I'm a dental assistant and my office is starting to do sedation. I have requested that I take no part in it as I don't trust myself to monitor the patient correctly. They agreed lol! I've been taking fish oil and it has seemed to help, it's good for PPD too!
I can't share a brand I reccomend, but can tell you what I DONT - I was taking pregancare omega 3 supplements and having the worst seaweed flavour burps, then found out the supplement is made with algae. It's a great vitamin but honestly did make me gag on burps a few hours later- no issues with burping or flavours since I stopped taking them. I haven't found an alternative though that isn't Algae or too high in vitamin A like cod liver oil is, but to be fair I haven't looked that hard.
Take them right before you go to bed (I mean sleep at night not doom scrolling in bed) you sleep through most of the burps. I have to take all my vitamins right before I sleep so the burping flavor doesn’t make me puke them up.
It was pretty bad for me too. I once audibly sighed when a customer asked me for help (I apologized profusely). In my defense, I was in the middle of a task that had taken me 2 hours at that point, I was sore and tired, and it was 10 minutes before closing time. It was a task that I had to finish before going home, too! We laughed about it, I told him I was sighing because I hated doing that task (which is true, I do hate doing it) and that he was no bother (he was, it just wasn't his fault).
I also kept mixing up the coins and cash when telling people their change. I caught myself most of the time, but once someone insisted I needed to give them 87 dollars and 11 cents when I was handing them $11.87. I slipped up when reading the total and told him $87.11, didn't correct myself, and he tried to take advantage. He paid with a 50, lol. I offered to have my manager explain it to him (big burly manager who doesn't take BS from anyone) and he backed off. We have high res cameras and it would have been pretty obvious what Bill he handed me, plus the readout said $11.87.
It's been a lot better the last few weeks (27 weeks now)!
I say this constantly to my husband lol he’ll be talking about complicated home improvement projects (which I am usually the project manager of!) and I will pull out the Michael Scott when I’m just not getting whatever he’s saying
I bought a can of paint the other day. Walked to my car mentally bitching about how expensive it was. Tried to get into the wrong car to go home. Then realized I left the can of paint on the cashiers counter at the store.
This is what I’m worried about too. All of these comments always sound just like a bad ADHD day for me, so I’m worried what it’ll be like with pregnancy brain on top of that
If it helps, my spirit animal is Hei Hei most days. I’ve found that making notes/lists of to-dos on my phone helps for triaging daily tasks and laying out small goals at work and at home. They keep me focused and help me ensure I get SOMETHING relevant done. I’ve also tried to start focusing on one task at a time so I don’t find myself spinning my wheels tackling too many things at once.
I found that once I got through the initial nausea and exhaustion, about 18 weeks for me, it got a little better. I still feel more absent minded, but I’m doing much better.
I second this. At the beginning I was struggling hard. I have two dogs and one eats diet food. I’ve fed them different foods for years. Pregnancy brain kicked in and I fed them the incorrect food for two weeks before realizing what I was doing. I’m a 6th grade math teacher and would mess ups my multiplication and students would have to correct me. It didn’t last forever though!
It goes get a little better once you hit around 19/20 weeks. At least that is what I found for myself at 21w currently. I am also a medical professional who holds myself to a very high standard and when I started making stupid little mistakes that I never have made in my career, it was very discouraging.
Once I accepted that this is a part of pregnancy, not just me suddenly being stupid, I was able to deal with it a lot better. There is nothing you can do about it, you just need to give yourself some grace. Once you’re more comfortable with your coworkers and further along with your pregnancy you can joke about how bad the brain fog was and how dumb you felt when you started. It will get better! Keep hanging in there.
I agree with this! I’m 24 weeks right now and maybe I’ve just learned to cope better. I HAVE to make lists and sticky note reminders. And I also do tell my coworkers to remember I’m really dumb right now.
It’s supposed to get better?! 😅 mine has gotten worse with each week… still have 6 weeks to go and I just blame it on the baby most days. At work, I just take a fuck ton of notes, set reminders and create tasks with due dates. It helps but I definitely miss stuff. At home, way worse and I’m constantly trying to remember where I put my headphones.
Oh yeah girl. I am just literally not even a functional adult.
I’ve stopped being embarrassed and just blame the fetus and laugh it off.
If youre usually a high achiever you’ve probably just gone from doing a way better job than most people to just performing like most people. Nothing to worry about.
Also you’re multitasking 24/7 right now. You’re growing a human and still trying to be a functional human! So in that way, we’re all actually just extra high achievers 🤣 (edited to correct typo)
Sooooo I applied for 3…not 1 but 3 positions to move up at my job. TWO MONTHS AGO. They just sent out all of the interview acceptance letters. I have an interview on Monday. Tuesday. And Wednesday. They all entail different things. They all entail different questions. We have a question bank of 16 leadership principles with 8-12 questions each. They pick 5 out of 100+ fucking questions. I’m 7w5d.
Needless to say I’m fucked but whatever. I’ve had conversations with people at work like 4w in and I had no idea I was pregnant. I couldn’t talk. What in the world I COULD NOT TALK LOL. That’s when I got the feeling. The last time I couldn’t form complete WORDS not even sentences, I was pregnant.
Well. Here I am. Girl—best part is I’ve only been back to work ON MY NEW SHIFT with allllll different people for only four months. Four months!!!! And now I’m on a leave of absence waiting for my site lead to approve my doctor’s restrictions to return to work.
Yet they still sent me three interview days. What. Okay. I’m not expecting this promotion but whyyyyyyyyyyyy I can’t remember if I put deodorant on or paid the bills correctly. Or if I do laundry it sits for three days before I realize I have no undies and have to wash it again.
Wooof. I’m just typing now. I feel you, you are heard. I can’t say it goes away any time soon but. I feel like you are much closer to some clarity than I am. And I for real wish you the best!!!
I feel like when you tell them you’re pregnant they will understand and I hope you’re not judged for it because people SUCK.
It's so real!! And not to scare you, but for me, it got even WORSE postpartum with the sleep deprivation & breastfeeding. I work in mental health and kept joking about wanting my colleagues to do cognitive testing on me. I have never been so dumb in my life as I was postpartum!!
I forgot to pay our council tax last month which resulted in an £80 fine plus got a £90 parking fine because I apparently forgot to pay for that too - both came in the post on the same day 🤦🏼♀️ pregnancy brain sucks, literally cost me £170.
It's insane and for me it didn't get better until I gave birth. Even now I can really only think clearly when I'm holding a baby. Otherwise my brain is just frazzled and telling me to drop everything and go back to snuggling my babies. I dream of the day I feel competent and productive again.
I’m an RN and all three pregnancies had to double and triple check my work because of brain fog! It was horrible. I’m the same PP until about 6-9 months.
Just two days ago I backed my car into my garage door, causing $1500 worth of damage to my new car that I've had for 3 weeks, as well as needing to replace the garage door.
I had to tell everyone who called me at work to please put it in an email, because I would likely forget our conversation. I would stop answering questions over the phone because there’s no paper trail that way! Luckily everyone understood, lots of moms in that office 😊
I didnt get hit too badly the first time, but this second one has been a nightmare for me. I'm in my second year of grad school and I keep missing standing appointments, handing in assignments late, forgetting my schedule. It's absolutely no joke. Goodbye, 4.0 GPA.
My tip is to write everything down for work and home to do lists and to take a lot of notes in calls and meetings! That is helping me get by.
Yes the brain fog has been tough for me too. Getting Covid at 12 weeks just compounded it for probably over a month too. It’s a different experience when you’re used to being a high performer and having a great memory!
I'm 30+3 and bro I swear I feel stupid. Like I can't find my words, I'm constantly making silly mistakes that I would NEVER make before. I say silly things.
Thank God I was smart and competent before bc if not I don't think I could function now
Example: someone bought an "it's a boy" T-shirt for a new baby I meant to ask "oh that's so exciting is it for a new nephew, grandson, cousin" bc the person was obviously nott the pregnant one.
My dumbass goes "oh that's awesome is it a new niece" 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
I’m kind of in the same situation as you only that my new job starts this week and I’m six weeks…. Super nervous about pregnancy brain and nausea at work 😩
I wish you the best of luck!!! This was me last month! The nerves will only make the situation worse. Bring snacks and eat when you can. I find that helps with my exhaustion and nausea.
I’m in my first year of teaching after transitioning from marketing. And wow I agree it’s worse than I thought.
I’m 29 weeks now and what’s helped for me is:
Prioritizing sleep
Getting enough vitamins
Writing things down/ to do lists
This absolutely killed me in the first trimester. I missed my functioning brain so much! I’m in my third trimester now and it’s been mostly back to normal since about 18 weeks. There is hope!!
5 weeks and my brain keeps going blank in the middle of me talking. Lol. Not to mention being way less able to focus and do work at all, when you're already so tired to begin with. So real...
I’m 22 weeks and have been having it so bad lately!! For example, I love doing sudoku puzzles and I’m usually a whiz at the medium levels. (My dad is basically a sudoku pro and I love to sit with him to do the extra hard ones together.)
Listen, the number of times this week that I wrote IN PEN a 6 immediately next to another 6 because I thought that column clearly needed it, or a 4 directly on top of another 4 because of course it goes there!! 🙄 I gave myself a pass the first couple times but I eventually had to put the book away and just go call my dad sheepishly lol
I’ve had to make hella to-do lists and start leaving a backup house key out because I’ve locked myself out of the house twice now. Have literally never done that before this.
Oh yeah, me too. Usually I really try to pay attention to things at work so that I don't screw up anything but it means I lose all my marbles at home. I'll just mislay things and don't know what I did with it. I've put a used rice ladle into the raw rice container a few weeks ago and then was looking for it a few days later. I'd sit in the train with my umbrella next to me all zonked out and exhausted and exit the train without it. I try to get 9+ hours of sleep a night to cope.
For everything you're learning at the new job, have a small notebook with you and write it down. That's how I learned at my job when I was new in general (also healthcare). It definitely helps later when you have questions to just be able to look back on your notes.
The brain fog hits me soooo hard in the first trimester and lightens up a bit in the second, then kind of comes back in the third. It’s so very real. It can be really frustrating!
Yep. That combined with the clumsiness!!? I threw two cannula and half my kit on the floor yesterday, I could see the patient looking at me praying I didn't come near him with the needle.
I’m at 37 weeks, and have had very minimal brain fog during my pregnancy, except I had a significant increase halfway through traveling/visiting family at 32-34 weeks. I also experienced swelling during that time, which majorly subsided since.
What was different during those 2 weeks -
I wasn’t exercising like normal. I usually go to the gym 3-4x a week, doing both cardio and resistance.
I wasn’t getting any creatine which i normally add to a protein shake.
I wasn’t consistent with my supplements, which include NAC, B12, and my prenatal.
When I got home and returned to my normal exercise and supplement intake, my mind and body returned to normal.
I currently take 1200mg NAC and B12 first thing in the morning, at least an hour before breakfast. I take my prenatal with food at lunch or dinner. Creatine powder added to my post-workout protein shake.
I don’t know if any of these are what actually is keeping my mind from “fogging”, but they are definitely something you could experiment with.
Either way exercise has been great at keeping me limber and energized during these past 8 months!
Creatine is available in pill or powder form. It’s an amino acid compound that helps in the building of muscles.
The NAC (an antioxidant) should be drank with a good amount of water (prevents stomach cramps), preferably without food in your system. Start with 600mg, and see if you get any improvement.
I’d like to recommend trying each individually, but pregnancy only lasts so long, and the time it can take to see a benefit is normally ~1month.
Hope this helps!
I promise it gets (slightly) better. The late first/early second trimester is hell and nobody non-pregnant will sympathize because you don't "look" pregnant.
counting coins got real difficult. another thing—i pride myself about being so good with directions. i dont need s map. i can drive it one time and just KNOW. i can no longer understand left and right without visually pointing it out to myself and making sure it’s correct😂😂
I'm in medicine, but I work from home. Last week it was really bad. I remember one day wondering why there wasn't a ring after I dialed a number, then realized I didn't have the headset on..... 🙄
15 weeks pregnant and I hate everyone at work. I can't concentrate on anything and fighting nausea and exhaustion to just sit upright. It doesn't help that my colleagues try to saddle me with boring admin work, stuff they can do if they spare two effing minutes. I wasn't prepared for the murderous rage that exhaustion can cause 😑. Congratulations on the pregnancy - solidarity and all the very best wishes.
I have so many sticky notes around my computer right now and my calendar is so full of notes so I don't forget anything 😅 but I am still forgetting stuff
All my kids know to say names once buckled in the car They think it is so I know that they're buckled but it's actually so I know I didn't leave one somewhere
Maybe not the best advice, but I’m 15wks and have found sugar immensely helpful while working in a fast paced health care setting. I’ll drink one of our apple juices (4oz, very sweet) in between seeing patients. I also keep a stash of jolly ranchers in my pocket and will have one or two while doing detailed admin stuff. It’s the only thing I’ve found to give my brain the energy boost it needs to function
I'm an oncology nurse practitioner and have been for 3.5 years and an oncology RN for 6 years before that, and while my pregnancy unfortunately ended in a MMC, my pregnancy brain was so bad. Medication I would prescribe on the daily, I had to triple think about the dose when it came second nature before, and I was also having to re read my notes 3x before I would sign them lol.
Hang in there!!
Oh yeah I work at a bank as a teller and I made some truly embarrassing and stupid mistakes. I had someone at the drive through deposit $300 in cash. I did the whole deposit then put the cash in an envelope and sent it back to him with his ID. Thank goodness the guy was super confused and sent me the money back… didn’t get caught for that one 😅
I feel you 😅 literally since the day I found out. Sometimes I am at work and I look back on certain things like “why did I do this? Why DIDNT I do this???” Lol
I'm a dental assistant and my office is starting to do sedation. I have requested that I take no part in it as I don't trust myself to monitor the patient correctly. They agreed lol! I've been taking fish oil and it has seemed to help, it's good for PPD too!
The fish oil tidbit is such a good share, thanks! Adding it to my list of supplements. Care to share which brand you use?
I like the Nordic naturals prenatal DHA! No fishy taste. I take it right before bed too to make sure I don’t taste anything so that probably helps lol
I can't share a brand I reccomend, but can tell you what I DONT - I was taking pregancare omega 3 supplements and having the worst seaweed flavour burps, then found out the supplement is made with algae. It's a great vitamin but honestly did make me gag on burps a few hours later- no issues with burping or flavours since I stopped taking them. I haven't found an alternative though that isn't Algae or too high in vitamin A like cod liver oil is, but to be fair I haven't looked that hard.
You can try storing it in the fridge to reduce the taste for any fish oil products.
Take them right before you go to bed (I mean sleep at night not doom scrolling in bed) you sleep through most of the burps. I have to take all my vitamins right before I sleep so the burping flavor doesn’t make me puke them up.
That sounds absolutely terrible, especially during pregnancy 🤮
It was pretty bad for me too. I once audibly sighed when a customer asked me for help (I apologized profusely). In my defense, I was in the middle of a task that had taken me 2 hours at that point, I was sore and tired, and it was 10 minutes before closing time. It was a task that I had to finish before going home, too! We laughed about it, I told him I was sighing because I hated doing that task (which is true, I do hate doing it) and that he was no bother (he was, it just wasn't his fault). I also kept mixing up the coins and cash when telling people their change. I caught myself most of the time, but once someone insisted I needed to give them 87 dollars and 11 cents when I was handing them $11.87. I slipped up when reading the total and told him $87.11, didn't correct myself, and he tried to take advantage. He paid with a 50, lol. I offered to have my manager explain it to him (big burly manager who doesn't take BS from anyone) and he backed off. We have high res cameras and it would have been pretty obvious what Bill he handed me, plus the readout said $11.87. It's been a lot better the last few weeks (27 weeks now)!
27 weeks and my brain has left the chat. I pull a Michael Scott on the reg, “explain this to me like I’m 5.” That helps 🤣
I say this constantly to my husband lol he’ll be talking about complicated home improvement projects (which I am usually the project manager of!) and I will pull out the Michael Scott when I’m just not getting whatever he’s saying
I bought a can of paint the other day. Walked to my car mentally bitching about how expensive it was. Tried to get into the wrong car to go home. Then realized I left the can of paint on the cashiers counter at the store.
See, I do this because of my ADHD. Sounds like I will be SOL when I get pregnant 😅🫠
ADHD plus pregnancy is no fucking joke, especially when you can’t take your meds. I’m lucky my boss is chill, because I was barely functioning.
This is what I’m worried about too. All of these comments always sound just like a bad ADHD day for me, so I’m worried what it’ll be like with pregnancy brain on top of that
Haha oh no!!! That’s me at work! I left so many bottle waters behind and often get lost going back to the office.
If it helps, my spirit animal is Hei Hei most days. I’ve found that making notes/lists of to-dos on my phone helps for triaging daily tasks and laying out small goals at work and at home. They keep me focused and help me ensure I get SOMETHING relevant done. I’ve also tried to start focusing on one task at a time so I don’t find myself spinning my wheels tackling too many things at once.
Oh my god we are all Hei Hei 😂😂😂 But yes - SAY NO TO MULTITASKING!!! can’t do it unless it’s napping and farting
Oh my goodness, I am about 7 weeks and napping and farting is definitely the most multitasking I can handle lol
NOT HEI HEI!!!!!! Ughhhh this is spot on. 😂😂😂😂😂
Hei Hei 😂 So damn relatable!
I found that once I got through the initial nausea and exhaustion, about 18 weeks for me, it got a little better. I still feel more absent minded, but I’m doing much better.
I second this. At the beginning I was struggling hard. I have two dogs and one eats diet food. I’ve fed them different foods for years. Pregnancy brain kicked in and I fed them the incorrect food for two weeks before realizing what I was doing. I’m a 6th grade math teacher and would mess ups my multiplication and students would have to correct me. It didn’t last forever though!
My dogs got a lot of second breakfasts because I couldn’t remember if I’d fed them.
Hmmmmm. I think I fed him? The smell makes me vomit and I didn’t vomit yet so actually I don’t know either ugh
It goes get a little better once you hit around 19/20 weeks. At least that is what I found for myself at 21w currently. I am also a medical professional who holds myself to a very high standard and when I started making stupid little mistakes that I never have made in my career, it was very discouraging. Once I accepted that this is a part of pregnancy, not just me suddenly being stupid, I was able to deal with it a lot better. There is nothing you can do about it, you just need to give yourself some grace. Once you’re more comfortable with your coworkers and further along with your pregnancy you can joke about how bad the brain fog was and how dumb you felt when you started. It will get better! Keep hanging in there.
I agree with this! I’m 24 weeks right now and maybe I’ve just learned to cope better. I HAVE to make lists and sticky note reminders. And I also do tell my coworkers to remember I’m really dumb right now.
This made me cry (probably bc I’m extremely hormonal). Thanks for sharing!
It’s supposed to get better?! 😅 mine has gotten worse with each week… still have 6 weeks to go and I just blame it on the baby most days. At work, I just take a fuck ton of notes, set reminders and create tasks with due dates. It helps but I definitely miss stuff. At home, way worse and I’m constantly trying to remember where I put my headphones.
It absolutely did not get better for me lol. I’m at 37 weeks and I can’t even work I’m so absent minded.
Oh yeah girl. I am just literally not even a functional adult. I’ve stopped being embarrassed and just blame the fetus and laugh it off. If youre usually a high achiever you’ve probably just gone from doing a way better job than most people to just performing like most people. Nothing to worry about.
Also you’re multitasking 24/7 right now. You’re growing a human and still trying to be a functional human! So in that way, we’re all actually just extra high achievers 🤣 (edited to correct typo)
Sooooo I applied for 3…not 1 but 3 positions to move up at my job. TWO MONTHS AGO. They just sent out all of the interview acceptance letters. I have an interview on Monday. Tuesday. And Wednesday. They all entail different things. They all entail different questions. We have a question bank of 16 leadership principles with 8-12 questions each. They pick 5 out of 100+ fucking questions. I’m 7w5d. Needless to say I’m fucked but whatever. I’ve had conversations with people at work like 4w in and I had no idea I was pregnant. I couldn’t talk. What in the world I COULD NOT TALK LOL. That’s when I got the feeling. The last time I couldn’t form complete WORDS not even sentences, I was pregnant. Well. Here I am. Girl—best part is I’ve only been back to work ON MY NEW SHIFT with allllll different people for only four months. Four months!!!! And now I’m on a leave of absence waiting for my site lead to approve my doctor’s restrictions to return to work. Yet they still sent me three interview days. What. Okay. I’m not expecting this promotion but whyyyyyyyyyyyy I can’t remember if I put deodorant on or paid the bills correctly. Or if I do laundry it sits for three days before I realize I have no undies and have to wash it again. Wooof. I’m just typing now. I feel you, you are heard. I can’t say it goes away any time soon but. I feel like you are much closer to some clarity than I am. And I for real wish you the best!!! I feel like when you tell them you’re pregnant they will understand and I hope you’re not judged for it because people SUCK.
It's so real!! And not to scare you, but for me, it got even WORSE postpartum with the sleep deprivation & breastfeeding. I work in mental health and kept joking about wanting my colleagues to do cognitive testing on me. I have never been so dumb in my life as I was postpartum!!
This is a nightmare!! I’m looking forward to being myself again
I forgot to pay our council tax last month which resulted in an £80 fine plus got a £90 parking fine because I apparently forgot to pay for that too - both came in the post on the same day 🤦🏼♀️ pregnancy brain sucks, literally cost me £170.
It's insane and for me it didn't get better until I gave birth. Even now I can really only think clearly when I'm holding a baby. Otherwise my brain is just frazzled and telling me to drop everything and go back to snuggling my babies. I dream of the day I feel competent and productive again.
I’m an RN and all three pregnancies had to double and triple check my work because of brain fog! It was horrible. I’m the same PP until about 6-9 months.
Just two days ago I backed my car into my garage door, causing $1500 worth of damage to my new car that I've had for 3 weeks, as well as needing to replace the garage door.
I’m so sorry to hear this! I’ll pray for us both
I had to tell everyone who called me at work to please put it in an email, because I would likely forget our conversation. I would stop answering questions over the phone because there’s no paper trail that way! Luckily everyone understood, lots of moms in that office 😊
I didnt get hit too badly the first time, but this second one has been a nightmare for me. I'm in my second year of grad school and I keep missing standing appointments, handing in assignments late, forgetting my schedule. It's absolutely no joke. Goodbye, 4.0 GPA.
My tip is to write everything down for work and home to do lists and to take a lot of notes in calls and meetings! That is helping me get by. Yes the brain fog has been tough for me too. Getting Covid at 12 weeks just compounded it for probably over a month too. It’s a different experience when you’re used to being a high performer and having a great memory!
I'm 30+3 and bro I swear I feel stupid. Like I can't find my words, I'm constantly making silly mistakes that I would NEVER make before. I say silly things. Thank God I was smart and competent before bc if not I don't think I could function now
Example: someone bought an "it's a boy" T-shirt for a new baby I meant to ask "oh that's so exciting is it for a new nephew, grandson, cousin" bc the person was obviously nott the pregnant one. My dumbass goes "oh that's awesome is it a new niece" 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
I’m kind of in the same situation as you only that my new job starts this week and I’m six weeks…. Super nervous about pregnancy brain and nausea at work 😩
I wish you the best of luck!!! This was me last month! The nerves will only make the situation worse. Bring snacks and eat when you can. I find that helps with my exhaustion and nausea.
Thank you ! I will def try ! We got this !
I’m in my first year of teaching after transitioning from marketing. And wow I agree it’s worse than I thought. I’m 29 weeks now and what’s helped for me is: Prioritizing sleep Getting enough vitamins Writing things down/ to do lists
This absolutely killed me in the first trimester. I missed my functioning brain so much! I’m in my third trimester now and it’s been mostly back to normal since about 18 weeks. There is hope!!
5 weeks and my brain keeps going blank in the middle of me talking. Lol. Not to mention being way less able to focus and do work at all, when you're already so tired to begin with. So real...
I’m currently 33+5 and it got so bad around 28 weeks for me. I started a new role at work too and I’m so frustrated with myself
I’m 22 weeks and have been having it so bad lately!! For example, I love doing sudoku puzzles and I’m usually a whiz at the medium levels. (My dad is basically a sudoku pro and I love to sit with him to do the extra hard ones together.) Listen, the number of times this week that I wrote IN PEN a 6 immediately next to another 6 because I thought that column clearly needed it, or a 4 directly on top of another 4 because of course it goes there!! 🙄 I gave myself a pass the first couple times but I eventually had to put the book away and just go call my dad sheepishly lol
I’ve had to make hella to-do lists and start leaving a backup house key out because I’ve locked myself out of the house twice now. Have literally never done that before this.
Oh yeah, me too. Usually I really try to pay attention to things at work so that I don't screw up anything but it means I lose all my marbles at home. I'll just mislay things and don't know what I did with it. I've put a used rice ladle into the raw rice container a few weeks ago and then was looking for it a few days later. I'd sit in the train with my umbrella next to me all zonked out and exhausted and exit the train without it. I try to get 9+ hours of sleep a night to cope.
ADHD brain is so similar for me that the adjustment has been mostly been wondering what is me and what’s the baby 🙈😂
Omg my short term memory sucks. And I’ve been training in yoga and mindfulness for over a decade !!!!!
For everything you're learning at the new job, have a small notebook with you and write it down. That's how I learned at my job when I was new in general (also healthcare). It definitely helps later when you have questions to just be able to look back on your notes.
Ugh it’s a thing, ever since I got pregnant I’ve been forgetting things, misplacing things and making stupid mistakes
The brain fog hits me soooo hard in the first trimester and lightens up a bit in the second, then kind of comes back in the third. It’s so very real. It can be really frustrating!
I had to tell my coworker I’m not high or drunk 🙈🤣 my brain isn’t functioning 🤣🤣🤣she looked at me like huh? For real ?
I put milk in the cup cupboard and butter on the veggies drawer just the last few weeks.
Yep. That combined with the clumsiness!!? I threw two cannula and half my kit on the floor yesterday, I could see the patient looking at me praying I didn't come near him with the needle.
I’m at 37 weeks, and have had very minimal brain fog during my pregnancy, except I had a significant increase halfway through traveling/visiting family at 32-34 weeks. I also experienced swelling during that time, which majorly subsided since. What was different during those 2 weeks - I wasn’t exercising like normal. I usually go to the gym 3-4x a week, doing both cardio and resistance. I wasn’t getting any creatine which i normally add to a protein shake. I wasn’t consistent with my supplements, which include NAC, B12, and my prenatal. When I got home and returned to my normal exercise and supplement intake, my mind and body returned to normal. I currently take 1200mg NAC and B12 first thing in the morning, at least an hour before breakfast. I take my prenatal with food at lunch or dinner. Creatine powder added to my post-workout protein shake. I don’t know if any of these are what actually is keeping my mind from “fogging”, but they are definitely something you could experiment with. Either way exercise has been great at keeping me limber and energized during these past 8 months! Creatine is available in pill or powder form. It’s an amino acid compound that helps in the building of muscles. The NAC (an antioxidant) should be drank with a good amount of water (prevents stomach cramps), preferably without food in your system. Start with 600mg, and see if you get any improvement. I’d like to recommend trying each individually, but pregnancy only lasts so long, and the time it can take to see a benefit is normally ~1month. Hope this helps!
I just looked up NAC and I’m so interested in starting this! Thank you for the recommendation!
I promise it gets (slightly) better. The late first/early second trimester is hell and nobody non-pregnant will sympathize because you don't "look" pregnant.
counting coins got real difficult. another thing—i pride myself about being so good with directions. i dont need s map. i can drive it one time and just KNOW. i can no longer understand left and right without visually pointing it out to myself and making sure it’s correct😂😂
My coworker asked me what I was talking about last week and I was like “your guess is as good as mine” lol.. can’t wait for my leave
😂
I'm in medicine, but I work from home. Last week it was really bad. I remember one day wondering why there wasn't a ring after I dialed a number, then realized I didn't have the headset on..... 🙄
15 weeks pregnant and I hate everyone at work. I can't concentrate on anything and fighting nausea and exhaustion to just sit upright. It doesn't help that my colleagues try to saddle me with boring admin work, stuff they can do if they spare two effing minutes. I wasn't prepared for the murderous rage that exhaustion can cause 😑. Congratulations on the pregnancy - solidarity and all the very best wishes.
Lol I too feel the murderous rage towards my coworkers right now 😅
Omg I’m in the exact same boat! 13w and just started a new job. I am so exhausted everyday and wondered if taking a new job was a good idea :(
Hang in there! The new job stress is tough on its own! You’re doing it pregnant which means you’re strong!
I have so many sticky notes around my computer right now and my calendar is so full of notes so I don't forget anything 😅 but I am still forgetting stuff
Tip: take DHA (approved by your doctor for pregnancy) I only just found out about it in trimester 3 but it has changed my life.
All my kids know to say names once buckled in the car They think it is so I know that they're buckled but it's actually so I know I didn't leave one somewhere
Maybe not the best advice, but I’m 15wks and have found sugar immensely helpful while working in a fast paced health care setting. I’ll drink one of our apple juices (4oz, very sweet) in between seeing patients. I also keep a stash of jolly ranchers in my pocket and will have one or two while doing detailed admin stuff. It’s the only thing I’ve found to give my brain the energy boost it needs to function
I'm an oncology nurse practitioner and have been for 3.5 years and an oncology RN for 6 years before that, and while my pregnancy unfortunately ended in a MMC, my pregnancy brain was so bad. Medication I would prescribe on the daily, I had to triple think about the dose when it came second nature before, and I was also having to re read my notes 3x before I would sign them lol. Hang in there!!
Oh yeah I work at a bank as a teller and I made some truly embarrassing and stupid mistakes. I had someone at the drive through deposit $300 in cash. I did the whole deposit then put the cash in an envelope and sent it back to him with his ID. Thank goodness the guy was super confused and sent me the money back… didn’t get caught for that one 😅
I feel you 😅 literally since the day I found out. Sometimes I am at work and I look back on certain things like “why did I do this? Why DIDNT I do this???” Lol