It Was Just a Dream

I have always been a vivid dreamer, but have never really been one to have nightmares... you know, the dreams that make you wake up in a cold sweat with your heart about to beat our of your chest.  I had crazy dreams while I was pregnant, but ever since giving birth they have evolved into nightmares!

The dreams usually have the same sort of theme to them.  They also seem very real!!  All of the bad dreams involve the baby and I have been having them several nights during the week.  Here are a few of my dreams:

• I keep dreaming that Norah Kate is in the bed with us and I will wake up all freaked out and start flinging covers back and searching for her in the bed... I am scared that the covers are over her face or I am laying on top of her.  I have even snatched Hoss up before thinking he was her. (Poor thing, talk about a rude awakening for him....)  Now, I don't know why I dream this... I think it might be because of the whole SIDS thing and the horror stories about babies who die because they got suffocated by a parent or a pillow in Mommy & Daddy's bed... eekk!  It just really don't make sense because NK don't sleep with us.  She is safe and sound in her pack and play with no pillows, blankets, or toys and always has been.  I may let her nap on the couch with me during the day... but she doesn't sleep with us at night.
• Another dream involves losing her in some way or another... I can't find her, or I am trying to get her from a bad guy who is running away with her.  One night I dreamed that someone was on drugs and driving really crazy with us in the backseat, I kept trying to get us out of the car but could never leave fast enough, the bad guy would always take her away and put her back in the car.  In another dream, I couldn't find her and finally found her at the shop asleep in a tractor tire.
• I also keep dreaming I am pregnant again.  Well, this isn't a nightmare, but I am not ready to have another baby just yet.  I think I have this one figured out though.  See, I really miss being pregnant.  I was just saying at work the other night, that a part of me wants to get pregnant, but just stay pregnant for like two years.  I loved being pregnant so much and I miss those little movements and hiccups inside, but I am in no way shape or form ready to physically give birth or have another newborn in this house!  Let's get the first one out of diapers please :)

Because I am having these dreams so often and they seem to have a pattern to them, I researched it.  I discovered that I am not alone!  Post partum nightmares are a common occurence and many other new mommies have similar dreams, especially the one about the baby in the bed!  It was a relief to know that  I have not completely lost my mind.  Haha!



I discovered that these dreams can be caused by the ever changing hormone levels, longer REM cycles and increased stress levels that are common in postpartum women.  Is what is funny to me is that I have the What to Expect the First Year, and I can't find anything about mommy nightmares in there!  Luckily my dreams don't make me feel less rested or keep me from going back to sleep.  Usually as soon as I realize that it is just a dream, I drift right back to sleep.  Here's to hoping for less nightmares and more happy dreams :)