Pregnancy Fatigue « Back to Group Discussions

[tdot mama]

Hello ladies,  so glad that I found this group!  It is great to meet you all!

I'm about 8 weeks along and the symptoms are hitting me really hard.  This is my second pregnancy (I have a 18 mnth old DS at home) and I don't remember it coming on this strong the first time around.  I am absolutely exhausted, light headed, nauseated ALL THE TIME, and just feeling so crummy.  The though of taking my prenatal cocktail (since my naturopath literally has me on a pill cocktail- prenatals, fish oils, vitamin b, magnesium, iron...) makes me want to puke! Soooo needless to say that I haven't taken them in a while.

Anywho, I am just writing this to belly ache - nothing more.  Anyone else feeling like this?  Any tips beside just go to bed?  And for the ladies that suffer no side effects - I am so jealous... 

[AmBam]

I'm 7 weeks tomorrow and my symptoms are pretty mild, but I've never suffered from horrible morning sickness in any of my pregnancies. My biggest complaint is the fatigue for sure. I'm always exhausted. I could seriously take a nap by 11am! I'm nauseous if I wait too long between meals, I have a constant headache, and I'm super moody. Compared to some, I have it pretty easy.

I say nap with your little one as much as possible and take full advantage of anytime you feel close to normal. Most likely you'll be feeling great in a couple of months and can catch up on all that was left undone these first few weeks!

[parisferris]

Acupuncture!!

The nausea I experienced in my previous pregnancies was terrible. I felt fragile all the time, for about 8 weeks with each pregnancy. During my last pregnancy my midwife had recommended acupuncture, but I just felt too crummy to do anything and laid in bed when I wasn't working or (forcing myself) to hang out with our daughter. After our loss in January, I started seeing an acupuncturist to help to sort my body out and prepare for future pregnancy and this time around, it's mild. I'm still exhausted and I still have a super-sensitive gag reflex, and I feel mildly nauseated in the evenings but I don't feel that constant need (never fulfilled) to puke, and now, at about 7 weeks, I'm thinking that this might be it. 

So there's my two cents. If you're open to it, and it's available to you, it might be worth a try. I'm quite confident that this is what has made such a dramatic difference in how I feel this time around. 

[2sweetgrrls]

I have the ridiculous fatigue too, I can barely make it halfway through the day without a nap, and even with one, I'm still ready for bed by 9, it's crazy.  My house looks like a bomb went off and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it. No advice, but you're not alone!

[broodymama]

Lots of fatigue here too.  By the time I get the kids in bed I'm ready to fall asleep too.

[hotsauce]

Same.  Super tired except, funnily enough, when I'm at work on my feet and able to chit-chat with co-workers to keep my mind off things.  My sweet five year old has been really patient with me, though, allowing me to spend lots of time on the couch while he plays and does his own thing.  I recently got a kiddie pool and letting him play with the hose and his toys outside can buy me a couple hours of down-time.  I'm also pretty fond of putting a 'mama-movie' on later in the afternoon that will bore him to sleep.  We watch on the laptop in bed and that's been a nice way to coerce him into napping with me.  I have to keep reminding myself that I *only* have another month to go before I'm in my second trimester and should have a bit more energy.  I feel pretty guilty since it's summer and the pool is about to open and all the thought of taking a walk downtown or going swimming makes me want to weep... I just want to stay in bed!

[kawa kamuri]

My tip is to claw your way through it because I don't know anything that truly helps. Sleep as much as possible. 

[LemonPie]

I was exhausted like that with my second pg, and I had an 18 month old as well.  Maybe it's no coincidence, haha!  The only thing that got me through was being able to nap when he did.  I seriously remember crying one day because I wasn't going to get a nap for whatever reason.  I asked my doctor to run blood work because it really concerned me--I had mono in college and that was *nothing* compared to this fatigue!   In my case, it went away with the nausea about 12-13 weeks and I felt a lot better.  And thankfully my parents live close by and my mom took my son several afternoons so I could rest. 

Hang in there mama.  Rest when you can.  If he'll watch videos or TV, use that to your advantage and don't feel guilty.  It will get better!
 

[kel]

Have you tried taking the vitamins right before bed?  Some of them may actually help with your energy levels during the day, so I would try to do it that way - even if you can't stomach them all.  I take mine at bed and am never bothered by them. 

But, it's normal to be exhausted and it should be better in another month.  I'm 8 wks too and super tired today.  Changing environment does also sometimes help though - get some fresh air, go for a 10 or 20 minute walk - it can help once you get out there.

xo

[tdot mama]

I will try all of the suggestions!  and I wish I could nap when DS does but I work FT - boo. 

[lulu27]

This is my first pregnancy - I'm 8 weeks today - and full out nauseau and extreme fatique and smell aversions hit about a week and a half ago. I can easily have a 3 hr nap by lunchtime every day! Finding it very difficult to work my office job right now (started working from home when I'm able so I can have lots of naps), and almost everything I smell makes me ill...

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by 2sweetgrrls 

I have the ridiculous fatigue too, I can barely make it halfway through the day without a nap, and even with one, I'm still ready for bed by 9, it's crazy.  My house looks like a bomb went off and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it. No advice, but you're not alone!

I can so relate to the bomb going off in the house.  With four kids ready to destroy LOL.  At least my house is relatively small for a family our size and doesn't take too long to pick up.  LOL  I'm so exhausted though, and definitely would love to get more sleep.  Not that it would help (I've tried and still exhausted afterwards).  I knew someone who had their first and at the time was living alone.  They made it through their first trimester not knowing they were pregnant and went to bed at a normal time and sleep until like 3 PM every day.  She'd lost her job and at the time thought she was just depressed (irregular periods so she didn't think she was pregnant as she'd go sometimes 6-7 months between them).  

OMG I wish I could sleep that LONG.  LOL  The energy should come back...I keep on telling myself that.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by kawa kamuri 

My tip is to claw your way through it because I don't know anything that truly helps. Sleep as much as possible. 

The exhaustion, nothing seems to help here.  Even when I take naps it only helps a little!  

[organicviolin]

I hear you with the tiredness! I need to take naps as well. Maybe it's because I have DS1 who is 3 and DS2 who is 13 months and they are always on the move, but man, I need my rest. The other day, I took a nap with DS1 for an hour and then another one when I was putting him to bed. phew!

[coconutbroccoli]

I have never been this tired in my entire life.  All I want to do is lay around in bed.  It's embarrassing!  I think part of my issue is that I'm still nursing my baby at night and he's been waking all the time to nurse and not getting enough, so I'm just not getting enough sleep.  But it's not even sleepy tired.  It's just zero energy.  I also have other stressors in my life that I really need to deal with.  It's amazing how side issues take up so much energy in the mind/body.

Acupuncture sound delicious!  I've never done it before, but I really want to try it.  My DH swears by it.

P.S. My house should be declared a super fund site.  It's totally out of control.

[kawa kamuri]

No, it's not sleepy tired. It's been walking uphill for hours and hours and hours and I can barely take another step tired. It's the most strenuous physical work tired except I just woke up. My babe is also nursing like mad all night. It's driving me crazy, but I know my milk is on the way out and I think he'll wean when that's that so I'm just letting him have it. He's seriously night nursing like a newborn and is 11m. Gosh, it's hard to think he won't be my babiest baby for long, but newborns do not pinch and twist and play with nipples. 

[hotsauce]

Strange and it might just be me, but it seems like the days I don't really do anything but drag my butt from bed to couch to kitchen are the days I feel the most out of it and exhausted.  I work on my feet and, seriously, although I just want to go home when I get there once I'm going I have an abundance of energy.  I really think the trick for me is making myself put on real clothing that isn't pajamas, make a bit of an effort with my appearance and get OUT of the house!  Some days I just can't because I feel so sick but what I'm learning is that just getting up and around is half the battle.  I made myself go to a concert yesterday because DP bought tickets.  On the way I really just wanted to nap but once there I had a great time dancing, that is, until the smell of strawberry blunts made me nearly lose my lunch, lol!  I definitely haven't pulled my weight around the house lately, and I certainly take as many naps as I can, don't get me wrong.  I just think instead of sequestering myself off from the world and taking to the couch I should take that walk, go to the pool with my son, MAKE myself do stuff because I honestly feel so much better out in the sunshine and fresh air.  Like maybe being in bed/lazing about on the couch has a bit of a placebo effect and makes me feel even worse than I should or something.  Or I might be a pregnant crazy lady. I just know that if I'm home it's easy to constantly think about how awful I feel and how pregnant I am and when I'm distracting myself with activity I actually sometimes forget, and that seems to make the days fly by and the symptoms a bit easier to manage.  Or so I tell myself. 

[lulu27]

I keep trying to do that! Or certainly wanting to, distract myself that is. But the nauseau combined with extreme fatique hits so suddenly and when it does, I'll be driving a car and barely be able to make it home into bed. Thankfully I work in an office by myself. Mornings are best so I've been trying to work in the morning, and by lunch time try to hold it off with some food and a short rest, but usually have to go home and spend the rest of the day in bed. I can't imagine if I worked with other people, no way to hide it. Today I have an out of office meeting over lunch and beyond, and next week a full day consultation session and am absolutely dreading them both trying to figure out how to get through them!! There's been a few regular events I take part in that I just couldn't do - explained I was run down and not well - and hoping that it peters out soon or people will figure out! We're in week 10 now, so I'm thinking within the next two weeks we'll start telling people - which will be nice because I've been super anti-social and not seen anyone in the past month because of extreme fatique!!
 

[kawa kamuri]

That reminded me of my last pregnancy. There were times I literally had to stop the car, put my head down and sleep with a car full of kids for a few minutes. There was literally no other choice.

[birthjunkiemom]

The fatigue has really hit me, as well.  My husband and I got married in April, but just had our wedding with friends/family last weekend, and went on a few day honeymoon.  I am so glad all he really wanted to do during the trip was relax, because I took two naps almost every day!  LOL.  Poor guy.  At least since it was our honeymoon, he didn't mind at all napping with me, since when I woke up I was more than ready to do more typical honeymoon-related activities.   Now that we're home and trying to get on a summer schedule, I'm having to take a nap every afternoon around 3.  Thankfully, my older children are plenty old enough to entertain themselves (and help with starting getting dinner ready, etc) while I nap.

[AnahataChakra]

I just wanted to say how much this thread helped me get off my butt and go for a short hike with my fam yesterday and even though I had my moments for the most part it was great and today I am feeling much better.  I was also reading about how your body has a hard time ridding itself of all the excess hormones and walking or exercise are the best for releasing the HcG.  I am so grateful that it is June and not the middle of winter.  Thanks for posting about this!  We are off to the park :)