Early pregnancy insomnia

[Anonymous]

I'm only 10 weeks, and can't stop waking up at 3:30 AM. And can't go back to sleep.

What's going on? I didn't think I was that anxious about the pregnancy. Is it a hormonal thing?

[Anonymous]

I had it too. I would be exhausted and unable to fall asleep or I would be up in the middle of the night and unable to fall back asleep. It was at it's worst during the olympics, so I would just get out fo bed and watch al the crazy sports tehy put on at 3am. I started sleeping a lot better in the second tri. It took a while to get used to all the bathroom trips.

[Anonymous]

I had it for all 9 months. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. One thing I learned at month 8 is that it is safe to take Tylenol PM. You might want to try this - not every night - but on occasion. Also, don't know about you but once I wake up at say 3:30am one night, I wake up at the same time for the next several nights so taking Tylenol PM could break that cycle. Good luck - hope you get some sleep, you'll need it!

[Anonymous]

I had this in my first tri w/ #1 and have it again at 9wks w/ #2. I can't shut my brain off! As PP said, for me it also went away during 2nd tri, but of course during the 3rd, I was up every two hours to use the bathroom!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, starting around 10 or 11 weeks and it's still going strong now at 17 weeks. I'll wake up anywhere between 2:30 and 4:30 and while I do go back to sleep, it's not for long and I generally spend the next 2-4 hours tossing and turning until the alarm goes off. For a while I thought it was just because I had to pee, but getting up and going the first time I wake up has made no difference whatsoever in my ability to stay asleep. Tylenol PM hasn't helped the couple of times I tried it.

Between this, the nausea, and the constant achiness, I'm starting to believe that I'm really not very good at being pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, so sorry. I had this too. I was MISERABLE the first trimester because I was paralyzingly exhausted but unable to sleep at night. I would be wide awake at 3 or 4 in the morning on a lot of nights. I'd just go to another room and read for awhile. I would also have a glass of milk or a bowl of cereal or toast or something, which served two purposes - made me feel less icky/nauseous in the morning and gave me some tryptophan (sp?) or carbs that might help me go back to sleep. I called in sick to work on a few days because I was literally too tired to get out of bed. Thankfully, this went away for me about week 13-ish, and I slept great through the second trimester. Sometime in the 3rd tri, I started not sleeping as well when my belly got bigger, and my hips/joints were looser. But a good body pillow (many people love the Snoogle) helped all that. At week 38.5 I'm still mostly sleeping well, other than the waking up to pee 3 or 4 times a night. But I'm not complaining because I still feel better than in the first tri! Good luck - hope it passes for you. Oh yeah - Benadryl also safe to occasionally take, if that knocks you out.

[Anonymous]

Could be anxiety or stress.
I have had the same difficulty sleeping through the night for weeks. (Doesn't help that my mother is going through cancer treatment.)
After my first ob/gyn appointment at 7 weeks, I began sleeping better. I suppose my mind was awash with more concerns and stress about the preggo than I realized.

Be sure you have someone to talk to and that you are eating and exercising well.
I hope your sleep improves soon!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the replies. Good to know that it's not only me. I actually slept through the night last night, so I'm feeling better. Now to cure the extreme nausea....