Thursday, July 14, 2011

Week 19: Welcome insomnia

I love to sleep.

I love the fact that my head and pillow have such a deep affinity for one another that as soon as one touches the other, I am in the land of Nod.

I take pride in being able to sleep through the night.

I pity those who cannot enjoy a full night's sleep uninterrupted; who wake up in the middle of the night only to find themselves unable to fall back asleep.

I really really love to sleep.

But thanks to a growing belly (forcing me to sleep in two very limited positions - more on that later), stretching ligaments and achy muscles, I am now part of the unenviable crowd. I wake up in the middle of the night, tossing and turning (my dear husband can attest to this), desperately searching for the perfect sleep position while trying not to constrict blood flow to the uterus (don't I have enough to worry about?) I bought a 'body pillow' (which sounds sexy but looks more like a giant snake), hoping its ergonomic design will cure my sleep woes and help improve the quality of my sleep. While it does alleviate some of the back pain and pressure around my hips, I'm still exceedingly uncomfortable. 

Back to the limited sleep positions for a moment. Pregnant women have two sleep options (unless they choose to sleep standing up): They can sleep on their left side or they can sleep on their right side. WOW - so many choices! The thought is that if you sleep on your back, you are putting too much pressure on the uterus, possibly reducing blood flow to your baby. ("Dear God, can I just have five minutes of 'back time'?") Then of course sleeping on your stomach is a no-go for obvious reasons but if you need me to tell you: Would you find it tranquil and relaxing to sleep on top of the equivalent of a watermelon? I didn't think so. Plus let's not get into how dangerous that is for the baby!

In the end, I guess this is all God's way of preparing me for motherhood. Perhaps He really is giving me a sneak preview of what my life will soon become in 20 weeks and 2 days when Baby Boy G enters our world, and we will be relegated to feedings every two hours, regular diaper changes, melodious crying (let's hope it's melodious and not the intolerable kind) and a complete disruption of normalcy. 

Me at 19 weeks...see the growing watermelon?

3 comments:

  1. You look amazing! Oh how I can relate to the sleepless nights. I have never been able to catch up on sleep since pregnancy. I'll take the bags and dark circles under my eyes any day, being a Mom is so worth it!

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  2. I love your dress! Super cute! You look great!

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  3. I agree with Kerry! You look beautiful! Too funny - i bought the same exact pillow and even traveled around with it. Sometimes it helped, sometimes not, but it will be over before you know it.... I will admit I bought some odd things for Bella and myself during that whole newborn/pregnancy period (I thought the body pillow was one, but maybe not- lol). I did really like the Snugglenest (if you decide to put the little guy in your bed - I know some don't agree with that), however, i never could get the hang of the Baby Bjorn so that one was a big waste for me.

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