Since I’m pregnant and exhausted, I thought it an appropriate time to talk about handling the two. I think back to the days when I was pregnant with my first and had already stopped working. I slept until 9:30am, ate breakfast, and took an hour long walk along the winding roads of Scotland. I’d come back to the cottage and read some Agatha Christie before having a nice lunch. Then I’d take an afternoon nap. I’d read some more, prepare documents or plan for our overseas move, then cook dinner. After a nice long bath I’d settle in for a good night’s sleep and then repeat the next day.
All I have to say to my former self is: ha ha ha ha ha.
Life is, ahem, not like that this time. Of course life is better since I have 3 little dumplings that I love to pieces. It’s busier and fuller and there is a lot less time to rest so I’ve had to adopt some strategies to make sure that I’m still getting the rest I need. While we have to know that we’ll never feel fully rested while pregnant (because that’s impossible since we’re building a tiny human) we can still get the rest we need. Here’s how!
Note: You can listen to this podcast by clicking ‘play’ in the audio player above. If you don’t want to hear my bad accent, then I’ve bulleted the points below :)
1. Come to terms with it
Try to keep in mind that pregnancy is a short season and that you WILL have more energy and time to rest afterwards. You may need to step back from commitments, take kids out of activities, take time off work, and just generally change your lifestyle to accommodate the genuine need for rest.
2. Go to bed early
Even if it’s hard, even if you don’t get things done, even if you are used to being a night owl, you just need to go to bed early. There’s no shame in going to bed at 8:30pm!
3. Lower standards
If you’re like me, it’s difficult to lower standards around the home. Emotionally difficult, perhaps. More TV than normal? That’s okay. Less healthy dinners than normal? That’s okay too. Cleaning a little less? That’s okay too. Refer to #1.
4. Sanity savers
Structure your day to include sanity savers. Whether it’s independent play a few hours after breakfast, consistent nap time or rest time and TV time. Know your weak points during the day and the times when you need the most rest and add in some sanity savers.
How do you stay rested while pregnant?
Going to bed early… SO important… it really cut down on morning sickness in my case! Also, we had our last baby in May, so most of the pregnancy was in the winter where in our neck of the woods there’s just not so much going on compared to summer. It helped! It gets dark early every evening, everyone settles down a little earlier :-) So, if possible, you could plan your pregnancy in a good time of the year :-)
Ha so true! It is tough to go to bed when the sun is still up. Honestly going to bed early really saved me!