Can You Overcome Pregnancy Anxiety and Insomnia?

This is one of the worst parts about pregnancy that I was not aware of. There is a lot about pregnancy that isn’t talked about, but for different reasons than you’re thinking. I don’t think it’s because women who have been pregnant don’t want to share their story or don’t want to scare you from getting pregnant. I think it’s because every pregnancy is different and not one woman has the exact same symptoms at the same time or the same frequency. Now I know that there are many women who have the same symptoms. Your OB will tell you of some of them or perhaps your mom or best friend. It’s just pretty rare for one woman to have every pregnancy symptom out there so of course there was at least one symptom that you had that none of your friends had. So I’m here to tell you a symptom that I had that wasn’t even on my radar.

My First Two Pregnancies

So my first pregnancy was pretty mild. I was nauseous in the first trimester. I was pretty great in the second trimester. I had heartburn and swollen feet during the third trimester. Overall it was a really great pregnancy! Even my second pregnancy was pretty good. I had mostly the same symptoms, but a bit worse than the first. It made sense because I was getting older and obviously it was a different pregnancy. Cue my third pregnancy!

Third Pregnancy

Now I mostly thought this one would be the same as the first two. And I was right….until I hit 20 weeks. Then I got a cold and everything changed. When you’re pregnant you have a limited amount of medicines you can take. So I couldn’t take anything for it. So I woke up in a panic because I couldn’t breathe. I had a panic attack around 2 am and didn’t go back to sleep. Yeah and this happened for two weeks. I would fall asleep for maybe an hour or two, but then wake up and not fall asleep again. I’m not sure what happened first, the anxiety or the insomnia. Either way they both wreaked havoc on my mental health. I had the worst anxiety for those two weeks especially, but I have had lasting anxiety ever since.

What I Tried

Disclaimer: If you are having trouble sleeping or are suffering from anxiety, please consult your doctor. These next sections are what worked or didn’t work for me and me alone.

I asked a lot of people who had anxiety or trouble sleeping and I found a few solutions. Like podcasts that are supposed to help you sleep or muscle relaxing videos. I tried a lot of them and it seemed to help a little. The thing I found to be most helpful during this time was having a good bedtime routine or sleep hygiene, that worked for me. The National Library of Medicine website has this to say about it, “Sleep problems including poor sleep, insomnia, and daytime sleepiness are regarded as important public health issues due to their growing frequency and potentially dangerous effects. These effects include physical and mental health impairments, decreased productivity, higher risk of accidents, greater use of medical services, and increased risk of psychiatric illnesses. Inadequate sleep hygiene has been considered one of the several factors contributing to poor sleep and insomnia.” Needless to say, I was not having a good time! So I was talking with my OBGYN and figuring out what I could do. Ultimately he did prescribe a sleeping pill that worked for me.

Conclusion

Again I would encourage you to go talk with your doctor or therapist and see if they can help you. It wasn’t until I talked with my doctor and trusted friends that I found a solution to my sleeping problems. I would say that I probably would not have had the outcome I had if I hadn’t reached out to people in my life who had been going through anxiety themselves. I truly believe that we can help others who have gone through the same trials as us. It can be so freeing to talk with someone whom we can trust and find out that we can help each other on a deeper level. It really does take a village. Please take advantage or your village and ask for help. If you don’t have one, then find some groups on Facebook that are going through something similar.

Have a blessed day!