Extreme fatigue at 17 weeks, feeling low, struggling

[anxious25]

Hi, I’m almost 17 weeks and my fatigue seems to be getting worse rather than better. Have been to GP and I’ve got low iron so I’ve got tablets for that, but it feels like there must be more going on than that. I’m at the stage where I can hardly stand for more than a few minutes at a time without feeling so unwell and exhausted with aching legs and nausea. I’m spending most of my free time in bed. I’m also vomiting intermittently which makes me feel even worse.

I’m 40 and have 2 other DC who are 6 and almost 4. My husband is amazing, he’s doing literally everything on top of his full time job, looking after DC, all the household chores and supporting me. But I feel so guilty about all of it. I feel like I’ve made a huge mistake with this pregnancy, financially and everything else feels like it’s all so much worse off now and in the future without me pulling my weight. I’m working part time but just found out that I won’t get 1/5th of my salary on Mat leave (long story) which has set me back even more.

My question is… is it normal to feel this fatigued at this point? Will I feel better anytime soon? I’m wondering if it’s my mental health as well, but that doesn’t explain the leg aches I don’t think.

Hey didn’t want to read and run! My DD is 4.5 months and I could have written your post in terms of the fatigue. Did they put you on ferrous sulphate? I was given it but it actually made me more sick so changed over to ferrous fumarate which was much better. I had vomiting all the way until about 40 weeks as well. It’s a long old slog but will be worth it when you get there! It lifted almost the minute I gave birth to be honest, everything feels 10X worse when you’re so tired though. Thankfully you have such a great husband, my partner is the same and really dragged me through!

@Btowngirl thanks for this. It’s good to hear it ended eventually with the birth!! At the moment I don’t think I’ll have any energy to actually push a baby out so I’m really hoping I get a little better before then but tbh any improvement at any point would be amazing right now.

Not sure what's 'normal' but I've been very fatigued this whole pregnancy (I'm now 38+ weeks).

In the second trimester I also had low iron and consistently low BP which would cause dizzy spells and fainting episodes as well as the debilitating fatigue.
Iron tablets didn't really help as I've had sickness for the entire pregnancy so couldn't keep them down long enough to see any benefit (I eventually had to have an iron infusion at 35 weeks as my levels went critically low).
My pulse rate has also been high the whole time which causes fatigue, low energy and breathlessness.

I had nothing like this with my first but she's now 4.5 years old and I'm 42 so I think both of those contribute as well.

Hoping that like pp, this will all improve after I give birth!