Monday, February 02, 2009

Why I Can't Sleep

So, I had a really lazy weekend, which are my favorite kinds of weekends. I work all week and I get really exhausted, so I try to make up on sleep and comfort on the weekends. Unfortunately, I'm 8 months pregnant and have an unruly fetus, so sleep is sometimes very hard to come by.

Recently, my feet, hands and the backs of my knees have been swelling a lot. If I stand too long or sit too long or do anything for too long that isn't raising my limbs above my heart, they will start to swell. Not only is this really uncomfortable/ugly, it is also sometimes painful. I really do not care for this part of pregnancy. Not that I have really cared for any other part either. Pregnancy all together has been one non fun symptom after another. Pregnancy is a torture device for women. It is evil and if I don't get a super cute baby at the end of it, I'm going to be really upset.

So, along with this, I can only sleep on my sides. Unfortunately, I only have two sides. I usually fall asleep on my right side, then I wake up after about an hour because my side has gone numb and starts to hurt, so I roll over to my left. Then, I wake up after an hour and that side hurts. I would roll back to the right, but that side is still sore from when I was lying on it before. So, no matter where I turn, it is a painful sleeping situation. To remedy this, Matt moved the love sac into our bedroom. This provides me with a third sleeping option. I can't sleep on my back in the bed because the baby crushes my insides and I get leg cramps because the blood stops flowing to my legs, but I can sleep on my back in the love sac because it is really more like sitting in a full body cushion. But, once in the love sac, it is really difficult to get out of the love sac because my weight is all right there on the stomach. And, my stomach muscles don't really work right now. In conclusion, sleep is very difficult for me as of late.

Additionally, the baby thinks that bedtime is awake time. It never fails that as soon as I sit down or lay down, she "wakes up" and begins kicking me and turning inside me. Not only is this uncomfortable and painful, but it is extremely difficult to sleep through. I compare it to trying to sleep while someone is consistently poking you in the ribs awake. You really just can't sleep through it. Supposedly, she is suppose to get so big in the next month that she won't be able to move so much because she won't have any space in there. I don't know if this will be more or less uncomfortable. But, I've found a short term remedy for the night time kicking. I've found that if I play Dianna Krawl for my stomach, the baby settles down and stops kicking. Whether this means that she likes or hates the music I don't know, but I don't really care as long as it works.

With all my night time shiftings, in addition to my constant bathroom trips, neither Matt nor I get really good sleep at night. Luckily, Matt doesn't have to be anywhere first thing in the morning, so I don't feel that bad about keeping him up. I guess his lack of a job is kinda a blessing for now because he gets a little extra sleep after I go off to work.

Have I mentioned how I am so ready to be not pregnant anymore?

9 comments:

Marie said...

Doesn't sound like fun. I like sleep. I'm like a cat; I could sleep all day and be happy. Your baby needs to be more cat-like.

Jasmine said...

Do you have a body pillow? My entire third trimester I had a "nest" of pillows surrounding me. (Good thing we have a big bed!) I had one pillow supporting my back, one supporting my belly, and one on either side of my legs so no matter which side I rolled to I could stick a pillow between my knees. It helped a TON!

The reason baby "wakes up" when you lie down is that she's soothed and rocked all day by your movements, so when you're not moving anymore, she goes "wait a minute! I'm not moving! Must move limbs!" I wish I could say this stops in the last month, but, alas, baby just tries harder--the movement is just more localized to a couple spots. Sorry....

Angela said...

This final stretch of pregnancy is truly the worst I believe. For me it definitely stands out as some of the most miserable times of my life. It doesn't last forever though and it is worth every moment of suffering they put us through. I hope you can manage some sleep, benadryl was always my friend ;)

Adrianne Miller said...

The swelling is the worst part. I am in so much pain after going to the grocery store for 45 minutes. Also, why is it that babies wake up so much as you lay down? Mine does the same thing. I have to get up and wiggle around to reposition him so I can't feel the kicking as hard. Sounds like our babies are both already being troublemakers!

Becky said...

I have a body pillow and it helps immensely. But, maybe I should commandeer more pillows from around the house. I just keep telling myself that I only have 8 more weeks.

Deanne said...

When I was pregnant with Sean I remember waking up one morning crying because I was truly starting to believe he would never come out, and then...he did! The beauty of it is that there is a certain degree of forgetting that occurs. That's why women have more than one baby. Hang in there!

Sarah said...

Sounds crazy, what the heck is Diana Krawl? Well...I hope Coley just stops it. Be a good baby, schnell!

AnneMarie said...

Ditto, ditto, ditto! I truly dislike being pregnant for all the reasons you have stated, but don't worry Becky she is so worth it!

Mc said...

Happy Birthday. FIRST!!