Week 21: Hello, pregnancy brain

By Published On: June 17th, 2016

I get asked how I am feeling a lot these […]

I get asked how I am feeling a lot these days. I can honestly answer that as far as my health goes, I feel pretty good. I’ve got a good amount of energy, an overzealous appetite, and aside from some aches and pains after a long day on my feet, I feel pretty normal at this stage in the pregnancy. The one thing I have been struggling with as of late, is pregnancy brain. It just sort of snuck up on me out of nowhere, and I fear it’s here to stay until the day they roll me into the delivery room.
I have heard so much about pregnancy brain in the past. I knew it would come for me at some point—I just didn’t know it would be this early. I imagined it coming at eight months of pregnancy, and feeling blissful with my head high up in the clouds, focused on nothing but my baby. Instead, I’m finding myself still fully enthralled at work trying remember something important that someone told me just a few hours ago.
Week 21 Sam DobsonDon’t get me wrong. I prefer pregnancy brain to some of the other unpleasant pregnancy symptoms. It’s just that this whole scatter-brain thing came on at a pretty inconvenient time. At five months of pregnancy, you have to continue on with your life as normal, and right now my life is a bit hectic. It’s the busiest time of the year at work, I’m two weeks away from throwing my best friend’s bachelorette weekend in Palm Springs, my husband is about to start an exciting new career, and we are in the middle of selling our current condo and moving into a new house. To top it all off, I’m trying to navigate through all of this while battling a fuzzy memory. So instead of absent-minded daydreaming about the days to come with my beautiful baby, pregnancy brain is causing nothing but headaches and stress at the moment.
To help combat the memory loss, especially at work, I’ve taken to writing everything down. I’m kind of nerdy in that I’ve always enjoyed making lists—well, now it’s a necessity. My day planner is full of lists at the moment. If I don’t make a to-do list or write down important details, there is a good chance I may temporarily forget. I’ve never in my entire life had to be so diligent about taking notes, scheduling appointments in my calendar and creating reminders on my phone. At least I’m being forced to be organized, right?
It’s not just forgetfulness either. Sometimes I find myself mixing words up or struggling to find the right phrase. I’m a fairly quick-witted person, that is, until about halfway through my pregnancy. Now I might start to say something clever but end up just falling flat on my face. It’s not uncommon for me to have to mull over a joke for a few minutes before getting the meaning. It’s a very humbling experience. What used to come very naturally is now a struggle at times.
What’s interesting, is that this new space-cadet routine doesn’t seem to be an issue when it comes to the baby. There is no memory loss or confusion as to what week we’re in or what we need to do to prep for our little one. I can remember every single baby development detail week by week, and I seem to have no trouble making a mental note of cool baby gadgets to include on my registry. It’s like pregnancy brain has invaded every other aspect of my life, but when it comes to the baby, I’m hyper-focused. Perhaps that’s the maternal instincts kicking in. Either way, staying so focused on my beautiful baby keeps me happy through all the current chaos and pushes me to continue moving forward.