Dear pregnant me...let's talk about sleep deprivation

Ever wanted to go back in time to tell your ‘pregnant self’ a thing or two about being a new parent? In a series of posts, Laura does just that…taking some of the most common things pregnant women and new mothers experience and giving herself (and others) a quick pep talk! However you’re feeling, you’re most definitely not alone, take it from us!

Sleep deprivation is THE thing everybody warns you about, isn't it? Experienced parents will chuckle as they tell you to "enjoy sleeping while you still can" and will say really helpful things when you're pregnant like "you think you're tired now?! You just wait!" So you're prepared, right? WRONG! There is a reason that sleep deprivation used to be used as a form of torture, and in those first few weeks you start to realise exactly why that is. Your bones will ache with tiredness, you might even throw up from tiredness, you won't know what day it is and don't even get me started on how difficult talking in coherent sentences might be. But here's the thing, your body adjusts and somehow you manage to fire on 20%.

Your baby will sleep through eventually, and so will you (although when this will be is anybody's guess - when Carol from down the road tells you your baby will sleep through as soon as they are in their own room/they are on solid foods/they've cut their first tooth, ignore her, she's wrong, and your baby will sleep through when they sleep through.) In the meantime, reach out when you're exhausted and let somebody else take the baby whilst you rest, and stock the fruit bowl and biscuit tin with things you can snack on to keep your energy levels up.

It's a massive adjustment, but it's survivable and you will get through it. 

A little bit about Laura...

Laura lives in Hertfordshire with 17 month old Harry, and when she can, enjoys meeting up with friends for lunch, seeing family, and watching too many episodes of Friends on Comedy Central! She was motivated to write about her experience because…

“As a new mum, with all the raging hormones and uncertainty that involves, it was just nice to hear from people who were going through the same thing from time to time, to reassure myself I wasn't losing the plot completely! So if I can give that same reassurance back to another new mum, that's definitely something I would want to do.”

Read more about coping with sleep deprivation on our website.