11 weeks - when will the exhaustion end...?

[sassylassie]

I had an early scan on Tuesday which dated me at 10+5 (had really severe abdominal pain) so after 3 hours my OH took me to the Early Pregnancy Unit at our hospital. It was all a bit of an emotional rollercoaster - we were worried about it being an ectopic pregnancy, so when the sonographer said "No, everything's in the right place) I was overcome with emotion!

Anyway, apart from that scare the only really rough thing I've had to deal with so far has been extreme tiredness. It started in about week 6 and it actually seems to have got worse in the last couple of weeks. I've got to the point now where I'm shattered from midday, I'm pretty unproductive at work in the afternoons and when I get home in the evening I can barely function. I'd normally meet up with friends/family or watch TV etc with my OH or study (I'm doing a part-time Master's), but I haven't done anything more than make a very quick dinner and crash out for the last few weeks.

Is this normal for this stage and when can I look forward to it ending? I guess it varies a lot but I would like to hope I can have a bit of a life outside of work again soon, even if it's just to catch up on the housework and stop neglecting my friends and family!

about 12 weeks.

About 16 weeks

In about 19 years when he moves out .

Seriously, pregnancy can be tiring yes, but if you are that tired I'd be getting yourself down to your clinic to have a blood test to check for anaemia. In the meantime start taking a supplement, it can't do any harm even if it isn't needed. Spatone is a good one as it doesn't cause constipation like iron tablets do!

Thanks all. Hopefully not too long to go then. 16 weeks still seems like ages away though. Indith LOL!! :o

Actually I do take a pre-natal supplement which says it contains 100% of the RDA for iron, so fingers crossed I'm not anaemic... You've just reminded me though, they did do a blood test for anaemia a couple of weeks ago at my booking appointment - been meaning to chase up the results! I guess they would have told me if there was a problem with that though?

They should have told you if there was a problem yes but always worth checking. Hope it passes soon :)

Well it's certainly not 13 weeks that's for sure...!

I'm finding that I felt less tired between wks 20-30. Now I'm 33wks I'm back to getting from work and crashing out. But that'll have something to do with being too big to be comfortable now as well.
Pregnancy's a joy :)

bleugh, i'm 11 weeks tomorrow and really struggling.....

JennitL1977 Wow, so only 10 weeks respite then!

supadupapupascupa I'm SO with you there. Are you getting sickness too? I've mostly escaped that thankfully, although there was a moment at work last week when I had to excuse myself from a meeting to go and get up close and personal with a toilet bowl. Luckily it seems to have been a one off.

First pregnancy so it's all a big unknown for me!

I'm 19 weeks and it hasn't lifted. At least the sickness is gone!

They didn't tell me my iron was low first time around so chase up that result. Plus if you are a bit low on ron don't rely on that supplement you are taking. It may have a high percentage RDA but it is in a form that the body cannot readily take on so you will not be absorbing that amount. Any tea or coffee, milk, eggs, cheese etc you take around the same time will also affect how much your body can take on. Hopefully you are not anaemic and the tiredness will pass!

Extreme fatigue seems to be lesser known symptom of early pregnancy, but I think it's like MS.

I had it really bad with DD, like you're brain can't function and you can only things on auto pilot. (at work I could experiments as it was a routine I had done for years but writing took stupid amounts of effort). I don't think it compared to the last trimester tiredness as that felt more physical in origin, my brain was still fine and I wrote loads (was finishing a thesis). I felt more mentally normally around 14 weeks.

This time I didn't have the same issue so when regular pg tiredness started to hit I was a bit taken back with it as my point of reference was the 1T being the worse.

sassielassie this is DC2 for me and i don't remember being this tired last time. I get the metallic taste and feeling mildly sick although I haven't been sick, all same as last time. Just feel pretty rough in general. I think I was about 14 weeks before i felt much better with DC1 but can't really remember. But it DID get better

Mine stopped about week 14, and is back with a vengance at 27!

Mine went on until 15/16 weeks and then I felt absolutely fine until nearly 30 weeks. Then the heartburn and tiredness kicked in again! But the good news is I really enjoyed that middle period.

With my last pregnancy I got my energy boost at around 31 weeks (yes, very useful!). I'm currently 7 weeks and perfecting my napping techniques and am dreading going back to work and be expected to use my brain rather than sit and drool!

Thanks everyone. Sounds like it's a good thing we've planned our holiday for August. I should be about 16 weeks by then, so hopefully I'll be able to enjoy it! Then again, I have no idea how I'm going to get through the next few weeks at work until then... At least it's only a couple of weeks til we can start telling people, which should hopefully take the pressure off a bit. I have a really demanding job (and demanding bosses...).

PenguinArmy - encouraging that you could work on a thesis in your 3T - perhaps there's hope for my Master's after all! I've completely neglected it for weeks now.