Is early pregnancy insomnia normal for expectant mothers? And what can you do about it? In your first trimester, progesterone, which has sedative properties, floods your body.
Suddenly, you're tired all the time, and you feel the need to take constant naps, even though your pregnancy isn't even visible yet! Side effects of pregnancy differ dramatically between women, but fatigue is a common complaint.
And it is logical that insomnia, a sleep disorder, would evolve from some of these cases.
Insomnia is perfectly normal in pregnant women - most statistics I've seen estimate that around 60-70% of expectant mothers experience difficulties falling asleep at least once.
If you're taking naps during the day, you're probably messing up your sleep patterns, and you'll feel sleepiest during the daytime, when you might have work or other responsibilities that you need to attend to.
Limit your naps to less than an hour each to avoid lack of sleepiness at night.
Your stress levels are definitely higher when you're pregnant, too, because you have so much to plan for.
Stress is a major cause of insomnia in everyone, not just pregnant women.
Meditation, facing your problems and fears, and relaxing bedtime rituals will help get you in the right state of mind to sleep.
The one thing you should never do for insomnia (early pregnancy especially) is take sleeping pills.
Any form of sleeping tablets, whether they are herbal, doctor-prescribed, or over-the-counter, has a significant risk of damaging your unborn child.
Above all else, don't stress yourself by comparing your pregnancy experience with other women.
Every woman is different, and just because you are having insomnia problems doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with you or with the baby.