What to do about nightmares

So, I'm fairly used to dealing with periods of nightmares from living with PTSD and there were some medications I could take to ease some of the insomnia and such related to it. Now though, it's a little trickier because I'm pregnant and that seems to be opening a whole new can of worms that I'm having a difficult time dealing with.

I had a traumatic childhood, so becoming a mother for the first time is stirring up a lot of that stuff. I was doing fine the first few weeks that I found out, but I saw my baby for the first time on Monday and that touched off a firestorm of nightmares. I wake up jarred and confused. I wouldn't normally think too much of it, but yesterday and this morning, I started to act out my "escape plan" or whatever reactionary behavior started in the nightmare. Basically, they're becoming night terrors.

The nightmares themselves seem to have nothing to do with my own childhood though. Like, last night, I was running away from a venomous snake that had four fangs. But, the part that worries me is that when I wake up, I start swatting at the ground like the snake is still there for a few moments. I haven't had night terrors in over 7 years I think.

In the past, talk therapy didn't really help very much and medication had its limits. I feel like I really need to get a handle on this for my health and my baby's. I am just not sure what to do about it.

Has anyone who has had similar problems found something that helps?

Sorry for what you are going through, you must be so worried for your health and baby. I wake up screaming sometimes but not as bad or as often as you describe. My neurologist instructed adding Tai Chi or some other form of relaxing stretches before bed to gain more restful sleep as well as regular exercise.

The snake with the 4 fangs is your anxiety. You are swatting at it. You do not want your anxiety to poison you. You are going to be OK, and you baby will do well.

How super weird is this... I JUST enrolled in a Tai Chi class but for different reasons. I guess I'll be able to give that a try before bed really soon here.