Week 13: Pregnancy brain—it's a thing

By Published On: April 18th, 2013

I used to think that pregnancy brain was a myth […]

041813ku-featureI used to think that pregnancy brain was a myth that expectant mothers used as a convenient excuse. Now I wish I could tell my past self to bite her tongue, because I know firsthand that it is very real.
Fortunately, my brain burps have only been happening in front of close friends and family, so it’s just mildly embarrassing when my memory fails me. For example, one Friday night, we went to dinner with my parents to visit the restaurant where my younger sister works as a waitress. While having lunch with my parents at a different restaurant the next day, my dad said that our waitress didn’t compare to the one he had the night before. And curious me asked, “Oh yeah? Where did you guys go last night?” I caught myself as soon as I said it, but it was too late. My family was now privy to my pregnancy brain mishaps.
I’m also lucky enough to have a husband who keeps his comments to himself and fills in the blanks when I say something nonsensical. For example, when I expressed my delight over the Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory, and it came out “Finding Nory,” Arthur didn’t acknowledge it until I rewound and corrected myself. (He’s always been good at understanding Char-lese, but lately it’s been more of an effort.)
Lists have become my go-to when trying to keep track of all the items I need at the grocery store or the work tasks I need to accomplish. And they’ve proven to be very effective… when I remember that I have them. For now, my blunders only affect myself, but I worry about whether they will eventually impact my job (I highly doubt readers would be able to translate gobbledygook) or personal life (I’d hate to disappoint a friend by forgetting our lunch date!).
For the time being, I just have to take a little extra time to think my thoughts through internally before speaking out loud and make a concentrated effort to stay on task. I also owe an apology to all the pregnant women out there who I doubted before when they blamed pregnancy brain—I’m getting my comeuppance!
 
Now, what was I doing again?