6/15/11

So far I haven't had much trouble sleeping, but training myself to sleep on my side is hard because I am a back sleeper. The doctor says that I should train myself to sleep on my left side in my second and third trimester. I've been trying to train myself since I found out I'm pregnant, but I wake up every night to pee and sure enough I'm sleeping on my back. 

I bought a body pillow to try to help me. My husband hates it because it hogs the covers. I have found the pillow most useful if I put it behind me and use it to prop me up just enough that I'm not laying flat.

Why should you not lie flat on your back to sleep? Your uterus can partially compress a major vein that returns blood from the lower half of your body to your heart. Lying on your left side (or even tited a bit) prevents that compression and increases blood flow. 

Did/do you have a hard time sleeping or getting comfortable?

Lots of pregnant women complain of having weird dreams or nightmares while pregnant thanks to hormones. I haven't had any, but I never have been one to remember my dreams unless they were particularly distrubing. These vivid dreams and nightmares are thought by experts to be the mind's way of dealing with the anxiety, excitement and fear that go along with childbirth.

Did/do you have strange dreams more so while pregnant than usual?