcome.

[Happy Bunny]

SD: I am still fighting with bad insomnia. At first, I couldn't tell if the insomnia was coming from the pregnancy or my horribly stressful job. I ended up quitting the job and still have the insomnia. I spoke to my doctor about it and she said that it happens for a variety of reasons:

The body's way of prepping your body clock for newborn care.
Too much fluid near bedtime plus extra pressure on the bladder.
Anxiety about baby, parenting, finances, etc.
Physical discomfort of pregnancy.
Baby moving at night.

I still have the insomnia, but now that I'm not working I can take naps, lay in bed longer and stay up later to get more exhausted before bedtime. You might just have pregnancy insomnia. My OB said that insomnia will only make Mom miserable not the baby.

One thing that you can do is talk to your doctor about Benedryl. My OB told me that if I haven't slept good in 2-3 nights, to take a Benedryl before bed to help me sleep. Also, make sure that you are not even a little hungry before bed and that you haven't drank too much fluid. Try eating some toast before bed... A full belly helps.

I know it's really tough not to worry about your baby, especially in the quiet dark so I won't even tell you not to worry. However, very soon you won't be awake because you are worried but you'll be up because your baby kicks all night (ours does).

[karenthescorpio]

My last pregancy I had insomnia. I turned to sleep meditation/inducing CD's to help my mind calm down. I put them on my iPod and listened to them when I was ready to sleep...or should I say, try to sleep. It really helped. It takes the focus off of your worries. It was kind of hard at first to refocus my mind, but I really got the hang of it fast. Before the sleep meditation, I did have to use benadryl, as well, when after a couple nights I just couldn't function without some sleep.