How To Get a Better Sleep Throughout Your Pregnancy

***This is a sponsored conversation brought to you by Mattress Warehouse. As always, all opinions are my own!

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Ah! The joys of pregnancy: nausea, weight gain and heartburn come in fast and furious towards the third trimester. Something I truly wasn’t ready for. I had a relatively easy and enjoyable pregnancy, but as the heartburn and low back pain have become relentless, sleeping through the night has become more difficult. The euphoria of the second trimester has officially come to a close and the hubs and I are anxiously awaiting our little dude to make his grand entrance. Month by month, pregnancy offers up many “oye’s and joys” and I have been trying my best to embrace the bad in order to enjoy the good.

Since I was a little girl, I have loved to sleep! If I don’t sleep, I don’t function, which makes me very nervous to deliver our babe. My husband, on the other hand, may literally be bionic. Maybe it was his time in Army, but that man can function on a few hours of solid sleep and a shot of espresso! Me? No way Jose! I love all the sleep and enjoy napping on the regular. These days, I have had to really work hard to create a sleep routine that works for my body. Some say, the third trimester is to help prep you for motherhood, and unfortunately, I think this is some kind of cruel joke! When we are most uncomfortable, shouldn’t we be able to enjoy some R and R without disruption?

The past few months, I have been waking up on and off in the middle of the night due to severe heartburn and the fact that the little guy is playing ninja with my bladder. I also have a to-do list a mile long and find it hard to turn off my brain, but with a help of an evening ritual and a few adjustments to help my growing midsection, I am sleeping better than I have in a long time. So today, I wanted to share with you my tips to help you get a better nights sleep as you get closer and closer to your birthing window!

Foods Tips

 Stay hydrated throughout the day, but stop drinking about an hour before bed. Water is extremely important throughout pregnancy, but I find it helps for me to have a completely empty bladder before bed.

Try not to have anything too heavy with salt or oils before bed as it can lead to intense heartburn and possible nausea and ‘morning sickness’.

Eat small meals throughout the day (5 or 6) instead of three large meals to help your body digest as baby grows and takes up most of your space.

Go for walks after dinner to help your body digest your meal.

Limit your caffeine intake throughout the day and make sure you are keeping track of all foods that contain caffeine. Not just coffee! Try not to have anything sugary or highly caffeinated after 3 P.M.

I also suggest an evening ritual to help with sleep trouble during pregnancy. Some of these suggestions came right from my Doula and others were already part of my regular sleep ritual.

Read instead of watching TV or playing on your phone at least an hour before bed. Screen time emits blue light, which disrupts your melatonin production, which can lead to a sleepless night. I always recommend plugging your phone in across the room so that if you do wake up in the middle of the night you will not be tempted by it.

Meditate. Cory and I Hypnobirth almost every night. We take a few minutes before bed to work on guided meditation and focus on breathing. Most nights I even fall asleep in the middle of it.

Put your feet up, literally. Placing your legs up the wall has many health benefits including:

• Reduction of edema in legs and feet: legs up the wall helps to move any stagnant fluid that may have built up throughout the day.
• Relief of tired leg muscles.
• Clears and quiets your mind. Sometimes I will even work on my hypnobirthing practice in this position.
• Calms the nervous system.

Use lotions and potions tailored for sleep and of course, make sure to check with your doctor before use. My favorite are:

• Lavender pillow mist
• Magnesium cream from Red Door Industries
• CBD oil salve for aches and pains
• B3 Lip Balm

Add more pillows. My birthing class taught me to sleep in the flamingo pose on my left side with my right leg propped up on two pillows. This will increase the chances of your baby moving to the head down and should give you a comfortable and supportive sleeping pose. I literally sleep with this large pillow or 4 additional pillows every night. Sorry, Cory, we can snuggle in August!

Make sure you have a good mattress! You are likely going to want to spend a lot of time in bed and if you have a crummy mattress you will likely wake up feeling groggy, achey and less rested than you should. If you are looking for a new mattress, head on over to Sleephappens.com and try the BedMATCH™ Sleep Diagnostic Mattress Quiz! I was very surprised at my outcome and what I should be looking for in a new mattress, but it helped me narrow my search down to a few great options.

There you have it! My “new normal” is a work in progress, but I have found that absolutely NOTHING can beat a good night’s sleep. It takes time, patience and a little experimentation, but it is well worth it! So, I hope today’s post helps. Good luck mama’s!

Photos by: Luccia Photos