🌙 Why Does Sleep Change During Pregnancy?

Today, let’s talk about something almost every mom-to-be experiences 🤰: sleep during pregnancy.
If your nights feel more like a series of short episodes than one full-length movie 🎬, rest assured—it’s normal, and it’s your body adapting.

🧪 Hormones: the conductors of your sleep

Pregnancy is like your body running a massive construction site 👷‍♀️. Hormones are the workers: they prepare your body for baby, but they also bring side effects that impact sleep.

• Progesterone → think of it as a soft blanket 🛌 helping you drift off, especially in the first trimester. It makes you drowsy, which explains sudden naps and waves of fatigue.
  👉 But… that same blanket can feel too heavy: it relaxes muscles, leading to heartburn or nighttime wakings.

• Estrogen → early on, it can improve sleep. But later in pregnancy, it’s like it “clogs the house vents” 🏠: nasal congestion, snoring, even sleep apnea in the third trimester.

• Cortisol & prolactin → these hormones prep your body for breastfeeding and baby’s arrival 🍼. But they act like little alarms ⏰: fragmenting sleep and making nights less restorative.

🌛 Why so many night wakings?

Your sleep is like a cake 🎂 cut into many slices instead of one big piece. Several reasons:

• A compressed bladder → frequent bathroom trips 🚽.

• Baby’s nighttime gymnastics 🤸.

• Back pain or leg cramps → caused by extra weight and relaxin (the hormone that loosens ligaments).

👉 The result: more wake-ups, and more daytime fatigue 😴.

⏰ A shifting biological rhythm

Your body clock (circadian rhythm) is also thrown off balance.

• Melatonin (the sleep hormone) rises, helping regulate your sleep and baby’s 🍼.

• You may feel sleepy earlier in the evening and crave naps ☀️.

• But frequent wake-ups disrupt your rhythm → later bedtimes, earlier mornings.

It’s as if your body is already training for newborn life 👶—where nights are naturally fragmented.