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Anyone else having trouble getting back to sleep after waking up to wee?

23 replies

weeblueberry · 27/02/2013 11:28

I'm 30 weeks and I'm consistently waking up at about 4.30-5.00am with a pressure on my bladder. I'm assuming this is when the wee bugger is waking up and starts moving around too and so this is also waking me up. Until I got pregnant I was always the sort of person who could fall right back asleep but it seems that recently as soon as I wake up I'm WIDE awake... Sad

I've tried:

  1. Going to bed earlier (a bit better but I tend to wake up exponentially earlier, so, about 2am and then still can't sleep...)
  2. Lying in bed and trying to will myself to sleep (yeah this doesn't work til about half an hour before my alarm goes off)
  3. Getting up, having a cup of tea and doing something (doesn't make me any sleepier...)
  4. Not drinking after 8pm (doesn't work and I get so thirsty about 10pm - assuming I'm not already in bed by then!!)


This morning was particularly bad as a week of bad sleep caught up with me and I had to tell my boss I would be in a couple of hours later to try and catch up. She understood (in fact had suggested this to me a few weeks ago) but the 45 mins or so I got just wasn't good enough.

I just feel like I'm going mad at this point. It still happens at the weekend so it's not a work stress related thing. My boss said yesterday 'it's practice for when the baby comes' but realistically when the baby comes I'll be able to sleep in the day when she has a nap - something I can't exactly do now. I'm not in a strenuous job (think desk and computer) but it's really getting me down. Sad
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honey86 · 27/02/2013 11:44

mee! and im only 4.4 weeks Blush been waking up at half 3- half 4 and ended up going 'sod it, might as well get up'

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Unicorn007 · 27/02/2013 11:49

Me too. Currently 36 weeks, been waking up around 3am every night since about 32 weeks. Am wide awake and can't get back to sleep!! Also have a desk job but feel like a zombie most of the time!!

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Manc451 · 27/02/2013 11:50

Yep. Particularly enjoy the malevolent glare I get from my other half at 4 in the morning :) In my case half a biscuit works, don't know why, although crunching away in the dark is also not proving popular.

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sleepyhead · 27/02/2013 11:51

Yep. Usually 4am here (although last night I didn't for some reason and feel sooo much better!).

I'm also not able to get to sleep at night so I'm rarely going to bed before 1am. Craziness - I could then sleep till 10am easily but have to be up for school drop off and work Sad

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phoenixrose314 · 27/02/2013 11:57

Me too. Am 38+1 and pee about 4 times during every night, 11pm, 1am, 4am and if I manage to get back to sleep after that one (I find it the trickiest), again at 7am. Usually end up getting up at 4am anyways.

Got no advice only sympathy!! I try not to turn lights on or even open my eyes during the wander to the toilet - okay if you know your way around easily, not so much if there's anything on the floor/ around you.

The joys of the third trimester, hey?? Grin

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FurryFox · 27/02/2013 12:06

weeblueberry I could have written your post. I have been exactly the same since about 30 weeks and now 38+5. It's the not getting back to sleep that's driving me mad Sad. You have my sympathies, unfortunately I have no answers, wish I did.

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weeblueberry · 27/02/2013 12:21

It helps to know I'm not alone at least ladies!! Grin

I am concerned I'm waking up DP. He's not said anything but wears a Fitbit to monitor his sleep and has mentioned there's a 'period of activity' every morning at about 4.30. Obviously it's detecting me moving around in the bed. Blush I've offered to sleep on the sofa but he's said absolutely not and that he's not actively waking up.

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Petcat · 27/02/2013 18:07

I really do sympathise. This happens to me every single bastard night. And has done for 6 months now. Sometimes I feel like I am going mad with the tiredness. My intellectual capacity has completely disappeared and I struggle to think clearly all day. My performance at work is quite frankly crap as a result.

My main wake up trigger is needing to pee, and now I have PGP so the pain from that also stops me dropping off again. I try not to open my eyes or put the light on when I do have to get up but it doesn't make much difference.

Thankfully I have been blessed with a placid baby who sleeps most of the night, and don't have heartburn or anything else to contend with. I'm hoping that eventually I'll get so tired my brain will just give in and go to sleep. And I certainly feel prepared for the sleep deprivation that's going to come with a newborn baby!

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Teaandflapjacks · 27/02/2013 18:24

You have my extreme sympathies. I am constantly getting up to wee - and I am only 16 weeks! I have tried all your tips to no avail. And once you wake up and think about weeing, you have to go, even if you try and fight it, and then it is a drop!

I have found the following things vaguely helpful:-
Using extra pillow as hugging device, and sometimes squishing between legs. Also having two single duvets on bed, so i can kick both legs out of duvet either side due to hot feet at night (what? why?!)
Thinking of foods I can't eat. God know why! I start dreaming of lasagne, with garlic bread (makes me sick at the mo), or pate and french bread, etc and planning how to prepare, and I just nod off. I used to adore cooking before, and read cooking books for fun - if you are like this, maybe this would help?!
Ear plugs & eye mask
Watching a tv series seen a zillion times before, volume on low, like friends - requires no brain power.

No clue if that helps - hope you manage a bit better hon :-)

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waitingtopop · 27/02/2013 19:00

Im 36 weeks and from the very beginning ive been getting up at least 3 times in a night for a wee and then getting back to sleep is even worse than it was when i went to bed in the first placee!

Ive tried everything, horlicks works sometimes instead of tea, a warm bath helps but as for getting back to sleep after getting up for a wee, I'm yet to find anything that helps!! x

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SierraGolf · 27/02/2013 19:11

I'm 27 weeks and have the same problem. I try to remember to drink earlier on in the day and stop nearer bedtime but get too thirsty to stop all together. I have found that doing relaxation exercises after going to the loo with my eyes closed eg. hypnobirthing type clench muscles then relax helps me drop off most of the time. You can download tracks to talk you through it from itunes or buy a CD. Even if you are not in to that sort of thing might be worth a try for the cost of a CD if it does help you sleep!

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sleepyhead · 27/02/2013 19:16

Before ds1 was born I remember my mum saying that noone tells you that the last weeks of pregnancy are so grim in terms of lack of sleep that a newborn comes as a blessed relief!

My experience pretty much backed that up. Ok, ds was feeding every 3 hours through the night, but at least I was sleeping in between...

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Whereisthesnow · 27/02/2013 19:19

At 36 weeks now. I wake up every one to two hours to go to the loo or change position. At about 1 or 2am I'm wide awake and often thirsty or hungry so come downstairs and read and snack. I've just accepted I'm presently nocturnal and that's made things better in a way as I'm not frustrated.
I cannot wait for first sleep post baby on my back!

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lovethesun1 · 27/02/2013 19:24

Meeee! 34 weeks & exactly the same. I have some relaxation in pregnancy tracks on my iPod (downloaded from mindful mama website) which help me get off to sleep,am going to start trying them for the 4am wakeups too! Sympathies all round!

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Sunnysummer · 27/02/2013 19:58

Not sure I can help much, but I'm so glad that you posted, to see how many of us are in the same boat! At nearly 31 weeks, our son-to-be has developed a really fun little schedule of waking up at 4.30am on the dot, and entertaining himself by kicking my full bladder like a football... Also find it really hard to go back to sleep, so for now I am actually just going to bed earlier, and if I can't doze back off the then I do my exercise in the morning and head off to work a bit early so I can leave in good time. Not long to go now, at least!

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Jenjen85 · 27/02/2013 20:27

God help me then ladies I'm only 21+4 an already waking up 2-3 times in the night for a wee Sad last night was the worst, was up at 1.45am, 3.20am an then again at 6.20am (don't really go fully back to sleep just try an keep my eyes shut) it's starting to really affect me now as its every night an I dread my alarm going off in the morning. Had to stifle quite a few yawns today in meeting (didn't want to look unprofessional or bored) hoping that if I go to bed early tonight ill not wake up as much

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Fluffeh · 27/02/2013 20:30

I wake at 4.30am every day. Not usually because I need the toilet but its like my body's internal alarm clock. I'm 32 weeks and its been like this for around 10 weeks now.
I'm looking forward to the birth because at least then ill be awake at silly o'clock for a reason :).

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Nodney · 27/02/2013 20:40

I'm 24 weeks and wake at about 3:15am every morning! Takes hours to go back to sleep. This is my third pregnancy and I've been the same for each one!

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glossyflower · 27/02/2013 20:48

Yes it's always happening to me too.
I'm 32 weeks and getting up two or three times a night.
Around 3am or 4am is when I have trouble getting back to sleep.
I've been up to get food, to watch tv on the sofa or to do odd jobs like clean the bathroom or put a load of washing in.
It's fine but later in the day I'm exhausted and feel worse for it.
When I'm working early its not too bad as I start my shift at 7am so a 4am wake up isn't too horrendous as I'm up at 5 anyway.
I'm always in bed early at night though, any time from 7pm to 9pm... Just can't stay up later than that plus I find I'm comfier laying down.

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gonnabeamum · 27/02/2013 21:42

im only 10+5 wks and up every damned night! already so tired as it is....!

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RunningBear78 · 28/02/2013 13:35

Oh dear god ... I'm 11+4 and am currently waking at 3am and usually spend a couple of hours awake, before drifing off at 5 only for dh to get up at 6. I was just wondering this morning when it might end. Clearly the answer is never :'(

Think I need to start including afternoon naps in my work schedule ...

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weeblueberry · 28/02/2013 14:53

Well it happened again today. Woke up at about 4.30 and decided to get up about 5.30. Got up, had breakfast, read a few chapters of my book....then by the time DP was getting up and I had to shower etc for work I was ready for my bed. Wink

Aaaargh.

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AdmiralData · 02/03/2013 23:49

Hey :D I don't know if you have a tv/dvd player in your bedroom but I find (and always have) that having a dvd on in the background (albeit quietly) helps me to drift off. Preferably something mind numbingly boring like a rom com? I also find if you use the same dvd the familiarity of it is very soothing and you won't be tempted to stake awake to watch it. Only problem with this is that I haven't been able to sleep without a dvd on for about 18 years >:]
Hope it helps you short term!

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