Alleviating Pregnancy Insomnia

Something that essentially plagued the beginning of my third trimester was intense pregnancy insomnia. As my belly reached bowling ball size and little baby Theodore became more and more charismatic I found it impossible to get comfortable, impossible to ignore the baby dancing in my tummy all night, and impossible to ignore the super fun heartburn. For a while it seemed like this insomnia was going to last until Theo arrived, but it actually just took a few habit shifts and establishing a little nightly routine to tell my body and Theodore that it was time to relax. Here are a few of those habit shifts: 

1. Lighting candles. I feel so lucky that Matthew bought me a million Bath and Body candles not too long ago, because something that has always soothed me is putting on a candle and shutting any harsh lighting off. My current favorites are "Winter" and "Fresh Balsam". I don't know what it is about lighting candles but it's always a good way to wind down. 

2. Sleepytime tea!! If you've never tried Sleepytime tea by Celestial you are MISSING. OUT. It is so unbelievably relaxing and does exactly what it advertises. The flavor is also great, it doesn't NEED honey or lemon but I always add at least lemon just out of habit I think. Having a cup of Sleepytime tea after a warm shower or bath is a good way to continue winding down your day. 

3. Reading a book. The book I'm currently reading is on my iPad which is NOT helping me get sleep. If you're going to read a book to help you relax in the evenings, read a book on paper as a screen of any sort prevents your brain from releasing melatonin (which basically tells your brain it's bed time).  A rule of thumb is to not look at your phone/computer/iPad screen for an hour before you try to go to bed. I'm guilty of looking at my screen literally right before I shut my eyes, but when I was having such a terrible time sleeping early third trimester I did try to follow that rule more closely and I think it made a difference. 

A few last things that were suggested to me (and a few that I looked up) are to try sleeping partially propped up to relieve pressure, make a literal bed time routine that includes similar things to the activities listed in this post and follow it strictly every evening, get to bed slightly earlier than usual and simply relax in bed (maybe with a book) for a little while before actually trying to sleep, and lastly doing some easy stretching before bed time. 

I thought I was going crazy when I was laying in bed completely awake through the entire night. If you're also experiencing this try out a few of these tips and report back with your results! If changing your evening habits or adding a few things doesn't change your insomnia problem, try asking your doctor about it. My doctor says she ALWAYS gets questions about sleeping problems and a few of these tips came from her! Best of luck, get all the sleep you can before it's too late! 😉

Happy Wednesday!

  

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