Insomnia during pregnancy or where did your sleep go?

Sleep problems are very common during pregnancy. For many women, insomnia begins already in the first trimester of pregnancy. There are a lot of thoughts in the head of the expectant mother that do not allow her to sleep, she cannot find a comfortable position, she tosses and turns, in the third trimester the growing belly begins to interfere, and in the third trimester thoughts about the upcoming birth prevent her from falling asleep. How can I sleep here? To overcome insomnia during pregnancy, you need to establish its causes and eliminate them yourself and with the help of specialists.

Causes

Hormonal changes in a woman’s body can lead to insomnia in the very early stages

for example, during pregnancy the level of progesterone and a number of other hormones increases. By mobilizing strength to carry a pregnancy to term, they at the same time put the body in a state of “combat readiness” and sometimes simply do not allow one to relax. As pregnancy progresses, there are more and more reasons for insomnia.

The causes of sleep disturbances in pregnant women can be physiological:

• difficulties in finding a comfortable position (increased weight and a larger belly make this process very difficult);
• back and lower back pain;
• fetal movement;
• frequent urge to urinate at night (the enlarged uterus puts pressure on the bladder, now it needs to be emptied much more often);
• heartburn (disorders of the gastrointestinal tract are generally characteristic of pregnancy);
• cramps (pregnant women especially often complain of leg cramps);
• itching in the abdominal area due to stretching of the skin;
• shortness of breath (increased body weight makes breathing difficult, in addition, the uterus puts pressure on the lungs);

and psychological:

• chronic fatigue;
• nervous tension, stress (fear of upcoming changes, anxiety for the child, fear of childbirth);
• nightmares.

Any of these reasons is quite enough to deprive a woman of sleep, and most often they are also combined!

Behavior of the expectant mother

Expectant mothers should eat well and wisely, and this should be done even before pregnancy, since the child may inherit excess weight. Carefully control the amount of carbohydrates; in the last trimester, their amount should be no more than 400 g.

Do not refuse the help of doctors if pathologies of a large fetus have been identified. Treatment can begin already during pregnancy, and this will avoid health problems for the child in the future.

The hero inside you is a beautiful baby who simply requires a little more attention, care and love, but is in no way a reason for fear, worries and worries.

How to deal with insomnia?

From the tips listed below, try to choose only what suits your case and what you personally like. If one recommendation doesn't help, try another one. Each situation is individual, each woman needs to choose her own method, her own combination of techniques.

During the day :

1. Avoid overexertion. Fatigue accumulated during the day does not always lead to sound sleep; sometimes it turns out that after a hard day you simply cannot relax.
2. If you are used to sleeping for some time during the day, try to give up this habit for a few days or at least reduce the time you sleep during the day - maybe night sleep will be restored.
3. If you are tormented by nightmares, which you then cannot forget about, talk about them in the morning or afternoon with a loved one (husband, mother, friend). Psychoanalysts consider discussing night dreams a very effective means of overcoming the fear of them: firstly, loved ones will try to calm you down, and most likely they will succeed, and secondly, by putting into words the vague visions that tormented you, you yourself will discover that there are no special reasons for no fear.
4. During the day, find time and opportunity to do simple exercises that you can do. Swimming, walking and even dancing are considered very useful (in the latter case, of course, it all depends on the stage of pregnancy and your well-being).
5. Your body should get used to the fact that the bed is a place only for sleeping: break the habit of lying in bed - you should not read, watch TV, etc. while lying down.

In the evening, about two hours before bed, begin preparing for the coming night to be calm and peaceful. Experts talk about sleep hygiene, which includes a number of activities:

1. Do not eat heavy food shortly before bed: on a full stomach you will toss and turn until the morning.
2. Do not schedule tasks that require physical or mental effort for the evening.
3. Avoid emotional tension and stressful situations during this period of the day (do not schedule unpleasant conversations and heated explanations for the evening, ask your family and friends not to call you in the evening and, of course, do not watch action films and thrillers at night).
4. Take a warm bath or shower before bed. You can add a decoction of chamomile or a few drops of some aromatic oil (for example, lavender) to your bath - this will help you relax.
5. Try to drink less in the evening (keeping your total daily fluid intake at 6-8 glasses), this will help you cope with the cause of insomnia, such as the need to empty your bladder frequently.
6. Before going to bed, drink a cup of warm milk (if you don't like the taste of milk, you can add cinnamon, a little honey or sugar) or herbal tea (chamomile is often recommended for its relaxing effect). But you need to give up regular tonic tea (not to mention coffee!). By the way, milk contains tryptophan, which can be called a mild natural sleeping pill - this substance has a calming, sedative effect.
7. You can eat a small sandwich with boiled turkey before bed (the meat of this bird is also rich in tryptophan).
8. If you feel weak, lightheaded, or have an increased heart rate in the evening, your insomnia may be due to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). In this case, sweet tea, juice, or just a piece of sugar can help you (and be sure to tell your doctor about these symptoms so that he can confirm or deny this diagnosis and take appropriate measures).
9. Before going to bed, apply lotion to the skin of your abdomen, this can prevent itching.
10. Ask your husband or someone close to you to give you a massage before going to bed: it will give you the opportunity to relax, relieve back and lower back pain, and massage your feet and ankle joints will help avoid cramps. Shiatsu acupressure massage can also be effective, if someone in your family knows its technique, why not try it.
11. It is possible that homeopathic remedies correctly selected by a specialist will help in the fight against insomnia.
12. For some people, sex will help them fall asleep. If you have no medical contraindications to having sex, you feel desire and know that you usually feel sleepy after sex - why not?

But now the nightly ritual of getting ready for bed is completed, and you are already in bed. What to do at night so that the desired dream comes to you?

At night :

1. First of all, try not to get nervous, don’t think about not being able to sleep, this will only make the situation worse.
2. The bedroom should be cool (however, you must avoid overcooling your feet - you can sleep in socks). If it is not possible to sleep with the window open, you need to ventilate the room well before going to bed.
3. Nightwear (shirt, pajamas) should be comfortable, made from natural materials, and not restrict movement and breathing.
4. It is best to sleep on a comfortable mattress . Find out what is right for you - maybe a feather bed, maybe a textured mattress with a surface reminiscent of cartons for transporting eggs, or maybe, on the contrary, it will be easier for you to sleep on a hard surface, and you just need to put boards under the mattress.
5. A pregnant woman will need many pillows (at least 3) of various shapes and sizes to sleep. It’s good if you manage to purchase a special pillow for pregnant women - it has a wedge shape and is specially designed to be placed under the stomach. After giving birth, you can use it while breastfeeding. Pillows can be placed under the side, under the neck, pressed between the legs; You can cover the entire mattress with pillows - this improved bed will better conform to the shape of your body. You can place an extra pillow under your head - in some cases, this not only makes breathing easier, but also proves to be an effective remedy against heartburn.
6. Look for a comfortable position in which you can fall asleep. If you can’t sleep on your stomach and back, that means you’ll have to lie on your side (some doctors believe that it’s better to lie on the left, as this increases blood flow to the uterus). Place one pillow under your stomach, squeeze the other between your knees, if your back and lower back hurt, you can tuck another pillow under your side. Sometimes women are advised to sleep in the fetal position (it is unnecessary to remind you how physiological it is, I will only say that by stimulating blood circulation, it promotes maximum relaxation of all muscles).
7. However, it should be remembered that in the last months of pregnancy it is not recommended to sleep on your back, since the weight of the uterus can compress the inferior vena cava, which runs along the spine. This causes loss of consciousness in a pregnant woman and oxygen starvation in a child.
8. When you feel sleep approaching, try to breathe slowly and deeply.
9. It is possible that aromatherapy . A drop of lavender oil can be useful not only in the bath, but also in bed.
10. If you are unable to fall asleep within half an hour, get up, go into another room, leaf through a magazine or read a book that can induce sleep, start knitting, listen to soothing music and go to bed only when you feel sleep approaching.

How to avoid danger?

Don't panic when you hear from your doctor that you have a large fetus. Just try to determine the cause with your doctor. Continuous observation in the hospital may be required until delivery.

If the reason is heredity or high consumption of sweets, the doctor will prescribe a special diet. Food should be wholesome, healthy, but not contribute to weight gain.

The main thing is not to worry or be afraid of childbirth. Your doctor will discuss the progress of labor with you in advance. They will prescribe a planned caesarean section, depending on the indications, or take a wait-and-see approach.

If within four hours from the onset of labor there are signs of a discrepancy between the baby's head and pelvis, surgery will be performed urgently.

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Insomnia as a sign of pregnancy

Most women know that the most common sign of pregnancy is toxicosis. However, not everyone knows that an interesting situation can be characterized not only by such a deterioration in the condition. Often, at the beginning of pregnancy, women experience insomnia. Many believe that she tells the ladies about their interesting position.

Indeed, there is a hypothesis that has been repeatedly proven by scientists that insomnia is a sign of pregnancy.

First of all, the development of insomnia (disturbed night sleep) in a woman occurs due to serious changes in the functioning of the body, which spends a lot of effort to ensure that the embryo develops healthy. As soon as the male gamete penetrates the egg, fertilization occurs - the female cell becomes dense and begins to gradually move to the uterine cavity, where it subsequently becomes fixed and begins its active development.

How much milk is there, is the baby enough, how to increase lactation while breastfeeding are the eternal questions of young mothers. After all, breast milk is recognized as the best food for newborns. Read more in the article: “how to increase lactation for a nursing mother.”

At this moment, the body begins to produce progesterone in large quantities, because the normal development of the embryo depends on it, as well as its attachment to the wall of the uterus and its subsequent retention there. Also, this sex hormone acts in the body of a pregnant woman in the form of a powerful antidepressant. That is why insomnia can be considered as a sign of pregnancy before the delay, because it appears due to an increase in the production of progesterone, which is necessary for the female body for the development of the embryo.

What to do

Realizing that you haven’t been able to sleep properly for a long time, the state of sleep deprivation is chronic, you need to learn to control your sleep

It is important to understand that the phenomenon cannot be treated in this situation, nor can you take any medications (sleeping pills), even if you were constantly taking them before pregnancy

First, you need to visit your doctor, get a consultation, tell him how the phenomenon manifests itself, and what worries you about it. Together with a specialist, try to find out the cause of the phenomenon, and then he will tell you what to do. Sometimes, in extreme cases, it is permissible to prescribe a certain number of drugs to improve the condition of the body and regain lost sleep.

• In such cases, it is recommended to drink soothing decoctions prepared from medicinal herbs: valerian, mint, chamomile, thyme, motherwort, licorice. Dry ingredients must be steamed and brewed strictly following the manufacturer’s recommendations. If you have a bad reaction to the decoctions, stop taking it.
• It is necessary to eat little in the evening, trying not to overload the stomach, which provokes poor sleep during pregnancy. Include fresh salads, radishes, black currants, asparagus, beets, and melon in the menu; these products are believed to promote sound sleep. In general, reconsider your daily diet.
• Avoid drinking tonic drinks, especially at night. In general, drink less fluid so as not to increase the urge to go to the toilet at night.
• During the day, and especially in the evening, do not worry, do not get irritated, and avoid stressful situations. In general, a person who is “ruffled” by the evening will rarely be able to sleep peacefully, and even more so in this state.
• If your heart rate begins to increase in the evening and shortness of breath appears, it is enough to drink a mug of sweet tea, but warn your doctor about such symptoms, especially if they are constant. Most likely there is a lack of sugar in the body, hence the reasons.
• It is useful to eat a spoonful of natural turnip juice shortly before bed. It is prepared simply by squeezing the turnips into pulp and adding an equal amount of honey. Leave for a couple of days before taking and store in the refrigerator.
• Take a contrast shower shortly before rest. Warm your feet in warm water.
• In the morning you need to get up earlier, walk more in the fresh air, move, and not lead a passive lifestyle.

When faced with restless sleep and insomnia, you need to think about whether the pregnant woman’s overall lifestyle is correct. Perhaps the woman sleeps a lot during the day and gets up late in the morning. Perhaps, in general, throughout the day, a woman is inactive, passive, practically does not expend energy during the day, so sleep does not occur.

What are sleep cycles and how to control them

Our sleep consists of phases that repeat throughout the night. Each phase lasts approximately one and a half hours. The so-called REM sleep phase takes only 10-20 minutes. It is characterized by brain activity. During this phase we dream. A person who is awakened during REM sleep does not feel rested during the day.

Interestingly, sleep phases alternate even during night wakefulness. If you realize that you have missed another phase and will not be able to fall asleep in the near future, it is better to switch to another quiet activity: read, listen to music, knit... After some time, sleep will come and you will eventually be able to get enough sleep. The main thing is not to try to fight insomnia.

Early insomnia

Insomnia at the beginning of pregnancy can manifest itself both after missing the next period and before the delay. After ovulation, if during this period the egg meets the sperm, changes in hormonal levels immediately begin.

In the early stages (already in the first weeks), the corpus luteum, which always forms after the egg leaves the follicle, begins to produce progesterone. That is why the second half of the cycle, even for non-pregnant women, is often marked by various unpleasant phenomena (they are classified as PMS symptoms):

• swelling;
• increase in abdominal circumference;
• feeling tired and sleepy during the day and having difficulty falling asleep at night.

All this is the tricks of progesterone. If pregnancy has taken place, in the early stages there is increased production of progesterone, and the lack of normal night sleep and lethargy during the day are the first signs of hormonal changes in the body. Could insomnia be a sign of pregnancy? Of course, especially if it is accompanied by absent-mindedness and drowsiness during the day. The body seems to “confuse” the time of sleep and wakefulness. At the beginning of pregnancy, expectant mothers often cannot fall asleep for a long time in the evening, and in the morning they simply cannot get out of bed. The opposite phenomenon may also occur: you really want to sleep during the day or in the evening, after returning from work.

How to improve your sleep

• Don't overeat at night.
• Don't plan activities for the evening that require a lot of physical and mental effort.
• Try to avoid emotional tension and stressful situations. No action films, thrillers or horror films before bed! No scandals or unpleasant conversations!
  Advice:

  Under no circumstances should you decide to use sleeping pills on your own.

• An evening massage works wonders. There is a reason to go to pregnancy classes with the future dad.

Sleep is an important part of a person’s life, and for an expectant mother it is of paramount importance, because she is carrying a baby, and her body requires additional strength. So a cup of aromatic chamomile tea, a cozy blanket and your favorite book before bed is what you need. And yes, try to go to bed at the same time. Oddly enough, this simple advice works flawlessly.