Sleep

If one more person tells me to get all the sleep I can now, I'm going to scream. Why? Well, because I can't get all the sleep I want now. It's very uncomfortable (actually, it's quite painful).

Some "expert" somewhere decided that the best position for sleep during pregnancy is your left side. Sleeping on your stomach (my normal position) is out because of the bowling ball in your belly. Apparently, if you sleep on your back the weight of the uterus and the baby presses against the vena cava (main vein that carries oxygenated blood back to the heart from the lower body). If this vena cava is compressed, it can interfere with circulation. So it's down to sleeping on your side. The left side is recommended because it allows for maximum blood flow and can reduce swelling in the legs.

So I am forced to sleep on my left side. In theory this doesn't sound bad but in reality it's not good. All of that weight on my left hip, shoulder and neck make it very uncomfortable. Every morning I wake up stiff on my left side. My hip is the worst part. It's downright painful and now hurts on a regular basis. I spend half of my day stretching it out just so I can fall asleep at night (I won't even get into trying to get back to sleep after I've woken up at night). So far no pillow combination or configuration has been able to help. I now sleep better sitting up on the sofa or train.

This Saturday my yoga instructor is going to show me a modified back-sleeping position. I'm hoping that will be comfortable and help fix my problem. Also, I think I'm going to purchase a body pillow. If neither of these work, then I will eagerly look forward to the few hours of comfortable sleep that I will get with a newborn.