At the onset of the second trimester, you may find yourself more comfortable and adjusted in pregnancy in comparison to the first trimester. The second trimester can aptly be called as the honeymoon period of pregnancy as you may feel more settled in your pregnancy. However, you may still battle with certain issues, and one such issue is sleep. While some women get a good night’s sleep, others may find it challenging to sleep. We shall discuss various tips and position’s to sleep better in the second trimester.
You may get better sleep in your second trimester than your first trimester. However, you may experience some trouble sleeping during pregnancy second trimester. The troubles that may cause sleepless nights in the second trimester of pregnancy may include indigestion, leg cramps, heartburns, congestion, snoring, weird dreams, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and cramps.
Apart from the above-mentioned problems, you may feel more relaxed and rested as your hormonal levels settle down. The pressure on your bladder eases because your uterus moves up from your pelvic region, which means fewer visits to the toilet at night. However, some women still may make many bathroom visits at night.
You may experience occasional bouts of evening nausea too, though it may improve after you enter your ’16 weeks of pregnancy’ stage. Along with this, you will also start feeling your baby moving in your tummy by 16 to 24 weeks, and the intensity of the movements often increases during the evenings. Your baby’s movements can affect your sleep too. Apart from all the physical discomforts, the anxiety and concern for your baby may also be the cause of disrupted sleeping pattern.
As your pregnancy progresses and your tummy gets bigger, you may find difficult to sleep on your back. The best sleeping posture during pregnancy in the second trimester is to sleep on your left side. This position is ideal for blood circulation and for supplying nutrients to the placenta. To keep the pressure on your pelvic region and hips, you may lie down with your knees up. You may use pillows to support your knees. However, you will need to make adjustments with your positions in certain cases:
You may find the above-mentioned positions difficult to sleep in, but it is strongly advised to not sleep on your back or tummy after the completion of your first trimester.
As you enter your second trimester, it is very important that you sleep on your left side. Following are the sleeping positions that you should strictly avoid:
You may sleep on your tummy until your first trimester. However, it is not a good option to consider in your second trimester. You may not only find it uncomfortable with your growing belly to lie on your belly, but it is also not safe for your baby.
With your baby bump constantly growing you may find lying on back very discomforting. It may even lead to breathing problems, backaches, haemorrhoids, low blood pressure, and breathing problems. This is due to the fact that your abdomen is pressing against the blood vessels and the intestines. This may even lead to disrupted blood circulation to your heart and the foetus.
It is not very common to experience sleeping discomfort in your second trimester. But if you do, following tips will help you to sleep sound:
Pregnant or not pregnant, exercising has immense health benefits for everyone, and good sleep is one of them. Exercising helps you maintain a good physical and mental balance of your body. Therefore, if you have not been exercising till now, then you may start now, to get better sleep. It is recommended that you exercise in the mornings or evenings but refrain from exercising close to the bedtime. Talk to a health professional about how you can implement various forms of exercise to gain the maximum benefit out of it during pregnancy. It is also a good idea to join a pregnancy class to learn the correct ways of exercising for your physical well-being and also for the betterment of your growing foetus.
Apart from the above-mentioned measures to get better sleep, it is also advised to refrain from consuming caffeinated beverages close to your bedtime. Coffee and tea can make you feel more active and energetic and thus may cause restlessness while sleeping.