June 22, 2006

Restless nights

I think there are very few things that are as frustrating as lying in bed, wide awake when you're so exhausted you can barely stand up.

Okay, there probably are WAY more things that are just as frustrating. But when it's 2am and I'm staring at the wall for the second night in a row I could just about scream.

I don't know what my problem is. (Okay all you smarty pants, we know a few of my problems but I'm being rhetorical here...) I've started limiting caffeine after 3pm. Scratch that--I usually don't have any caffeine after lunch at all. I'm not going to bed until I'm physically tired, i.e. yawning on the couch. Not on any drugs/medications that would keep me awake. I haven't been eating anything spicy or greasy just before bed.

As soon as I lay down though, all of the sudden my fatigue disappears and the hours begin to slowly creep by. The past two nights I've laid awake listening to the heavy breathing of my three male housemates.

These restless nights make for long days and a cranky person. One who has very little attention span and an even shorter patience. So I apologize that I haven't responded to e-mails lately and occasionally let my cell phone ring until it goes to voice mail. Please know that I'm just sparing people undeserved crankiness.

Actually, I know what my problem is. I have a brain that runs a million miles an hour as soon as I try to close my eyes. Constantly fretting over things that I just need to let run their own course.

Anyone know how to shut that off?

3 comments:

Kristen said...

I have known quite a few women who have insomnia while pg. One slept on the couch for a few months, another drank warm milk. A third upped her exercise (walked like 2 miles a day). I hope that once things settle down, you will sleep like a log. :>)

Trista said...

I have that problem a lot. A mind racing. Unable to sleep. I used to watch inane tv and movies to distract myself as I fell asleep. But now I'm with a partner who can't fall asleep with TV on, so that doesn't work.

One thing that has worked for me is breath practice. I do two things. One is I practice how slow and deep I can breathe in and out. I count in my head the seconds I breathe in and the seconds I breathe out. It gives my brain something to focus on as well as deeply relaxes my body. Or I imagine that I'm breathing in green light and breathing out yellow light -- leaving my body filled with blue light. I imagine all the parts of me glowing and filling with blue light.

These things may not work for you, but if they do they'll also be great practice for labor!

Jessica said...

I have problems sleeping normally when daily things are bugging me...things that are making me anxious and worry, which is almost every day. Luckily, from the help of M, he has said to me before, 'What's the use of worrying about it? It's not going to change what is going to happen or has happened.' I just try to think about what he said, and it usually gets me calmed down, knowing I can't change the outcome. I don't know if this has any relevence to why you are having trouble sleeping, but hopefully I've helped a little.

Also, I don't want to "throw" advice at you, but at the beginning stages of my pg, I could sleep no matter what, but now that I'm 28 weeks, I'm finding myself waking up every 3 to 4 hours. I don't know if this is a sign for later on after the baby is born, but I've heard it is a normal thing to go through during pregnancy.