I'm Exhausted. Is This Normal? - Page 2

[dreamingtree]

choochootwo -  other than the homesteading part, I could have written your post!  You do more than me, and I'm tired! Being a mother is an intense, fulltime plus overtime job. It can be emotionally & physically draining as well as hugely fulfilling. It can feel hopeless sometimes when you are pushed to the brink of your fatigue threshold (and often beyond).  I totally get that! You are not lazy in the least, so please stop beating yourself up. Right now!  I like the suggestions others have made re vitamin supplements and progesterone. 

Chicky2 - I have only 1 baby (16 months).  I am intrigued by what you said, "Well you need another coupla kiddos...Having one is sooooo hard".  What do you mean? In my heart I think I want 4 or 5 children but wonder how insane life would be with that many. Does it get easier?  Don't want to steal the thread though so feel free to PM me or something if you'd rather not elaborate here! :) 

[hildare]

that is a hard age.  they RUN everywhere.  they do not walk. 

just from what i gather from your post, can you try:

nap with that kid, mama!!!!  NAP with him. 

also, and i must point out that i am a soft, lazy, out of shape preggo mama, but i have done manual landscape labor before and we do homestead-- i find the physical stuff MUCH easier if i can keep it up a little throughout the week.  could it be that you're only exerting yourself (in a different way than chasing your little monkey) that one day?  that's not enough to keep from being sore.  you're just reinjuring your muscles every time.  are you walking/jogging/lifting stuff with your baby?  if not, that could help some with the saturday dreads.

and last, your dh needs to put that baby to bed on a schedule.  i know it's not always possible but getting a good sleep routine will help you all.

but yes, you're not abnormal to be that tired.  :(

~just realized i forum crashed... sorry!~

[hildare]

~~crashing again, because it occurred to me:

how's your thyroid, mama?  if you don't know, maybe you should have it tested.  you wouldn't necessarily feel like anything was physically wrong, but the fatigue is a major symptom of underactive thyroid.  <3

[Chicky2]

Oh yeah, I forgot this.  I take a good iodine supp, too, and it helps!

Originally Posted by hildare 

~~crashing again, because it occurred to me:

how's your thyroid, mama?  if you don't know, maybe you should have it tested.  you wouldn't necessarily feel like anything was physically wrong, but the fatigue is a major symptom of underactive thyroid.  <3

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by infojunkie 

Chicky2 - I have only 1 baby (16 months).  I am intrigued by what you said, "Well you need another coupla kiddos...Having one is sooooo hard".  What do you mean? In my heart I think I want 4 or 5 children but wonder how insane life would be with that many. Does it get easier?  Don't want to steal the thread though so feel free to PM me or something if you'd rather not elaborate here! :) 

LOL, let's see...does it get easier or does it just get more *insane* and you get used to it???  Well, when I had my 2 that are close in age, it was very hard.  The oldest has Aspergers and was never a help at all until she was in her 20s.  Dh worked 2 jobs so I could stay home, and it was hard.  And it gets hard now sometimes but it's a different hard.  It will always be harder, imo, when they are so young.  They need constant everything from you.  After my 3rd was of toddler age, it started getting much easier because the 2nd and 3rd played together all the time and were (and still are) best friends.  Then when the 4th came along (much later than we'd have liked, ftr), they were HUGE helps with everything.  By then they could do their own laundry, heat up things themselves, do most of the their chores with out constant help, etc..  They also played with each other while I tended to the baby's needs.  Yeah, it gets easier, but I also got better at dealing with things more efficiently as I grew with my children.  I remember one particular time when we had a friend's small family (one child at the time) over for a bday party and bbq.  Also present were my neighbors who had 4 stair-stepped children, plus my own 3 younger ones.  I lined up the plates for alllll the kids and started slapping food on them, assembly line style.  I looked over and my friend and her dh w/the one kid were just staring and when they saw me look at them they said they were amazed at how quickly and efficiently I was getting things done.  By then it was just second nature and I don't think anything of it.  I'm just used to being busy and want to get things done asap, lol.  And then there are busier times here... Like breeding time, birthing times, butchering times, gardening times, beekeeping "season", and next year hopefully cheese-making times.

Ok, sorry if that was thread-jacking. 

[creddy]

Being honest with yourself, how much sleep do you need?  My sis has 5 kids too, in tons of different activities, but she can run on fumes(3-4hrs, plus some caffeine) just fine!  I on the other hand need at LEAST 6 straight hours of sleep to even hope to function the next day, with only one toddler!  So, until my munchkin was STTN at 6 1/2 months, I didn't feel remotely capable of doing all that needed done.  Now that I'm pregnant again, it's harder to get those 6hours without getting up to pee, but that's beside the point.  Know yourself, and listen to your body when it tells you what it needs.

Of course all the points brought up in the other posts are important too.  Personally, I ended up needing prescription level VitD (which is a hormone, not a vitamin!), thyroid meds increased, and HAD to remember to take my multivitamin every day to function.  So definitely make an appointment with your doc to have levels checked if you suspect any of the items the other moms mentioned.  But do NOT underestimate the power of sleep!    

[mylilmonkeys]

I hear you!  I have eight, including eight month, cosleeping, EBF twins.  My dh works full time and is in school 3/4 time.  He leaves at 6am and arrives home between 10-11pm M-TH.  I have four in school and four at home all day (one is my 12yo dd, who does help with the littles a bit).  I have hit a new level of fatigue I never knew existed.  Recently I realized that my dairy 'issues' were way more serious than I thought, and when I eliminated, I realized that corn and wheat are also problems for me.  When I keep the dairy out of my diet, I manage to find stores of energy to actually get up and clean the house.  I still drag myself out of bed in the morning, and still am not sleeping well, but I don't feel like I'm about to die of exhaustion.  When I accidentally ingest a dairy derivative, it all comes back and I can barely get out of bed for about three days.  

If it helps at all, I wouldn't go back to having just one (or even two) for anything.  It is very demanding!

[choochootwo]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful input! I did in fact found out that I'm anemic. I'm now on chlorophyll and will start taking a B vitamin too. It's a good thing I love greens, because I'll soon be eating more of them. 

It sounds pathetic, but I'm super excited because my husband repaired the dishwasher. This is going to make a HUGE difference in my life. I'm also going back to eating oatmeal every morning. I stopped because of the glycemic index, but I felt tons better when I had my morning bowl. I had the energy to strap the baby on my back every morning and do a 3.5 mile walk. But since cutting that out, the walks of slowed and slowed. 

It's nice to know I'm not alone in my fatigue. Thank God for the internet, I don't know if I could ever admit my fatigue to anyone but you guys and my sister. 

[llwr]

I don't think anyone who homesteads is lazy.  You probably do tons more than most people.  When I spend time with my mainstream SILs I'm shocked at how little they do.  It's actually kind of a confidence booster.

It got a lot easier for me when my kids started to STTN.  It makes such as difference.  I also notice that things generally go a lot better for me when I'm able to stick to a housekeeping/chores routine.  I don't know that it'll do much for exhaustion, but it really helps me mentally.  I feel so much better when I can stay at least partly on top of things.  If it's something you're looking for, FlyLady was a big help for me.

[Neera]

I used to be exhausted and I too have only 1. I'm still tired all the time even though dd is older and more independent. I am just tired of hearing "mommy" all day and have been hearing it from the time she cud say it 24/7.

[OrangeMoon]

I have been taking floradix for iron and I *love* it. It makes such a difference. I also added vitamin d since it's winter. I didn't get the blood test for anemia but I'm vegan, and had the symptoms. Anyway, I feel sooooo much better.