The most common mistake human beings do is treating sleep as a luxury instead of a necessity. Sleep is an essential requirement especially to the pregnant women who need a few more hours of sleep.
A recent study done by the National Institute of Health shows that the amount of sleep you consume each day as a pregnant woman not only affects you and the baby but can transit to your labor and delivery. The first pregnancy syndrome happens to be exhaustion which then makes sleep an irresistible routine but then getting a good night sleep is always an uphill task due to different reasons. This is probably the reason why most pregnant women supplement the night sleep with daytime naps.
The national concern now is what causes lack of sleep in pregnant women, because even the normal heavy sleepers are not left out on this. We, The Elimuzazi team are here to ease your worries.
Disturbed Sleep Patterns
Like I mentioned earlier, pregnancy comes with excess fatigue which happens due to the outrageous rise in progesterone meant for maintaining the pregnancy hormones. Again the body is going through metabolic changes with a lot of calories being pumped into the gestation process; this sucks up energy in your body hence the exhaustion.
Solution: Work on your sleep schedule, a little adjustment goes along way. The same way you plan your meals so should you plan your nap and sleep hours. Also nap as often as you can, the best nap hours are between 2pm to 4pm to avoid interfering with the night sleep schedule. As doctor Teresa Ann Hoffman, (an OB-GYN at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore) says “take one or even two 30-minute catnaps rather than one long, two-hour sleep.” A nap can be taken anywhere comfortable including the office floor or the car provided it’s warm. Also choose to do your exercise early morning rather than late afternoon or evenings as late exercises encourage insomnia.
Pounding Headache
You can blame it on your fluctuating hormones that keep playing around making the blood vessels dilate leading to constant headache and in the end loss of sleep because clearly none sleep under duress.
Solution: According to Dr. Flood-Shaffer, Acetaminophen is a quick and safe fix on this. Keep enough by your bedside to take anytime the pain excruciates. Alternatively apply a dump towel on your forehead to help contract your blood vessels and relax your muscles for a quick relief. Also rest as much as you can all through the day.
Nausea
Another major pregnancy sign is the morning sickness that merrily strikes either early morning or late evening clearly marked with nausea. This keeps you in a disgusted and uncomfortable state that will automatically deprive you of sleep.
Solution: Stock enough Saltines by your bedside for easy reach. The crackers provide an easy way to quell the midnight queasiness.
Frequent Bathroom Visits
Pregnant women go through increased bathroom visits due to high progesterone level coupled up with an enlarging uterus that pushes against the bladder causing frequent urination. This may keep you awake for a better part of the night as you keep breaking your sleep for a bathroom break.
Solution: Reduce your fluid intake mostly after 6 p.m. to help curtail the nocturnal bathroom runs. Do not cut off the beverages completely as your system needs them but watch your intake through the day even more so in the evening.
Painful Breasts
All thanks to the skyrocketing human chorionic gonadotropin and estrogen levels that help in preparing your breast milk, the breast will automatically become sensitive and very painful as it enlarges to accommodate the milk production.
This mainly affects the tummy sleepers who apply pressure on the breast during sleep. You may have to unlearn a few things and change sleep positions, obviously the adjustment causes a bit of hiccups in the sleep.
Solution: Fix a hot shower just before bed to calm the sensitivity. A not so frequent use of acetaminophen may also help but make sure you ran every drug you take by your doctor before taking it. Most importantly adjust your sleep position and train your brain into finding comfort in it also try using a body pillow for advance comfort.
Back Pain
A research done by the Yale University study found that nearly 60 percent of pregnant women suffer from lower back pain which causes them sleep disruptions. It further reveals that the amount of pain experience varies from one woman to another.
Solution: Study your sleep pattern to know when the pain excruciates. Mostly women prone to sleeping on the right side are likely to feel the pain as opposed to those sleeping on their left side. Sleeping on the left sides lifts the weight off the lower back, increases circulation to the baby and prevents snoring. Incorporate abdominal exercises in your daily routine and invest in a good pregnancy pillow to avoid suck incidences.
Anxiety
This is an instant mishap that comes with the ‘you are pregnant’ news. Just as we all know good news strikes hard before settling in. From what next to what should I do or expect your brain becomes a busy marketplace that sends chills down your spine, and before you know it you are building castles in the air instead of sleeping.
Solution: Just breathe and take a step at a time, all will fall in place. Take a few minutes to think of what you need and delegate as must responsibilities as you can to allow you to breathe and rest.
Heartburn
Let’s just say pregnancy and discomforts are identical twins. They come hand in hand and one of the discomforts that come with pregnancy is frequent heartburn because as the queasiness subsides, the acid reflux rises. This is due to the growing uterus that amounts pressure on the stomach forcing the acid to leak out of the esophagus. While in this state, lying down aggravates the burn leading to sleep discomfort.
Solution: Guiding on managing heartburns, Dr. Hoffman advices on sitting upright for a few hours after meals before going to bed to help maintain the acids where they belong. The good doctor explains that the digestion process in pregnant women is a bit slower than normal hence the longer wait. This means lying on the couch after meals is not a good idea as well, you’d better watch the television on an upright position.
On another approach, consider breaking your meals into six smaller potions instead of the usual three for easier and quicker digestion. And it goes without saying that fried, spicy and acidic foods should be a no go-zone.
Normally the bigger your body grows the harder it is to come by sleep because it gets more uncomfortable tossing and turning during sleep. Pregnancy comes with adjustments, the same way you adjust your space to accommodate another human so should your adjust your lifestyle to accommodate adequate sleep. Do not be sleep-deprived as it may cause harm to you and your baby, the best position to maintain is sleeping on your left side with a pillow in between your legs and another under your tummy. Do whatever it takes to grab a healthy sleep as it’s a necessity and not a luxury. If better gets to worse contact your OB-GYN immediately.