To dream, perchance to sleep

For awhile, I wasn't sleeping well at night. Then it seemed to get a bit better for a short time and then in the last few days, it's become much, much worse. I go to bed and fall asleep without any difficulty whatsoever at about 10pm or earlier. And then, like some hideous maniacal alarm clock, I wake about 1am on the dot. Caveat commences doing tai chi as a warm up before moving on to extreme hip hop street dancing, complete with backflips. What once was just restless legs is now a restless pelvic region, a sense of being prised apart in a merciless slow vice while at the same time being compressed into a sausage casing. It feels, frankly, disgusting and when it happens there is nothing for it but to get up and move around.

Things I have tried by way of a remedies for this:

* Hot (well, warm) baths or showers before bed

* Getting more exercise during the day, including a 15 minute exposure to sunlight whenever possible.

* Magnesium, fish oil and iron supplements along with my ordinary prenatals vitamins.

* Drinking more milk and eating more yogurt

* A bar of soap under the fitted sheet (worked weirdly well for a bit, then not so much)

* Hot water bottle- works, but only once I am exhausted to the point of insanity

* Limiting self to one cup of coffee per day and never after 10am.

And yet nothing works so it goes on and on. Last night I was up from midnight until about 5 am. For a millisecond, I was amused at remembering how I used to get up regularly at that time of day with Botany. I wandered through to the kitchen to eat a banana about two o'clock and nearly leapt out my skin when I encountered an enormous spider hanging out next to the refrigerator. I caught sight of myself, reflected in the kitchen window- a sad, puffy-looking woman wrapped in a distended fluffy white bathrobe like a human marshmallow. I then meandered into the unfinished spare room which will be Caveat's nursery, the test patches of paint at various points on the wall looking unpromisingly darker than the sample pot. The cot in pieces on the floor, awaiting assembly. Boxes of papers to be decanted elsewhere, bags of clothes to be folded and sorted. Then I shut off the light and sat for a moment in the reassuring darkness before waddling back to my hateful, restless bed.

I suspect there is nothing for it but to soldier on for the next 16 weeks, whereupon I can look forward to giving birth and the delighful sleep deprivation that follows from then on.

Tomorrow we head off on our long anticipated holiday- the flights are overnight landing us at our destination at about 1.30 am. When I booked it, I shuddered at the prospect of the horrible flight timings, but to honest, it now holds no fear since I can basically guarantee I would have been awake anyway. I'm hoping that the sea air, lots of actual forceful sunshine (not this pealy-wally crap we get in Scotland), even more exercise and a chance to relax will help. Of course, we'll all be sleeping in one room and Botany is apt to wake up eyedroopingly early but...at least it will be somewhere different. See you in a couple weeks!

Comments

[Jen]

Hope you get some rest and relaxation on your trip!

[sharah]

Have you tried eating something with protein? A peanut butter sandwich and glass of milk helped me settle back down most nights.

[(another) karen]

Wishing you safe travels and peaceful trails.

[Erika]

Things I tried when a pregnant insomniac, every once in a while with success, benadryl (with dr. permission), crossword puzzles, meditation, counting backwards from some random number by 3s, 241, 238, 235, etc,

Travel well and keep being kind and patient with yourself!

[Lut C.]

Sorry to hear the sleeplessness continues. Enjoy the holiday!

[Toria]

Hope you have a lovely holiday and that it feels like a break. Good luck on the sleep thing.

[AmandaL]

Have you talked to your doc about a sleep aid? my midwives said I could take half a Unisom (its name in the States), the non-benadryl-active-ingredient one. Not enough to make you a zombie the next day, but enough to get you over the hump in the middle of the night. Ask your med providers.

[a]

Have a wonderful trip! I hope you're able to find a suitable sleep remedy...

[Sara]

Have a great trip!

[sam]

I found that benadryl made the RLS worse. My cure was drinking a Boost or Ensure-it's what I call an Old People supplemental drink. I don't know why it helped, but when I was on a GD diet and had to drink the sugar free version it didn't help for shit. I hope the change of scenery helps you!

[Julie]

I wonder if melatonin is safe for pregnant women. Ask your midwife if that is something you could try. Also, try envisioning a white wall when you are trying to sleep. Knocks me out every time.

[Diana]

Enjoy your trip! I'm not going to make the mistake of saying, "Only 16 weeks left?! Where did the time go?" People always seem to think that other women's pregnancies go by in a flash. Well, of course they would--they haven't lived every restless minute of it. Hang in there!