Early pregnancy tiredness - anything I can eat/do to help??

[Janus]

I've just discovered I'm pregnant with number 2, am literally just 6-7 weeks pregnant.
With my first I was so lucky, not sick at all, but I did have terrible bouts of tiredness for about the first couple of months and it seems like I'm having the same this time around. It really hits me like a wave and I feel so groggy I can hardly function. Does anyone know if there are foods to eat which give you more energy (I'm sure there are) or anything else I can do? Perhaps running after a toddler is wearing me out a little too but there's not alot I can do about that!!
Thanks.

CONGRATS !!!!!!
Well I am not a vitamin taker but I did take antenatal supplements and found they helped (I took Solgar)
Is your DD still napping.... if so of course nap when she is (I know you know that!)
Going to be a tad earlier... and as you know by 3 months pregnancy you should feel better....

Congratulations Janus ! I can only recommend eating lots of fruit and good carbohydrates like pasta and rice that are slow releasing. Chocolate is good but doesn't last long. I was very nauseous the first few months, just eat little and often and as Pupuce said, nap when your little one does, if possible

Well done on number 2... I found lucozade helped me - but don't know how healthy it is!

No advice, but many congratulations, Janus!

Congratulations!

I really suffered with tiredness from about 6 weeks until.. 14 weeks. The only thing that helped me was to turn in much earlier to bed each night... and at work I would go and sit in a cubicle and shut my eyes for 20 minutes!

Congratulations. Im 33 weeks with no2 and was totally shattered in the early months, being sick everyday didnt help. But to be honest running after a 22 month little boy is exhausting in its on right so not surprised I still have days of total exhuaustion. In the early months I just eat what I fancied when I fancied which was pretty much eating all day (refer to early posts on the mums to be thread). Now though I have gone right off food and the heat doesnt help.

I totally agree with sleep when toddler sleeps it makes so much difference, even if you cant sleep just the sit down with your feet up tele on and not do anything. Good luck with pregnancy and really I think all you can do is go with the flow and let your body tell you what it wants, when I started doing that things became alot easier.

Congratulations Janus! dried apricots was about the only food I could face between 6 and 12 weeks - maybe it's sugar levels gave me enough energy to cope?

Hooray!! I was the same with both my dds, but pg no.2 was definitely harder. Floradix is a good vitamin supplament as it's got lots of iron, available in health food shops. Can you get some help with your toddler? My dd1 started nursery just b4 I got pg with no.2 so I'd crash out in bed whenever she was there, in between chucking up that is! All the best.

Hi, congratulations! I am 18 1/2 wks with no 2 and still tired. Not as tired as I was (dropping off in meetings - not the best when there are just 3 people in the room!) but not as un-tired as I felt at this stage with no 1 (and I was still in hospital with hyperemesis at this stage). I think it's the no 2 factor - even with me working f-t and him being at nursery - the morning and evening few hours and the weekends are enough just to do me in. Lots and lots of early nights needed. Hope it eases soon.

Congratulations, Janus - could this possibly have been a factor in feeling so blue a while back? I am 19 weeks with no 2 and really did feel tremendously depressed and tired for the first trimester, much more than I remember with no 1. I'd recommend ginger beer as an anti-nausea/instant energy drink (the low-cal won't give you the sugar kick...), and found eating sushi, the ordinary M & S stuff, really helped with energy levels for the rest of the day. Bananas and dried apricots, plus an occasional pinch of unsalted pistachio nuts also helped. All the best!

I'm 20.5 weeks with No 2, no helpful hints really, as I'm still really tired. I figure it's natures way of reminding you of how tired you will feel with night feeds etc.......

fantastic! great news! two things to recommend - take iron supplements NOW! Floradix are good, but don't forget green veg, red meat etc etc plenty of orange juice (if your low in vit c you won't be able to absorb the iron). don't know your caffeine "policy" but whatever you do, don't take your iron pills with a cup of tea in the am etc, will inhibit the uptake. secondly, as others have said, it's v. boring, but early nights are a must!

great news! hope you are feeling more cheerful now

Congratulations. I felt much the same with my first pregnancy - accupunture worked.

Janus, I hope this doesn't make you feel too bad, but I'm now 36 weeks pregnant and I'm only feeling better and full of energy since 30 weeks (just when most people start to feel tired again...). This too is my second pregnancy and quite different to my first, when I felt fine most of the time. And seeing as I have someone to help 5 days a week, I can't even blame the tiredness this time round on my toddler....
Anyway, the things I found helped to alleviate the tiredness/nausea were:
1: Bircher muesli in the morning (combine 1/2 cup rolled oats with milk or fruit juice the night before, and put it in the fridge. Eat in the morning with fresh fruit or sultanas, nuts, tahini etc etc)
2: Exercise after breakfast, even when you're feeling very tired, something like taking your toddler to the park
3: Take a SHORT sleep at lunchtime (or whenever your toddler sleeps) but only around 40 mins.
4: See if you can find a pregnancy yoga class in your area -- I found gentle yoga helped quite a bit with tiredness.

Hope that helps a bit, Lorien

Janus, congratulations! Drink plenty of water, its possible that your blood pressure might be low and this helps to bulk up your blood volume. also eat little and often and try not to eat too much sugar, it doesn't help and will contribute to sudden 'waves' of tiredness. Take it very easy for the next 6/7 weeks and once you start feeling a bit better (hopefully in second trimester) take some exercise, it really helps. I did preg yoga but found all the bending and stretching impossible with low blood pressure (spent half the class in a faint!!), so I would recommend swimming.

How old is your toddler? Mine has now become very good at jigsaw puzzles as thats all I could manage for the first few months (she likes TV a lot more too now, but thats another story ). Simple games like the Shopping List Game are another 'mum vegges on sofa option'. Good luck!

congrats Janus - i'm 21 wks on no. 2, so far the pregnancy ahs been completely different to no. 1. No. 1 was a 'give me that moutnain to climb' experience, No. 2 is prooving to be ' do i really have to walk up that step' experience!! My complete exhaustion stage was approx. 13-17/18 wks - the smallest thing was the biggest effort i i think there is v. little you can do - as Joe1 said you have to let your body lead ..... Running after a toddler is a huge factor - i almost can't carry him anymore which is a shame. The one thing that did and still deos help me is p/g yoga, it helps me shut off from the outside workd and it's madness and it's also envigorating and heps the ebergy flo (beginning to sound like an old hippie now!) - i would highly recommend it - although they say you should wait until you're 12 weeks. Good luck.

Many congratulations Janus. I too remember the overwhelming tiredness with both mine during the first 12 weeks. You just have to rest as much as possible - difficult with a toddler! It will get easier - and then come back at the end!!

Oh Pamina.... first congrats!
Second... try drinking PLENTY of water. If I were you I'd concentrate on my breathing, eyes closed, curtains shot.. all hippie stuff but if you try to relax it might get better
Do you have morning sickness as well ? Or jsut the headache ? Call your MW and ask which drug you can take if you are not better.

Hugs !

No advice Pamina but CONGRATULATIONS!

And Janus too (first time I've looked at this thread since I'm not pregnant!)

Congrats! As we are first timers my husband and I have been ever so strict with what I eat and take... (I'm 30 weeks) ..I had terrible morning sickness early on, and I find I get headaches from time to time now. The best thing is tons of water, and keep out of direct sunlight.

pamina, congratulations!! I had terrible migraines from 4 weeks onwards and had acupuncture (in desperation) at 10 weeks - I can honestly say I haven't had so much as a headache since my first treatment and I'm 32 weeks now.