Week 29
We’ve gotten into a bit of a routine in the evening during the past couple of weeks. Right at about 9 pm, I get exhausted. I get out a book and pretend to read for maybe 15 minutes, after which I promptly fall asleep with the book in my hand. Ryan realizes I’m knocked out and comes to remove the book and turn off the lights. And then right at 3 am, I’m wide awake – at least for a couple of hours, and sometimes for the rest of the night.
It usually starts with a full bladder, which is kind of unavoidable. But once I’m awake, my brain is alert and apparently thinks it’s time to get a jump start on the day. No matter what I try, I can’t get back to sleep – even if I feel tired. I just kind of lay there, waiting to drift off, letting my mind wander. And once my mind wanders, it’s all over. I get rolling with all those pre-mom worries. Will we get the nursery set up in time? How do I know when to feed the kid? Can we afford to have another one after this one? What if he’s born with 12 toes? Are there shoes that fit babies with 12 toes?
I know you know what I’m talking about here. If you are or ever have been pregnant, I know you’ve spent nights staring into the darkness while your adorable husband slumbers easily next to you (and you curse him). Whether it’s because you have too many thoughts in your head or because you’re just plain uncomfortable, I feel like a little pregnancy insomnia is just plain unavoidable.
But I refuse to go down without a fight, so I’m trying a few things to see if I can nail down a way to get my body back into the sleep-through-the-night zone. This week, it’ll be a little nighttime yoga. Yoga has always been a go-to for me when my body needs a reboot, so I’m hoping that a quick session before bed will do the trick. I’m also going to stop skimping on the air conditioning and just get the room comfortably cool, for crying out loud. And I don’t have a brilliant way to quiet all of those worries yet, but the more things we accomplish as the due date gets closer, the fewer of them are on my mind. So we’re working to get the nursery settled and I think that will make me feel worlds better.
I’d really appreciate any tips or tricks you moms have on this one! Did you suffer from pregnancy insomnia? And if you did, did you stumble on any secrets to get past it?
