We have all heard the advice that you had better sleep when you are pregnant because when that baby arrives, no more sleep for you.  Of course, if you have ever been pregnant, you realize that sleep does not necessarily come as easy as it used to come.  What are some tips for making the most of the little things you do to make yourself more comfortable (and thus happier)?  I happen to have a few. 

• Prop your feet up every chance you get.  Now that you are lugging around all that extra weight, your ankles and feet are taking a licking.  Show them a little love by putting them up when you can.  At the office, I used one of my file boxes as a foot stool under my desk.  It was the perfect height for helping the circulation get back into my feet without all the added work gravity was having to do.  Now I find myself propping my feet up on the coffee table or on a random dump truck in front of the couch.  Even taking the pressure off for just a few minutes can make you feel better when it's time to get back up.
• Lay off the salt.  My friend and I were discussing this just the other night when we went out to dinner.  She is 8 months pregnant and had started to see signs of swelling in her hands and feet.--something she hadn't had during her prior pregnancy.  She mentioned that she had been eating a lot of prepared frozen dinners lately that were high in sodium.  She decided to seek some low sodium alternatives and saw results immediately. 
  
• Sleep when you can.  Turn on the VCR or TiVo to capture your late night show to watch tomorrow and hit the bed early.  During my first trimester, I found myself crawling into bed beside Ethan at 8:30.  A far cry from my usual 11:00 bedtime but I realized that going to bed early was my only shot at getting extra sleep.  Everyone with a toddler knows that they aren't going to let you sleep in so you had better take it where you can get it. 
  
• Don't get frustrated when you can't sleep.  My biggest problem when I can't seem to sleep is stressing out over sleeping.  How silly is that?  Do your best to make yourself comfortable (propping myself up with lots of pillows seems to help me) but just focus on relaxation if the sleep doesn't come.  Ask your partner to get you a warm cup of tea to help you just let all the stress go.

Just remember, it's only 9 1/2 months.  This too shall pass.