How soon did you get 'baby brain's?

[Silverski5]

Surely not this early?! I'm only 4+2 but I've been doing some silly things over the last few days and really cant concentrate. I've left the car unlocked, left all the windows and doors open last night when I went to bed and I tried to go to work friday morning without my car keys, o h and I forgot to feed the dog lol
And now I've just realised I've cocked up the sunday roast because when I looked at timings this morning somehow I calculated 25minutes plus 25 minutes equals half an hour! How?!

At 4 weeks I drove the wrong way up a one way road that I drive down EVERY DAY and also put ice cream in the fridge...those are the only two major ‘oops’ I’ve had so far...

I got it bad when I first found out I was pregnant (4 weeks same as you), and I was really scatty then it wore off when the sickness started and I just felt dead 😂 I’m now 20 weeks +1 and feel fine ! Congrats xx

Hey I'm 4+3 today! Yesterday morning I couldn't find my toothbrush, mentioned it to my husband who went into the bathroom and found it slap bang in the middle of the bathroom floor 🤷🏼‍♀️

Honestly, never. The recent research isn’t conclusive — the famous earlier study that popularised the concept of ‘baby brain’ was based on a tiny number of respondents, and their concentration/ cognitive functioning wasn’t tested before they were pregnant, so there was no control group. It got a credibility in pop culture out of all proportion to its effectiveness as a study.

I think it’s largely culturally produced. Women expect to be forgetful/distracted when pregnant and tend to notice more when they are.

I can honestly say that I functioned much as usual throughout my pregnancy, and where I didn’t, it was because of bad morning sickness.

I think it is real. I watched my boss turn from a really, really capable woman with a fantastic memory to a shell of her former self during and after pregnancy. I could understand it towards the end and after birth when sleep deprivation was an issue, but she had no negative symptoms at all right up until then and had the memory of a hen. Sorry!

Agree with @sealettuce - 'baby brain' is a construct of society to discredit women, particularly 'delicate' pregnant woman. Everyone gets more forgetful when they're tired, but to say it's an actual condition is rubbish.

I'm 20 weeks, and for a few weeks now I've been unable to think of certain words I want to say or write, and sometimes can't explain really simple things. This is a massive problem, as I write/edit for a living!

I felt the best in my second trimester, almost back to normal, but it was also the time when I was the most forgetful - I was making simple errors at work and we all put it down to baby brain! Since I’m not normally like that at all and I definitely noticed a difference.

Not at all, personally.

I'm fairly sure I've had a baby brain my whole life

Seriously though, I'm 24 weeks now and my brain doesn't seem to have changed much, although I have gone through periods of extreme exhaustion where I just can't/can't be bothered to think too deeply.

I'm 16 weeks. I lost a bag of carrots in the kitchen. I found it today, in the freezer, with another bag of carrots... there might be other stuff I havent discovered yet 🤯

I never had it

Hi everyone,
these posts caught my eye because I am very interested in the topic of 'Baby Brain' or 'Brain Fog' from a research perspective. This means in reality I am interested in trying to understand what it is and what causes it and why many women report changes in their thinking and memory during pregnancy or after giving birth.

If anybody is interested in sharing their experiences under the mumsnet research area I am advertising for research participants on this topic. Just click on the link below to access the research area and information about this study.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/surveys_students_non_profits_and_start_ups/4083689-A-TOUCH-OF-BRAIN-FOG#prettyPhoto

Thanks everyone,
Louise

I was very dubious about the existence of baby brain before I got pregnant (like pp said, everyone is forgetful when they're tired).

THEN I hit about 16 weeks and my brain just kind of... got fuzzy?

Seriously, I forget words, put things away in random places, and have even momentarily forgotten how to do basic tasks like making a cup of tea. Plus I get so so upset when I make a mistake ) It is nothing like the normal forgetfulness I get when I'm tired.

I put a load of dirty laundry and a liquitab into the tumble dryer. Luckily caught myself just before I pressed start!

I used shower gel on my hair instead of conditioner. I realised my mistake, washed it out and then did it AGAIN.

Weirdly it’s my partner that gets the baby brain. Last time he was constantly forgetting stuff even words like spoon. He’d turn the tv on and then walk off to get a cup of tea and I’d find a cold cup of tea in the kitchen an hour later, the tv blaring and him upstairs on his computer?? This time he’s already forgotten his keys in the front door overnight! Good job we live in a safe area

I just wish he got all the other symptoms too

I was sharp as a tack throughout my pregnancies.

The only case of "baby brain" I encountered was 48 hours after giving birth I drove my car into a parked car in Sainsburys car park. It was like - what the hell did I just do?

I never had it specific to pregnancy. I have done clumsy things and been forgetful throughout my life and moreso when I've not been well (one consequence of my condition is fatigue).

I think it's just a result of you being constantly tired during pregnancy. Naturally you're going to start making silly mistakes if you're not well rested.

From around 32wks. Trying to string sentences together when I forget what the correct words should be 😂

Pregnant with baby number 5 here will be 25 weeks tomorrow. Baby brain has become the new norm to me since about 2016 haha! For me it’s mainly searching the house for things I literally have in my hand, whilst saying to myself ‘I only just had it where the hell have I put it’ or talking on the phone and saying ‘I can’t find my phone anywhere’ haha! My eldest certainly finds it amusing I was holding her school top the other day and she said Mum what are you looking for? I said your school top I can’t find it anywhere and she said oh so not the one your holding In your hand then🤣

Very early on in pregnancy I began to forget words for the simplest of things. As someone who is usually articulate, it was really frustrating.

My husband also noticed that I was putting things in very random places.

I believe it is a thing that happens in the brain, but that societal thinking contributes to people's view on it.

Please don't perpetuate this. If you're forgetful it's because you're understandabley distracted at the prospect of such a major life change and exciting event, you haven't become less intelligent.

I was a bit foggy when my thyroid (TSH) level was low and picked up when it was corrected. I wonder if this could be the connection as pregnancy is known to affect thyroid levels.

I mean high TSH sorry