Return to the office and early pregnancy fatigue

[NigellasMicrowave]

Hello all,

I’m only just over four weeks but struck down with horrendous fatigue and waves of nausea. This is coinciding with (like many of you, I imagine) my regular return to the office a couple of days a week from tomorrow. I cannot fathom how I am going to cope with the Tube then the office this week - I’ve been having to have a lie down in the middle of the day since I discovered I was pregnant.

Any tips on making this easier? I’m planning to pack my bag with some snacks - all ideas welcome. Thanks in advance.

If covid hadn’t happened, and you were in the office anyway, what would be your plan?

I do get it because I experienced awful early fatigue myself, however I was never WFH so just had to go in as normal with a fair commute either side. Four weeks is very early and if you’re only going to be going in a couple of days a week I think you’re going to have to manage. Diet Coke got me through lots of afternoons, plus using a handheld fan on my face when I got really tired.

If you are able try and use a little annual leave. If not, then making sure you get lots of rest outside of work, and trying to leave a gap in the middle of the day where you can find somewhere quiet to sit & have a decent lunch.

For me it is totally impossible to work from week 4.5 to week 12. The two weeks 6.5 to 8.5 I can only get up for at most an hour then go back to sleep - my day goes: up at 8.30? Sleep at 9.30. Up at 12.30, sleep at 1.30. Up at 4.30, lie down at 6.30. Maybe up at 7.30. Sleep at 9 ish. All night.

This, combined with total nausea. Can't eat anything in the strongest two weeks. Not even drink a cup of tea.

So - you need to plan for being off. This is pregnancy-related time off. Don't feel guilty. You can't help it. Whether you try to fight it or not, it will win. Then it will go away and if your like me, you'll feel full of energy for most of the other 6 months, and be super productive.

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Most people I know in work can’t simply ‘plan for being off’

I used to hide in the loos and have a 5 minute power nap! 🤣🤣

@WheelieBinPrincess I get your point, but pregnant or not, I think the return to the office is a significant adjustment to routine and a bit of a shock to the system. When I was in the office five days a week, I’d have asked to have worked from
home for some of the days and would have probably sought advice on here for the rest of the time! I’ll manage and a handheld fan sounds like a good idea - I’ll try and seek one out today.

Hopefully OP you won’t be floored with fatigue from here on in- it is a shock to the system at first, but like lots of pregnancy symptoms you’ll probably find it goes up and down/becomes your new normal fora bit and you adjust. I was in bed by 8 or 9pm most nights in the early days which helped me get through the day.

I used to put on sunglasses and have a brief doze in the local shopping centre and then the bus home. It's shit but people have been doing pregnancy since the dawn of time and coping with this

I was signed off sick for 3 months during my last pregnancy. Had HG without the throwing up part. Just severe, relentless nausea. Didn't lose my job or anything. Pregnancy makes some people very sick.

Early pregnancy is really really hard, I think powering through is one option but if you have a good relationship with your manager, I would have a conversation with them and ask for adjustments like continuing to WFH if that's possible. I think if the pandemic has taught us something it's that work can be flexible when we need it to be and it has shown us that there are lots of people for whom the 9-5 and the commute and dreadful presenteeism simple does not work. It does no one any favours to see a colleague barfing into a bin or struggling to stay awake at their desk. Ask for what you need OP, and if possible, take it.

I really really feel for you as I'm also struck down by the early pregnancy fatigue. Like I've been hit by a bus! No advice... Just sympathy

Just to say I am now 16 weeks but I spent allot of time in the first trimester working from home, napping and making peace with my plummeting productivity levels.

The first trimester is really hard and I think it is important to make our experience visible and continue to normalise it.

It is scary and knackering and I am of the opinion this is a big fat feminist issue and culturally, we should value women for their invisible reproductive labour.

I found that eating a good breakfast helped slightly, something with protein In it.

Only wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

It’s rough and the commute makes it worse, but for me it eased around week 10 so you don’t have long to go!!

I had my first pre COVID times and I choose to tell my boss early at 7 weeks. She then let me WFH 3 days a week as I was tired and felt sick. So it’s always worth letting your boss know if you are willing to as they may be able to cut you more slack.

Try and get out for fresh air during lunch and then maybe another quick ten minute walk in the afternoon to wake you up.

My first trimester fatigue was really debilitating and I was so grateful to be WFH so l could nap at lunch, so I feel your pain. Good luck xx

I used to have a quick sleep in the disabled loo, using the loo roll as a pillow..!
I think the key is to make sure you get an early night before you have to be in the office, and have a nap when you get home from work

But as pp said, women have been combining work with early pregnancy for a long time. You can grit your teeth and get through the tiredness, just as you do when you’ve got a newborn to deal with

Some women can't grit their teeth and just get through it though. And that's OK too, OP. See how you feel.

You’ve said you only need to be in the office a couple of days? Can you choose those days, so maybe a Monday and a Friday would give you 2/3 days break between each office day?
Hopefully by the time you get to 12/13 weeks you’ll be feeling better, which sounds like ages away but if you’re only in the office 2 days a week then it’s only 16/18 office days until you reach the second trimester.

I had to nap every day in my first 15 weeks, I’ve never known anything like it. I would book a meeting room and have a 30 min power nap at lunch.

Do you have children at home to look after? I've really struggled with fatigue in this pregnancy, much more so than my first. I work a very full on job and for me, the key has been getting lots of rest in the evening and at weekends. With a toddler at home, this has meant lots of support from my mum and my husband doing more than his fair share.

If you have annual leave to use, it may be worth booking the odd day here and there to help you recuperate from the time you need to spend in the office?

In my first pregnancy I was tired alllllll the time and going into the office. I worked out that i was tired by 3/4pm no matter how early i woke up so I shifted my hours slightly. Went in at 7/8am and left at 3, I could then get home for a nap before dinner!

This time round with a toddler, absolutely horrific. 😂 no time to rest i am tired all the time.

In my first pregnancy I was working full time with a lengthy commute. I was permanently exhausted and nauseous fit the first 16 weeks, but I struggled on somehow.

My coping strategies included a big bag of tasty snacks from M&S that I bought on the way to walk every morning, lots of cold drinks, toilet break power naps and a brisk walk around the block when I thought I was going to fall asleep at my desk. I fell asleep on the tube home every evening, too, and would have a bath and go straight to be the minute I got in!

Second pregnancy I had hyperemesis so work was out of the question!

Did anyone feel tired immediately?

@Pollypocket89 immediately after what?

Conception