Monday 23 February 2015

I'm tired. Zzzzz.

I am having some real issues sleeping at the moment, I recently touched on this in my last word of the week post. I have to confess I love sleep, there is nothing better than heading to bed, curling up underneath the duvet with a good book and getting a good 8 hours, obviously 8 hours is a luxury these days and although Alfie is generally a good sleeper I don't usually get that many hours. 


Image courtesy of  keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

Before Alfie my bedtimes were quite late, I would often spend a couple of hours reading and turn the light off at midnight, nothing compared to my husband though he is a complete night owl and is often up till past 1am, I'm lucky if I can read a chapter of a book now without wanting to flake out. I'd definitely be needing something to help me drift off if I stayed up that late these days, I would be looking to buy the best CBD gummies in the UK to help me catch some zzz's!



When we had Alfie and he was a newborn next to me in a moses basket my bedtime routine was completely screwed! Gone were the relaxing, quiet bedtimes that I was used to, instead it was replaced with creeping around keeping all the lights turned off in the hope that I could sneak into bed without waking him up, generally this worked but on the odd occasion he would stir and I would freeze and then resume the creeping around again. Don't even get me started on the sleep deprivation, now I was aware that there would be night feeds but I don't think anything can prepare you for the sleep deprivation that comes with a newborn, that part is definitely not something I'm looking forward to! 

Rightly or wrongly we moved Alfie into his own room at around 10 weeks old, he was such a loud and wriggly boy during the night that it was clear that none of us were benefiting from this arrangement so after transitioning him gradually into his own room we all slept a whole lot better and Alfie was sleeping through mostly from around 14 weeks of age. Even when we took him to France at 16 weeks old he was in his own room (with a monitor) with minimal wake ups, he was such a good boy. I've always been quite regimental with his routine and it works for us, I implemented a sleep routine from when he was quite young and we rarely deviate from it even now, we've also never co-slept, the one or two times we have brought Alfie into bed with us he just thinks it's playtime and thrashes about, I'd much rather get him to settle into his own bed if he wakes in the night.  I hope to introduce a bedtime routine to the new baby once we've established a decent feeding regime but we'll see how it goes. 

Anyway, I'm slightly digressing with the point of this post. As I said to begin with I've always loved my sleep and if I don't get enough I do tend to turn into a bit of a grouchy so and so, I just don't deal well with being really tired. When I was pregnant with Alfie I think I slept pretty well, I definitely slept well  in the first trimester and second but maybe not so in the third, however I was able to nap during the day which helped. Over the last 4-6 weeks with this pregnancy I seem to have developed some pregnancy related insomnia. Funnily enough when I was reading up about it once again it's one of those niggly pregnancy things that is quite common. It may be common but bloody hell it's annoying, guaranteed I will wake at around midnight for a pee and then at 2:30am I'm awake again and mulling things over in my head, I usually manage to drift back off into a light sleep to be woken again at around 4:30am. Not helping matters is that around the same time recently I have heard Alfie get out of bed, he is clearly suffering the insomnia like me and I'm such a light sleeper so wake up easily, so off I trudge to put him back to bed (during the week I tend to do this as hubby is up early to catch the train to London), generally he will go back to sleep quickly but I am then lying wide awake once again, mind working overtime trying to get back to sleep, this morning I reckon I drifted off at around 6am to be woken by hubby's alarm at 6:45am. This is leading to one tired mama bear!!  

Maybe it's my body's way trying to prepare me again for some sleepless nights but honestly I'd rather deal with that when it happens and have a good sleep now before she arrives! I know what to expect, I really don't need the practice just yet.

I'm also starting to realise that I'm becoming really whiny in the last few weeks of pregnancy, I just feel that I haven't enjoyed this time round as much as the first, people are so right when they say that every pregnancy is different, I really couldn't agree more. Here's to trying to be a bit more positive in the coming few weeks though.


Did you suffer with any insomnia in pregnancy? Any remedies or advice for this tired Mummy?

22 comments:

  1. I had insomnia during pregnancy and well after into year 2...have you tried the yoga position with your legs up the wall before you go to sleep?

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    1. Nope I definitely haven't tried that position, might have to give a go, I'm willing to try anything! x

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  2. I am struggling with sleep myself at the moment and find it very debilitating. My little boy keeps sleep walking into our bed and I end up sleeping in his single half the night. Hope it gets better soon.

    #UKBloggers

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    1. It's very debilitating isn't it :-( some nights are better than other but the effect is still noticeable! x

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  3. I'm not pregnant.. nor will I be any time soon! But I'm feeling for you!! I love my bed! Need my 8 hours beauty sleep :3

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    1. Thanks for your comment Orianna, enjoy your beauty sleep I'm jealous haha X

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  4. I've had insomnia for years and it truly sucks. Then when I was pregnant I was so uncomfortable it made the little sleep I could get almost no existent. Then we had the baby!! So basically barely slept for a few months!! She is getting better at sleeping now, although does wake up a few times a night (light sleeper like me). I really feel for you as it is such a difficult one to manage. Everyone who has never had insomnia tries to give you advice on how to sleep. As if you haven't tried EVERYTHING a million times already!! I dream of that thing I've heard a few people can do which is go to bed, fall asleep and wake up the next day!! HOW? I don't think I've done that since I was a child!
    Lucy@bottlefor2 #mummymonday

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    1. Haha yes how does one achieve that?! How amazing must that be. I'm glad I'm not the only one suffering in a way, it's just so difficult to function at times on lack of sleep, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the next baby will be as good a sleeper as her brother. Thankyou for your comment X

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  5. Aww hun this really sucks. I've not had during pregnancy but only when I went back to work. Only thing that worked was meditating! Have you got any apps you can listen too in the middle of the night to try and clear your head?
    I wouldn't worry about being whiny!! lol. Being pregnant with another one must be so hard! xxx

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    1. Thanks my lovely, I shall look into the app's might be good to get me in a positive frame of mind for the birth too? I'm willing to try anything. X

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  6. Reading your post is as if I have written it myself, i'm now 38 weeks pregnant and like you I like my sleep and on the whole my two girls sleep really well unless they were ill or teething, for the last couple of months i have taken to waking around 3-4am for a wee and lying wide awake until about half an hour before the alarm leaving me feeling tired and groggy, it is definately a symptom! but the last couple of weeks I have been sooo tried that it hasn't happened much just the braxton hicks waking me up now!! I know i am not going to get much sleep for a few months but i hope this baby sleeps as well as his sisters! #maternitymondays

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    1. It's so annoying isn't it, I'm getting lots of kicks and punches too at around that time which clearly doesn't help in my quest for a good sleep. Thanks for the comment :-) x

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  7. Ugh my little man is 2 1/2 and I still suffer from insomnia. It began during the last trimester. Honestly as a mom, I don think we ever "rest" once we have little ones!
    ~Jennifer @ www.jaysgordon.com
    Visiting from #mummymonday :)

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    1. No it's true, you get used to less sleep once your a Mum and uninterrupted sleep is like sheer luxury! Thankyou for your comment X

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  8. Oh dear, nothing worse than having to run on little to no sleep. I LOVE SLEEP TOO! but my youngest has never been a "good sleeper" and the longest she has ever slept was for 6 hours but that was on a plane and I can't sleep on planes, so yeah, I am more than sleep deprived. I will say though, pregnant or not I have no trouble sleeping. I've learnt to sleep whenever (and sometimes wherever) I can. I find it much harder to enjoy second (third.. fourth..) pregnancies because you are busy taking care of your children so your mind is on other things. Hopefully you get some rest and feel a little better.

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    1. I know, although it's funny how we adapt to less sleep and get used to it after a while. I can't remember the last time I had a lie in, it's all worth it in the end though, all part of being a Mummy X

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  9. Sleep is such a foreign word in my house. After having our son for 4 year, we decided to have another baby. Some how both of us (my husband & I) forgot how little sleep we got. Thanks for posting. Ill be keeping up on twitter @giraffemommy

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    1. Haha yes I know, we've got that to come in the next few weeks! Thankyou for the comment and I look forward to reading your blog. X

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  10. O yes, the sleep deprivation that comes with motherhood is one no one can really prepare you for; it doesn't even compare with the pee wakes of pregnancy. I found pregnancy pee wakes so annoying but I wonder if it also serves as a 'get ready for baby night wakes' message, in addition to the 'your baby is growing and your bladder has less space' message it gives. I hope Alfie doesn't have insomnia, and I hope you find a way to cope; you will you know! Even this will pass, though it might not seem like that now and you might not get comfort from remembering this. Do take care and all the best with it all. #MaternityMondays

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    1. Yes I concur with the night time peeing, also quite annoying! Not long to go now really, on the last stretch so the sleepless nights will soon be here with a little baby to add to them :-) Thanks for your comment X

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  11. Argh sleep deprivation is the worst. Amelia was a great sleeper for the first year of her life (surprising I know) it has only recently gone down hill. Last year I was terrible and would nap when amelia did and love it when she would fall back to sleep first thing so I could get a few extra hours. This year Amelia's sleep is terrible and most mornings we have to be up and out the house so I'm generally coping on 5-6 hours a night which if someone had told me last year I would have been sooo grumpy and grouchy with that amount. I guess your body just adapts! I so hope you find a way to cope and that Alfie's sleeping issues sort themselves out. It WILL get better! Thankyou so much for linking up and hope to see you again tomorrow! Sorry I'm late this week has been crazy. Thanks again! #MummyMonday xx

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    1. Thankyou for the comment :-) you definitely adapt but lack of sleep is the worst!! Thankfully Alfie seems to be sleeping a little bit better and I'm managing to get a few more zzz's which makes a massive difference! x

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