Based on what you and I know and what parents tell us, you would expect sleeplessness to come after the baby is already home from the hospital. Guess what, we have this way before that. A surprise to both of us but an interesting curveball to tackle during the pregnancy period.
The effect of pregnancy on a woman’s sleep schedule may be less than dreamy. The growing belly, the aches, the pains, the heartburn. Sleepless nights can happen long before there’s a hungry, crying infant in the room. Having trouble sleeping is common during pregnancy, say the experts. A growing belly, pressure on the diaphragm, increased urinary frequency, and other symptom are just a few of the hurdles standing between pregnant women and a restful night.
At first I thought it was a real obstacle for both of us since we were not used to this situation. Sleep, especially for my wife was never an issue. I would always tell her she could sleep through the night even they drop a bomb on us. Considering the situation we researched as much as possible to try and get some rest.
We tried reading, reducing screen time before bed, meditation, white noise, black noise, etc. Didn’t even know that noises can have different colours. You live and learn new things every day. Depending on the day some aids worked better than others. It was still hard to get through the night undisturbed. For me personally it was getting better, I just got used to the fact that my wife is a nightcrawler. It was getting normal to find her reading in bed at 4am in the middle of the night.
I guess we got more used to this new normal as time passed. We just reached a point where it wasn’t too bad for either of us. After the initial shock things did get better and not just due to the aids I mentioned above. It was more due to us understanding the situation and adapting to it accordingly.
This period of sleeplessness did teach me a good lesson as well. A friend who already has kids told me that parenting is a constant game of adapting to new situations. Whenever you think you’ve figured it out or have a plan, the little one decides to kick it all up in the air, leaving you with a split second to create something new and adapt to your new reality.