Thursday, November 29, 2007

This is a test. This is only a test...

Possum had his first full-scale temper tantrum last night.

I can't say as I blame him. It's got to be frustrating to be nocturnal when there's nobody to play with, and it's probably hard to get comfortable when your bed keeps shifting every ten minutes. Still, I think it's time to have a talk with the little guy about productive ways to channel rage. A few mild thumps to get your point across? Perfectly acceptable. Beating the crap out of your mother's innards? N-O-T.

At this stage of the game, discomfort while sleeping is pretty common. (I'm actually pretty lucky; I've only been dealing with severe sleep issues for a few days. Some women go their entire pregnancies without relief.) I'm supposed to sleep on my left side at all times (helps with blood flow to the baby, keeps his weight off my liver and the placenta) but nagging hip pain sets in fast. Because sleep is more important to me than liver function, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and sleep on my right side too. Unfortunately seven pounds of frustrated baby pressing on one's vital organs is even less fun than hip pain. So I flip back to the left side. Then I flip back to the right side. Then I flip back to the left side.

In the immortal words of the Fonz, you get the drift.

Well last night, Possum was over it. Babies tend to gravitate to the lowest place in the body so if I'm sleeping on my left side, Possum moves to the left side. When I shift to the right, he moves to the right. Which was no problem when he was tiny but now that he's life-sized, the whole thing becomes a little more tricky. Aside from the usual bout of general grumping, last night included flailing, kicking, and a sizable amount of hiccuping. And this went on for HOURS. (At least it felt like hours. I'm pretty sure it was hours.)

Any of you mamas find a good way to sleep? Because the two of us are all ears.

3 comments:

Missy said...

Honestly....no. At this stage in the game everyone is out of room and unhappy about it. The only comfort I found the last couple weeks of pregnancy was when I had a prenatal massage with #2 and they had a table that had a place cut out for the belly. I would have stayed there and birthed that baby right there if they had let me. Soon this will pass and you will just be missing sleep to feed and comfort baby. Good news is that you can usually catch some z's while nursing, if you chose to nurse, once you get the hang of it.

By the way I am showing HUGE restraint to keep from calling every time there is more than a day or two gap between posts. Every time I am convinced you have had the baby. Not to put pressure on you, as it is not comfortable to do anything right now I am sure.

Woman with a Hatchet said...

I second the prenatal massage. If you can find a reputable school, they'll do you for free as practice.

And sleep? Kiss it goodbye!

Shakes said...

Well... there is the bathtub... if you're into the sleeping-in-the-tub king of thing. Water takes the pressure off, soothes sore muscles/joints/backs, and baths are super-relaxing in and of themselves. Our water bill was enormous those last two months of my pregnancy. Even if you don't sleep in the tub, it's a good way to ease the gravity for a while and have a few relaxing moments.

Do rest as much as possible while you're still incubating. When he's here, it will be a while before blissful sleep is yours again.