How to cope with tiredness in early pregnancy?

[mopsytop]

I am 8 weeks pregnant, and so far have been suffering from nausea and headaches. But only this week a new symptom has hit - totally exhaustion. from about 2pm I am finding it practically impossible to keep my eyes open. Feel like I have not slept for days. Any tips on how to cope? Have to get my work done but keep thinking I am going to nod off. Thanks!

[goodnightmoon]

i've been feeling the same way for the past two weeks (now 7 weeks 5 days). i'm drinking a diet coke right now but that is not good advice! I have no idea what to say - just sleep as much as you can in the night and maybe keep getting up to walk around when the exhaustion hits.

[harassedinherpants]

Try and go with it if you can! I'm 7+1 and been exhausted for about 3 weeks now.

Yesterday is my day "off" but I clean my parents 3 storey house as my mum is ill. It killed me!! I picked dd (nearly 5) up from school and we lay on the bed for an hour, her watching tv and me asleep........ Hoovered and did her tea, and then when dh got in and saw how exhausted I was he sent me for a lie down. So I went up around 6.30pm and pretty much stayed there until this morning. No dinner, just got a yogurt and fruit. Was lovely and felt heaps better this morning, and not so nauseous either!!

[bluerodeo]

i used to have a nap as soon as I got home from work - but I'm a teacher and would leave at 330 so I could do this. then back to bed after supper at about 8.

[Newmummytobe79]

I can't offer any advice but feel your pain! I was really tired around 8 weeks too. I fell asleep on the sofa when I got home from work and then DH would wake me up for dinner and then I'd fall asleep again only to be woken up to go to bed! If it helps ... I was fine by about week 10.

Good luck! x

[mopsytop]

Oh fingers crossed it passes soon. I have been reduced to tears this afternoon because work not advancing and SO tired and feel sick and just want bed, and worried that it will be like this for weeks and I will get really behind. I never realised early pregnancy could be this bad! Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to be pregnant, but I wish the symptoms didn't impact work so much :(

[mopsytop]

Oh, and thanks for the tips!

[harassedinherpants]

My top tips to get through working day :

food! I take a plastic tub full of chopped up fruit and pick all day. Food is the only thing that helps to keep nausea at bay for me.

Water/squash - I had an early scan last week (due to 2 previous mc's) and the nurse said to make I drink plenty and constantly as dehydration will make you feel tired and sick. I take a 2l bottle to work and sip constantly.

I also found that Sanatogen/Pregnacare type vitamins make me sick!! I just take plain old FA and I'm much better than I was with dd.

Don't forget, all these symptoms are actually fab as it means you have lots of hormones. In both my mc and mmc, symptoms had actually tailed off..... Plus this won't last forever as the placenta kicks in between 8-12 weeks, then you'll have a whole load of new symptoms!!

My friend has just got to the blooming stage, very jealous .

[yaimee]

I'm feeling exactly the same too, and it isn't helped by the fact that I have to get up through the night to keep going to the loo!
I've been trying to go for a walk or go swimming (maybe on your lunch break) as this helps me to feel a bit more alive in the afternoon and am going to bed pretty early too!
I think getting up and walking around might help and maybe not eating a massive lunch as that normally makes me pretty sleepy (having little nibbles instead)!
Hope this helps! x

[magicmelons]

Just sleep whenever you can, try and get some fresh air at lunchtime and know that it will pass, mine seems to be improving at 11 weeks.

I come home from work with the dc and entice them to my bedroom by allowing to watch tv there or use my laptop and then i snooze, when i put them to bed i have stopped reading bedtime stories but instead call it snuggle time, dd has a double bed i get ds to sleep in there ( he's 3) and then i lie with them until they're asleep. Before i discovered this i was reading them a story saying goodnight and then telling them 15 times to go back to bed when they asked for random things.

I slept from 5pm till 7.30 the other day only waking for half an hour to cry at 9pm because dh had not made me dinner. I am usually a reasonable person.

[KatyN]

My only tip is to tell your boss!

I was really struggling and was missing quite a lot of work.. leaving early, coming in late etc. One day I broke down in front of my boss and explained. Once he understood he was really understanding and a couple of times sent me home early because I was looking rough and clearly not getting much done.

(he also was obliged to keep it quiet from other members of my team!)

and I'm at 13 weeks now and I can GET THROUGH THE DAY WITHOUT A NAP.. I am VERY proud of myself!!!

good luck,
katy

[mopsytop]

hi everyone, well I went to bed really really early and slept until 7:30 this morning. Feel fine right now! Tiredness usually hits around 14:00 so I will let you know how I get on. Was supposed to be going out to a dinner tonight but have given my ticket to someone else and am going to get another really early night.

[Bartimaeus]

I found that 8 weeks was one of my worst weeks. I ended up telling my manager (he kept it secret) because I couldn't even drink water without being sick and I just wanted to collapse.

After 8 weeks it got better, still being very sick but not so tired. I started going to bed at 9.30pm and that helped.

Do you work in an office? Is there a medical office where you could lie down for a snooze at lunchtime? That's my plan for June / July when I will be 6 / 7 months pregnant and I reckon I'll find it hard to keep going all day without a break.

[mopsytop]

I am doing a PhD and really need to have handed in by the time the baby arrives, which is why I am panicking everytime I have a bad day, as really every day counts! The building where I work there is nowhere to lie down. Maybe a walk at lunchtime would help and not eating too much as well.

[magicmelons]

I feel your pain Mopsy, I'm doing a masters and my work is all due in in Aug, I still have a total of 11,000 words to write and I have to keep writing of days because I am so shattered and then I panic as i have nothing done. I have no motivation at the moment.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I'd forgotten about the tiredness but it's all coming back. Today has been the hardest and it's not a work day. I am planted on the sofa while dd eats chocolate and watches Cbeebies. It's all I can do not to fall asleep which I know I will if I close the lid of this laptop! And the sickness....vom..interesting tip about the dehydration. I'm not drinking nearly as much as I normally would. Must get on to that.

[Graciescotland]

Sleep in the loo at lunch and then go to bed after dinner...

[Tangle]

Do you have a car? I used to go and doze in the passenger seat for 1/2 hour.

(btw - not all healthy pregnancies have masses of pregnancy symptoms. Not all healthy pregnancies have the same symptoms throughout the 1st trimester. The presence/absence of things like MS is no indication of the health of the pregnancy. In contrast to harassed, I've never had much in the way of MS with a healthy pregnancy - the only time I did get MS I had a MC the day after the nausea started . Sorry - just trying to point out that symptoms tailing off or not being present doesn't mean that you're more likely to have a MC, as there often seems to be threads from women in just that situation who are terrified...)

[harassedinherpants]

Sorry Tangled, you are of course right!!! I was one of those panicking when my symptoms disappeared 10 days ago and had a fab scan .

[mopsytop]

No car. Nowhere to nap.:(
The tiredness has started again today BANG on schedule (first yawn overtook me at 13:59!) but I have planned another early night and am just rolling with it and keeping working but not panicking about being off the ball. Will just do what I can and keep looking forward to my early night.

[Bartimaeus]

Can you also try getting up and walking for 5 minutes every hour? I find if I sit too long I get tired/ache etc.

[mopsytop]

I get up to fill my water bottle fairly frequently, which is good as it makes me walk around a bit and also encourages me to keep hydrated. I also try and go for a short walk at lunch time. I have just had supper and am about to go to bed already! Hope it helps!