This insomnia is killing me!

lisahe1 · January 2015

Hi ladies! I'm 38, 5 weeks along. I married my wonderful husband in July (he's 32) and we started trying immediately so we're so excited that I'm pregnant with our first child. What I'm not excited about though is the insomnia!!! I'm a third grade teacher and need my energy to keep up with my munchkins, but this is ridiculous! I've been up at 3am every day for the past five days, and today I was up from 1am - 2am and then again at 3am. Thankfully I fell back asleep but here we are from 4am on.

Since I teach, napping is not an option.

Did any of you experience this? How did you deal with it?

supersarah77 · January 2015

Yes, it stinks. I wish I could tell you it gets better but it doesn't. Getting up to pee several times in the night is normal, and it can be hard to fall back asleep. Also as baby gets bigger s/he may keep you up with movement. I keep an eye mask in my nightstand for bad nights and that helps me. Once it's on it forces me to keep my eyes closed and eventually I drift off.

The sleep problems I think help your body get used to surviving the frequent feedings around the clock with a newborn. But when people say, "sleep now because you won't when baby is here" it irritates me because I'm not sleeping now!

Guennie · January 2015

Yep. I had a lot of insomnia at 5wks too. It's eased up for now, thankfully, but I know it will be back. Last time it was the worst in late first tri and second tri. I found if I got up for about an hour and got on the computer I could get some energy out and get my eyes tired again then go back to bed. I wasn't always able to go right back to sleep but I was usually able to relax more and eventually drift off again.

Sorry, I know it stinks.

mum2lanabelliz · January 2015

Insomnia is driving me crazy too its been weeks since I had a decent nights sleep. Now I wake up if I have to pee, several times a night, and when I need to roll over. I'm so tired. Lol. Im a high school teacher. And some days I feel like I barely have the energy to get through my work day. Ugh.

MalonT23 · January 2015

Same here ladies, I am 8 weeks along and work as a counselor in a high school, I am up every night at 3am and cannot get back to sleep, today is awful because I have a head ache and my kids are not making things easy on me. I don't have any hard advice except a wing and a prayer to get me back to sleep. I hope we all get a good nights rest soon.

mindaa · January 2015

Unisom is generally considered to be safe to use as a sleep aid. When I take it, it's much easier not only to get to sleep, but to get back to sleep if I wake up.

Unfortunately, it can leave me a little groggy in the morning.

NeonNoon · January 2015

Sorry about your sleep problems. I have them too, on and off. I find that any flexibility I can offer myself to be useful. Since napping is not an option for you, maybe go to bed earlier? Some days, I only feel rested if I sleep for 10+ hours.

niknak1208 · January 2015

Tell me about it!!! I'm 20 weeks tomorrow and I've had insomnia since very early much like you. I'm exactly the same way! I fall asleep just fine but then I wake up around midnight.. 1am.. and I'm up literally for hours.. just staring at the ceiling. Last night.. as usual.. I couldn't sleep so I actually was budget planning in the middle of the night and making lists of baby names and items we still need to check off our list. That's how bad it is. I'm literally wide awake.

My OB directed me to Tylenol PM but it doesn't really work that well so I stopped taking it. Benedryl which has the opposite effect on me.. I literally get restless leg syndrome and cannot stop moving. It's awful! Unisom.. I've tried that with my last pregnancy .. only took half a pill and I swear I was knocked out for days! It made me way too sleepy for way too long.

I talked to my OB about mellatonin too.. he said no because it's not regulated. I do Young Living Essential Oils and my oil books all say I can use lavendar or cedarwood.. all of these great suggestions but the pregnancy books say to stay away from the oils contained in cedarwood and tell me you can't use lavendar while pregnant!

So frustrating. Last week I had a day where my 2 yr old was not sleeping and I was up at 12:30am and never got to go back to sleep. I was a total zombie at work that day.

ewenner · January 2015

Oh my! I wish I had some good advice for you, but all I can do is commiserate! Like all the PPs have said, I also wake up frequently throughout the night - when my hips hurt and I have to change positions, when I have to use the bathroom, when I need a snack, etc. And I can rarely get back to sleep. I just try to make sure I'm really really tired when I go to bed, in hopes of sleeping longer before I invariably wake up in the middle if the night. Fun times!

mattandlora · January 2015

@lisahe1 - I've been pregnant 4 times total (see sig), and with ALL of them my first symptom was insomnia. At around the 3 weeks pregnant mark, I started waking up for the day between 4-5am. I started puking a few days later, then got my BFP right around the 4 week mark each time. Don't worry though. The 1st trimester exhaustion will set in soon enough and then you won't be able to keep your eyes open.

For me, the insomnia / 1st trimester exhaustion just transitioned into the uncomfortable / need to pee all the time exhaustion. My biggest complaint is that I'm a belly sleeper. For now, I have a snoogle loop pillow. I don't use it like you're supposed to. Instead, I curl it into a big ball which looks like a donut. I stick my belly in the donut hole and sleep on my front, with about 3 more pillows piled up for my head and feet. DH is about fed up with it.

GASuzuki · January 2015

I have the same problem. I don't remember having problems sleeping with my daughter first time around, but now it's awful. I've been waking up at around 3:30/4 a.m. and watching Bones on Netflix until 5:30, when the baby finally lets me sleep again. I don't have any good advice - just some support. :P

marijaa333 · January 2015

I have it on and off too. One thing I learned is absolutely NOT to look at my phone in the middle of the night, and to minimize any light exposure in the bathroom (install a night light if you don't have a dimmer). If I avoid all sources of light, I find it MUCH easier to fall back asleep. If I pick up the phone just for five minutes, it throws me off completely for the next 1, 2, 3 hours...

PS Last night, I also had the worst leg cramp in the middle of the night that woke me up. It was short but memorable! Apparently it can be caused by dehydration or lack of magnesium, calcium or B12 (based on this wide range of possible causes, my read is that they have no idea what causes it).

babyd33 · January 2015

Be nice to yourself and take a sick day if you need to! It will help reset. Other times you can push through but for me so far 1st tri. Was the most difficult between exhaustion and peeing all night. Meanwhile having insomnia too tonight. I read waking up and finding creative things like writing is good, and then go back to sleep..https://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/why-broken-sleep-is-a-golden-time-for-creativity/ I still have yet to try it and usually just end up reading internet...plus you need time to sleep in which typically doesnotexist dne

cneiding · January 2015

Yes...insomnia here. I have never had it this bad before. Its annoying! I will be super tired, fall asleep for the night and wake up usually around 3 a.m. Once I am awake I have to go to the bathroom. Once I go to the bathroom I can not fall back to sleep. If I wake up and don't get up at all I usually can get back to sleep...but usually I just have to go! I can not sleep in once I get back to sleep as I have lots of other children...and I can not nap due to I have lots of children!

lisahe1 · January 2015

I'm so glad it's not just me! I feel so bad for my husband because once I wake up I have so much trouble falling back asleep, and I toss and turn ... ugh! And of course I've cut back on coffee because I know we're not supposed to have much so I'm just wiped during the day.

But again, I feel better knowing it's not just me.

sugarpeas79 · January 2015

I also had insomnia in the first trimester - it was the worst towards the end, weeks 8-12ish. I would get to sleep all right usually, but wake up around 2am and have a really hard time getting back to sleep, just like you.

After trying all of the usuall stuff, I ended up using Tylenol PM every couple of nights. I only took half a dose at bedtime, because a full dose left me groggy in the morning. It helped me get to sleep and get back to sleep if I woke up.

The insomnia eventually ended for me, but it really was torture for a while - I am so sorry you're dealing with it now. Hopefully it will only last a few weeks for you. Good luck

WhiteSun · January 2015

Hopefully you're like me. The insomnia had nothing to do with having to pee and was def my first sign as it showed up long before me expected period. It did go away about 8 weeks in and luckily I only wake up once at night to use the bathroom (def new) and can now go right back to sleep. Of course at week 15 the uterus has moved somewhere that is severely aggravating me and I toss and turn all night.

Fx you get a break soon! That's the great thing about our annoying symptoms, give them a bit and they go away.

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