Sleep problems and changes in sleep patterns start during the first trimester of pregnancy1 most likely influenced by the rapid changes in reproductive hormone levels. Levels of progesterone rise throughout pregnancy.
To help with this, avoid caffeine after early afternoon, don't exercise vigorously past late afternoon, and don't have a heavy discussion before bed or in bed. Set yourself up for sleep success by avoiding stimulants in the late afternoon and evening. This includes the light of your smartphone in the hour before bed.
Pregnancy insomnia can happen at any point while you're expecting and is attributed to several factors, including hormonal shifts, intensifying pregnancy symptoms and, of course, a growing baby bump. Thankfully, you don't have to spend those nine+ months restlessly tossing and turning.
It's normal to have trouble sleeping at any point during pregnancy, but many expectant women experience insomnia starting in the second to third trimesters, as other pregnancy symptoms increase, and a burgeoning baby belly makes it harder than ever to get comfortable in bed.
Poor Sleep Affects Developing Fetus
Insufficient total sleep or fragmentation of deep sleep may reduce the amount of growth hormone released, which can lead to developmental or growth problems in the unborn fetus.
Medicines that may be recommended for pregnant women to help them sleep include the following remedies in the table below. Benzodiazepines: temazepam (Restoril), estazolam (ProSom), flurazepam (Dalmane), quazepam (Doral), and triazolam (Halcion).
For many pregnant women, getting 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night becomes more difficult the farther along they are in their pregnancy. There are many physical and emotional obstacles to sleep in this stage. Anxiety about being a mom or about adding to your family can keep you awake.
There are some studies that have found a small link between stillbirth and sleep position, but overall, there is no compelling evidence that occasionally or accidentally sleeping on your baby during pregnancy will hurt your fetus.
The third trimester is a time to expect increasing insomnia and night waking. Most women wake up 3 to 5 times a night, usually because of such discomforts as back pain, needing to urinate, leg cramps, heartburn, and fetal movement. Strange dreams are also common in the last few weeks of pregnancy.
Experiencing a lack of energy during the third trimester should be anticipated. Your baby is really growing, your body is changing, and you are having to exert more energy to get things done.
Third trimester fatigue
Carrying around that extra weight can be tiring on its own, but it also makes other things harder, including sleeping comfortably. Plus, as the baby settles into the pelvis, it puts more pressure on the bladder, so nighttime trips to the bathroom may become even more common.
Pregnancy fatigue can be especially pronounced early in the first trimester and again later, in the third.
Since kiwifruit is a good source of folate, which helps brain and cognitive development and prevents neural defects in babies (both before and during pregnancy), it is essential for expecting mothers.
Symptoms are things you feel yourself that others can't see, like having a sore throat or feeling dizzy. The most common symptom of stillbirth is when you stop feeling your baby moving and kicking. Others include cramps, pain or bleeding from the vagina.
Use lotion or cream daily to keep your skin moisturized. This tactic can also help relieve itchy skin during pregnancy, whether you have stretch marks or not. Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water, which may help keep your skin soft and less prone to stretch marks.
Pregnant women carrying girls have a greater chance of experiencing nausea and fatigue, according to the results of a study from the USA's Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. In fact, a mother's immune system is thought to behave in different ways depending on the sex of their baby.
Unborn babies in the womb spend most of their time resting, just like babies do. Your baby does really sleep 90 to 95 percent of the day during most of the pregnancy. Due to their developing brains, some of these hours are spent in deep sleep, some in REM sleep, and some in undetermined conditions.
Beyond that, pregnancy comes with a zillion aches, pains, and unfamiliar symptoms. Gas, constipation, back pain, swollen ankles, growing feet, acid reflux, the constant need to pee – and on and on. The baby is totally worth it, of course, but that doesn't make the day-to-day experience any less difficult.