Pregnancy and Lack of Sleep
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Pregnancy and Lack of Sleep
I’ve never felt more unprepared for anything in my entire life.
I’ve performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people, interviewed movie stars, and even appeared in national ad campaigns, but nothing had ever been more exhausting, exciting, overwhelming, and as confusing as having a baby.
I read all of the books and talked with dozens of moms, but nothing on earth can prepare you for the lack of sleep, constant crying, and the realization that your life has completely changed, and everything is now totally different, and it will never be the way it once was.
I had lost my mom to cancer the week I found out I was pregnant, and after a pregnancy that included 5 months of 24/7 morning sickness, roundabout ligament pain, and weight gain that required me to wear my husband’s clothes, I thought there was no way that having a baby could harder than that.
I was wrong.
Having a baby is not something your can train or study for simply because every baby is different.
Each person I talked to and every book I read left out many of the feelings, fears, and frustrations that I was going through, and that made me feel alone and ashamed of these thoughts that I couldn’t control.
I hope you will be able to identify with some of the same feelings, fears, and frustrations I had and not feel as though you are all alone or a bad person for going through these things.
The prayers and verses are included to help get you through these three “F’s” and give you hope and strength during the most difficult (and wonderful) life change!
SLEEP-DEPRIVED
Lack of sleep is an understatement. Becoming a mommy is absolutely exhausting. I can joke about it now, but I was so tired that I felt like I was losing my mind! My grandma has always said, “There is no tired like baby tired,” and I now know what that means, and no one on earth can prepare you for the lack of sleep you will experience.
You feed your baby every 2 to 4 hours now, and even when you are asleep, you worry about your newborn.
This is were trust comes in. The Lord knows our hearts and knew our baby even before we thought about having a family. I advise repeating this verse before you go to sleep to remind and reassure you that God is in control.
Helen Greer is a stay-at-home mom and freelance writer for CollegeScholarships.org, a website with tips and advice about college scholarships for women.
Thank you for sharing your experience in the way that you have. I found that losing your mind is not a bad thing and that Being Mindless a blessing for your newborn, yourself and your sanity. Yoga’s take years to master it, for mother’s it takes far less time. It’s takes being mindless to hear your newborn long before they cry, long before they are hot or cold, long before they are thirsty or hungry. The rewards of being that tuned in, that responsive brings peace of mind for your newborn and yourself even when you continue to not get sleep. Shine on.
Thanks for this honesty and helpful article Helen. It really hit home. You might be interested in a similar essay I wrote for Angie’s Diary called Baby Wrecks Havoc.
Fine article, and I am somehow reminded of the classic story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a symbolic expose of the mistreatment of brand new mothers around the end of the 19th century. Well done here, Helen, and on an important topic.
Oh yes, and those sleepless night in babyland are never forgotten in the long run but are dulled enough so you’re willing to do it again in the short run….my mother in law told me to not have the children closer than two years apart…it was more than likely because I needed a bit of sleep before tackling that chore again…God bless