The odd couple: Pregnancy and sleep

Oh, sleep, how do I love thee and how I have missed thee these past few months.

You might have heard that when you're pregnant, you're supposed to sleep on your side, for medical reasons that I won't get into. It's been a difficult adjustment.

I became a back sleeper about 10 years ago after hurting my back while moving and then sleeping on a horrible mattress night after night (ah, college). Sleeping on my back resulted in less pain the next day, so I adapted.

Adapting back to being a side sleeper has not been an easy task. Night after night, I'd wake up on my back and force myself onto my side. Then, unable to sleep, I'd wonder whether I should persevere or just put off the challenge until I absolutely had to start sleeping on my side.

I bought some accessories to help me along. First off, I bought a feather bed topper for our mattress, using the reasoning that it would probably be easier to sleep on my side if I had some softer cushioning beneath me. I suppose it is, a little.

I also bought a Snoogle body pillow. I think it will be helpful later in my pregnancy, but in the earlier days, it felt more like a contraption designed to make my middle-of-the-night bathroom trips even more difficult than they already are. Having to extricate oneself from the Snoogle and then maneuver oneself back into it (and the rest of the bedding) at 2 AM while wearing head-to-toe flannel footie pajamas is a challenge that I dare even the bravest amongst us to accept, pregnant or not.

Eventually, after my tactics proved to be less than completely successful, I decided to chill a little on the sleeping position. It was a good decision, for several reasons.

At my last doctor visit, I asked about when I needed to start sleeping on my side. She said not for another month or so (which is around now). I explained that I was having difficulty with it, and she said that I didn't actually have to sleep completely on my side, and that if I just propped one hip up with a pillow, it was good enough.

For the past few weeks, I've been attempting the pillow trick, and while I don't stay on the pillow the entire night, I can always adjust the pillow back when I wake up (an event that happens frequently throughout the night). And interestingly enough, I find that it is now much easier to sleep on my side than it was before--perhaps it's because I've been trying to train myself all these months, but more likely it's because my body knows that it's best.

I'm not sure if I'm sleeping any better, but I am resting easier.