Search Results for: blog insomnia during pregnancy

Pregnancy and Excited Insomnia

It’s pretty much guaranteed that I will wake up at some point in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. At first I regularly awoke at five o’clock in the morning. As the baby grows my nightly bathroom break has moved more regularly to three o’clock in morning. Largely this regular occurrence rarely disrupts my sleep too much. Last night, however, after my early morning bladder relief I could not get back to sleep. I was experiencing a slight case of insomnia. I tried and I tried to doze back off to sleep for two hours. Finally, at … Continue reading →

Tilting, Breaking, Freezing, and Insomnia

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Son, this is part of the marvelousness that awaits you if you get your head down: If you’ve been following this blog you’ll already know that our first child is breech. Since learning of this medical conundrum my wife and I have been concerned for our child and were given various forms of advice on how our son can possibly get himself turned around in time for his birthday. Today I’m going to describe the various forms of discomfort my wife has subjected herself to in order to coerce our child out of his current position. 1) Tilting. I’m not … Continue reading →

The Pregnancy Blog Review for November 24 – 30

A wide variety of topics have been covered recently in the pregnancy blog on everything from trying to conceive to discomforts in later pregnancy. If you haven’t been able to keep up with your reading, the pregnancy blog review is a great way to browse the recent topics. Click each link to view the entire blog. Some women find they are hungry much more than usual when they are pregnant. Indulging this hunger without thinking about nutrition can lead to excessive weight gain. This increases your chances of complications in the pregnancy and makes losing the weight after pregnancy much … Continue reading →

Natural Remedies for Insomnia

Most pregnant women experience insomnia at some point in their pregnancies. For some, insomnia can become a serious problem. When you consistently lose sleep at night, it will affect your life during the day. You may feel tired in the day time and experience mood changes. Taking over the counter or prescription sleep medications is generally not considered safe during pregnancy. The side effects with some of these drugs makes them unsafe. Others haven’t been studied on pregnant women, so doctors are hesitant to recommend them to patients with insomnia. The best bet is to try some natural remedies to … Continue reading →

Pregnant Women Should Have Thyroid Checked

As if pregnant women weren’t subject to enough tests during pregnancy, one more may soon be added to the line up. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists is recommending that all pregnant women be checked for low thyroid levels as part of comprehensive prenatal care. The reason for the recommendation is studies which suggest potential danger to pregnant women and their infants from undiagnosed low thyroid problems. The condition, called hypothyroidism, is not uncommon. Approximately five percent of women who are tested during pregnancy are found to have hypothyroidism. There is evidence to suggest this figure may actually be higher … Continue reading →

Agrimony

The herb agrimony is perhaps best known for its ability to soothe throats — singers and speakers may gargle with this spicy-smelling herb before a performance to refresh and clear the throat. But agrimony may be useful for much more than that! Agrimony has a long and somewhat strange history. Ancient herbalists mixed agrimony with pounded frogs and human blood to cure internal hemorrhages. Somehow, I doubt that one worked. In ancient Greece, the herb was used for relieving eye problems. Anglo-Saxons used agrimony to heal wounds and called it “garclive”. Agrimony was also mixed with mugwort and vinegar to … Continue reading →

Counting Sheep May Not Work After All

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The next time you have trouble sleeping, you might not want to bother calling out the mental sheep. A recent study from Oxford University in England studied the effectiveness of sheep-counting and found the technique lacking. Fifty insomniacs participated in the sleep study, which focused on distraction techniques. One group counted sheep; a second group was asked to visualize a relaxing, peaceful scene. A third group was given no instructions at all. Who fell asleep the fastest? The visualization group was the first in dreamland, by an average of twenty minutes. Why did the good old counting sheep let the … Continue reading →

I’m Pregnant: Why Can’t I Remember Anything?

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Forgetfulness is a common problem in pregnancy. Short term memory difficulties are most common in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy. For a first time mother, this can be concerning. You may feel like you can’t concentrate or remember simple things, like what you needed at the store. Don’t worry, it’s totally normal. Experts really aren’t sure what causes forgetfulness. Studies don’t offer much help. Some show memory differences between women who are expecting and those who are not. Other studies show no real difference in memory or cognitive ability. This inconsistency makes it even more confusing. One theory … Continue reading →