Sleeping - Oh My Mama Body

In the early stages of pregnancy, many women feel constantly tired.

As a pregnancy progresses, it may become more difficult to sleep comfortably, making you feel tired.

You may find you suffer from bouts of insomnia. Laying wide awake in bed but it’s the middle of the night. Or waking up starving hungry.

Many different factors can disturb a good night’s sleep. Annoyingly, people will tell you it is preparation for when baby arrives!

The influx in hormones in the first trimester
Once your stomach starts growing you won’t be able to sleep on your stomach any more.
You also won’t be able to sleep on your back.
- Firstly, it will not be comfortable.
- Secondly, it could be dangerous to the blood flow to the baby or even to the mother due to pressure being put in the wrong places.
Your baby may be very active when you want to sleep – kicking and throwing punches, keeping you awake.
Waking up to pee, suffering from acid reflux and leg cramps also disturb a good night’s sleep.

Watch what you eat in the evening to reduce acid reflux. Make sure you are aware which foods cause you to experience acid reflux and try to avoid them. Trying to sleep whilst your throat is burning can be very uncomfortable.
Do relaxing exercises before bed. Try some gentle yoga stretches to get your muscles to relax.
Take a warm bath before bed.
Reduce liquid intake a couple of hours before going to bed to reduce the number of times you need to get up and go to the toilet during the night.
Keep some midnight snacks beside your bed so you can eat them straightaway if you wake up hungry. The sooner you eat, the sooner you can fall back to sleep.
Invest in a pregnancy pillow for ultimate sleeping comfort.
Use a diffuser with essential oils to humidify the air in your bedroom and help you to relax. I recommend lavender, sage, majoram and chamomile. It is important to buy a trusted and certified brand of essential oils in order to avoid any harmful toxins being released into the air in your bedroom.

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