One thing that I have noticed during this thing we call pregnancy, is how much I really value sleep. It’s definitely not the same as how I was when I was working full time and going to school full time. I could have 15-16 hour days every day of the week without blinking an eye. I would still try and get my rest every night, but if I randomly only got 5 hours, it would hardly even phase me.

NOW, yea different story. I do my 8 hour day and go home, maybe do a bit of work, maybe workout and then eat and I am seriously done. But what is most frustrating is the fact that even though I am absolutely exhausted, I can’t fall asleep. It sometimes will take me an hour to pass out and it’s frustrating as all get out. Plus, since I’m prego I have limited options on what I can use to help me sleep.

Even if you’re not pregnant, the below is really good to know because why damage your body with over the counter drugs like NyQuil, when there’s natural things out there that help your body naturally increase your melatonin levels to help you sleep?

My usual go to is Lavender and I rub that on the bottoms of my feet. Or, I will take a bath and drop a few drops of White Angelica into it. That’s super relaxing. My next go to (and sometimes on top of using Lavender and the bath) is SleepEssence. It’s a gel capsule that is a mixture of Lavender, Vetiver, Ruta and Valerian. All of those oils help support your body’s natural production of melatonin.

For those of you that don’t know, melatonin is a hormone secreted by your pineal gland which helps the body sleep. It has a natural on and off trigger that turns on usually around 8pm or so and increases until 3am. It turns off during the day so you stay awake and begins the cycle again in the evening. If your brain is having a hard time secreting this, SleepEssence can really help you. Plus, it’s not like NyQuil – it won’t make you super drowzy in the morning. That’s one HUGE reason why I love it so much.

Well, for you tossers and turners in bed, I hope this helps you. I hope you don’t just pop over the counter drugs to help you sleep every night. There are natural options that won’t hurt you out there. Give em’ a try!