Nightmares during pregnancy!

V

Violet A

Registered User
Hi all

I am 30 weeks pregnant and have been having recurring nightmares about my dad who passed away last year and whom I hadn't seen since 1999 (he wasn't a nice man). This is really freaking me out..

Anyone out there want to share their nightmare experiences and what they might have done to stop them recurring??

Cheers!
 
Hi Violet A,

When I was pregnant with my son--in the last trimester I not only had nightmares but also panic attacks while I was sleeping--this went on for almost the remainder of my pregnancy. It was awful.

This time around when I started to have the same experience, honestly I prayed and a few friends started praying for me as well. Also, I found that nighttime routine was really important for me. I made a playlist of soothing music (for me that means instrumental hymns etc.) and drank some Organic Easy Now Tea (by Traditional Medicinals--you can get here in HK), took a warm shower, got into comfortable pajamas and gave myself time to settle down and relax--maybe reading a book(i.e. not jumping right into bed and trying to fall asleep).

Because I was having panic attacks--I would wake up with hot flashes and feel like I was dying. It wasn't related to any dreams, actually. I found that having cold ice water and a cool towel beside my bed was helpful to help me calm down and relax again. These are just the things that helped me.

As far as having weird dreams in your last trimester--almost every single mom I know has had something like this happen so I guess it must be somewhat common. I do hope you get some better sleep. Also, you might consider talking about the issues with your dad with someone you trust--sometimes getting all those thoughts out during the day can prevent you from dreaming about them at night. All the best!
 
I would have dreams/nightmares about not knowing how to look after the baby. I remember in one dream my baby was crying and crying and I had no idea what to do - in my dream, I thought that babies only needed to be fed once a day - and when I woke up, I was all flustered thinking that I would forget to feed my child and be a horrible mother!!
 
the worst one i had was when i was pregnant with #1 (that was 7 years ago, so it must have been bad for me to remember...) i dreamt that i was on an airplane with my mother and baby. the plane was crashing and i gave the baby to my mum to hold on her lap and i cuddled up to the two of them....forward to after the crash...i survive and start frantically looking for my mum... finally i find her, she's survived, too... then i discover, she's only got my child's blanket... the baby is missing...i am going crazy while i start searching for my baby....i know in my gut that the baby's dead...never find the baby....then i wake up.

it was truly horrific. and the dream affected me for days afterward.

i think it had something to do with the tsunami that hit a couple of months before i had my son. i remember stories of mothers who couldn't hold onto two children and had to make a choice to let one of the children go.... i really can't imagine the torment that poor woman must have felt. i still think about her and wonder how she's doing...
 
With my first pregnancy I was told I was having a girl (4 scans!) and about 25 weeks in to my pregnancy I had a nightmare that I was in the hospital after just having my baby. The labour was only about 20 minutes and my husband was standing at the side of the bed holding a baby in a blue blanket.... He then announces that we have had a boy and not a girl but I kept saying that it wasnt my baby, the hospital had made a mistake and I kept trying to swap my son for all the girl babies in the hospital, until the police came and arrested me!

I woke up is hysterics and couldn't stop crying. I kept saying to my husband "what if we have a boy and I don't love him?" He kept saying "don't be silly, we are having a girl!".

Two weeks later my waters broke, was rushed to hospital had emergency c-section and my SON was born!

I think it may have been my body telling me to be prepared! We had to return all the pink clothes but I certainly never tried to swap him!
 
AmyH said:
With my first pregnancy I was told I was having a girl (4 scans!) and about 25 weeks in to my pregnancy I had a nightmare that I was in the hospital after just having my baby. The labour was only about 20 minutes and my husband was standing at the side of the bed holding a baby in a blue blanket.... He then announces that we have had a boy and not a girl but I kept saying that it wasnt my baby, the hospital had made a mistake and I kept trying to swap my son for all the girl babies in the hospital, until the police came and arrested me!

I woke up is hysterics and couldn't stop crying. I kept saying to my husband "what if we have a boy and I don't love him?" He kept saying "don't be silly, we are having a girl!".

Two weeks later my waters broke, was rushed to hospital had emergency c-section and my SON was born!

I think it may have been my body telling me to be prepared! We had to return all the pink clothes but I certainly never tried to swap him!
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That's actually a fantastic story--not the scary part about having a nightmare--but the fact that you actually knew you were having a boy even though everyone was saying a girl. Interesting. Mama's intuition must kick in pretty early. :)
 
It might be because your sleep is just so crappy in the last trimester and so when you are sleeping, it seldom seems to be in the deep sleep state, just lighter sleeps, therefore it's a lot easier to recall your dreams. You might have often dreamt about your father before and just didn't remember it so well. Also, maybe you're dreaming about him now because you're soon to be having a baby and family, whom he will never get the chance to meet, which maybe you still feel deep down is sad, even though you said he wasn't a nice man. Anyway, enough of ms. Freud here, the last trimester is basically a time of crappy sleep and high and heartfelt emotions, particularly since it was only recently that your dad passed away. It will calm down, but perhaps you can do some self-therapy(writing, talking to friends or fam) so you can get some of your thoughts and feelings out of the way a bit so they don't haunt you in your sleep.
 
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