16 Weeks Pregnant - can you sleep comfortably while pregnant?
Weekly pregnancy updates from a childbirth educator, doula and mum to 2 little girls. Come and join me on my journey as I share how I'm feeling, how baby is developing, what I'm doing to prepare, and some favourite resources!
Ahhh...sleep in pregnancy! Quite the topic! It can be more challenging than non-pregnancy sleep for so many reasons, including nausea, vomiting, insomnia, crazy dreams, waking up to pee so much more than normal… and then of course, the physical challenges that come with a growing belly and changing body!
Before my first was born, I spent probably the second half of the pregnancy trying ALL sorts of pillow combinations to get comfortable. I would get SUCH sore hips, and it seemed I spent all night rolling from one side to the other to get some relief. And when I say “rolling”, of course I mean, “picking up my belly, managing to manoeuvre onto the other side, and putting my belly down again” 😂. I tried putting a pillow between my knees since I’d heard that recommended...then pillow behind my back, and pillows just about anywhere imaginable, such that my poor husband didn’t have much space left! Pillows certainly helped, but I seemed to be swimming in them which made changing position even more complicated! I knew about pregnancy pillows, but also knew of people who’d got them and didn’t like them, so didn't really want to risk potentially wasting money on one. (My personal choice at that point — if you want to try one, please go for it!!! Lots of mums swear by them!)
Second time around, the need for a pillow started that little bit earlier in pregnancy, BUT... I’d seen somewhere that the pillow between your knees should be positioned so it ALSO separates your ankles. That makes a lot of sense if you think about it. The pelvis is loosening and opening up in preparation for the birth, so having support between the knees helps. But unless you have it between the ankles as well, the “dangling” lower leg is still putting strain on the hip area. Pillow between knees AND ankles was so successful for me that I went through the rest of that pregnancy with only ONE extra pillow, and slept so much better than I had the previous pregnancy!
This week I’ve been starting to get a sore back when sleeping, and decided maybe it was time to introduce a pillow between knees and ankles. I tried it and it definitely is making a difference! I do want to say though that I consider myself pretty blessed to have had minimal physical challenges with pregnancy sleep (so far!) that can be fixed with some strategic pillow-positioning. It’s not the same for everyone!
I want to encourage you that if you are struggling to get comfortable for sleep while pregnant, please go and see a chiro, physio or osteo and see what they can do for you!
Sometimes a bit of realignment or some simple exercises is all it takes, and I don’t want you to suffer through your pregnancy one bit more than necessary!
What symptoms am I feeling?
Since first feeling baby last week I’ve been noticing some movements every 2-3 days, just as I would expect at this stage. Baby is growing bigger and getting stronger, and soon won’t have space to hide out, so I’ll start to feel movements more often and more strongly.
How has baby been developing this week?
At around 18.5cm long and 150g, this baby is growing FAST, and the quantity of amniotic fluid is increasing. And I’m feeling it! I feel that my belly has sized up quite a bit in this past week, and it definitely feels heavier!
What am I doing to prepare?
I’ve been having some great conversations with my husband comparing our birth and postpartum experiences with our first two (both great experiences, but different), and identifying key things that we think made each birth easier or more challenging. Even when you have a good experience, you sometimes think, “but it could have been better if we'd done xyz differently”. As long as you don't let this type of analysis detract from your experience, it’s a very productive type of discussion to have for a future birth. The past experience might have been great, but if you can tweak things to make for an even better experience, go for gold!!
And that’s it for this week! 🌿💛