Sleepless in the South

I knew that once I had a new baby, I could expect some sleepless nights. What I didn’t realise was that for me, the sleepless nights would begin an awful lot earlier.  Basically ever since I hit about 28 weeks pregnant, I’ve been unable to sleep for longer than two hours at a stretch, thanks to baby bouncing on my bladder.  (Not to mention the heartburn, the aching hips, the itching, the leg cramps and the heat!)

Before getting pregnant, I was a big sleeper.  I loved my bed, I struggled to get up in the mornings and had almost never experienced insomnia (apart from the odd night or two).  Now, I find myself regularly watching infomercials at 2.00am, devouring a novel a night, raiding the fridge at 4.00am, listening to my meditation music over and over and telling myself to 'just relax' in between trips to the toilet (I think eight trips a night is the current record).  I “sleep” in the spare room most of the time, to avoid disturbing my partner.  I estimate that i get somewhere between 3-5 hours of (broken) sleep in a 24 hour period.

I’ve tried all the tricks …like having one of those long, skinny pillows, taking pills for the heartburn, staying up til I’m really tired, rescue remedy and not drinking too much before I go to bed.  I try to have a nap in the afternoons.  I don’t think there is much else I can do – the midwife says its just about where baby is positioned.  But if anyone has any ideas…??

Anyway, the good thing is that I honestly believe I will probably get more sleep once baby arrives.  At this point, three hours of unbroken sleep would be a luxury!  

Has anyone found they actually got more sleep once baby arrived??  (I live in hope!)