HELP!! How do you cope with the fatigue?!

[emma2617]

I have been unbelievably tired for the last 4 weeks...I am only 8 weeks! I was on the verge of tears yesterday because I was that tired, and I have even brought a pillow and duvet to work today so I can have a nap in the car at lunch. I just don't know what to do

it is very difficult especially if you work! there is nowhere to nap in the office and napping is really the only solution. if you feel too tired take a half day off and spend it sleeping.
i dragged this fatigue for 5 days once, and on friday i just went home at lunch, got in bed, and had to stay there until sunday morning....

it will pass, i started feeling better at dead on 12 weeks, i was so tired and depressed, kept crying for the first trimester i didnt think id ever get through it. give in to it and do as your doing - sleep. dont feel guilty! Your hormones are all over the place - if needs be take some time off sick - it WILL pass! (until the end bit that is and then you'll be there again)!!!

I was dreading you saying that!! It is really depressing, I started crying last night because I was didn't have the energy to lift my fork to eat my tea its a hard life!!!!

I am actually starting to think this wasn't such a good idea and then I feel guilty because there are loads of people who would kill to be in my position, and it was planned, I just didn't prepare myself for the tiredness!

I have found eating little and often has helped me stave off the tiredness until I get home and put toddler to bed... then I collapse into bed myself.

It does get better - generally around the 12 week period. Am now also dealing with a stinking cold and not being able to take anything to make myself feel better, so it could be worse...

The first 12 weeks are the hardest - you can't explain to people why you are so tired, so they don't make allowances for you (and you don't get a seat on the tube!). I changed my working hours slightly so I got to my desk for 7:30am (tube was quieter) and left earlier so I had time for a nap before dinner. DH used to come in from work, wake me up, feed me and then put me to bed!
It will pass, but you seem to be doing the right thing - just grab naps whenever you can and rest at weekends.
I remember telling off a friend for not warnign me how bad it got, but found knowing it was 'normal' helped. I adored my second trimester though - being pregnant is brilliant & I'm sure you'll feel the same soon. Good luck x

It will get easier I promise! I am 17 weeks with my third and I am now in the last month getting out and doing a lot more stuff.

You have to try and sleep when you can. Go to bed early even if it seems dull. Sleep at weekends.

Try and drink lots of water and sit near a source of fresh air - if you can't have a window open try and get out and walk around at lunchtime - even if it's the last thing you feel like doing, it'll probably wake you up a bit.

And try and eat as well as you can (hard I know when you can't face much in the first trimester and your taste buds have gone crazy). I find if I can eat porridge for breakfast it releases energy much more slowly and keeps me going a bit longer.

It's a really hard time, try not to be too hard on yourself!

Thanks!! Pregnanct1 I think knowing it's normal helps a bit...I think I could handle morning sickness or fatigue...but the 2 together is just too much at the moment!!

I have just got back from my nap in the car and I do feel a lot better, so hopefully I will get 2 productive hours at work today!!

I don't think Dp really understands either...which really winds me up!! I think he thinks its just normal tiredness...and I can't quite get the words to explain how extreme it is!!

Anyway...positive thinking...I was never a morning person anyway butpregnancy just seems to have extended it until lunchtime!!

Thanks for your words of wisdom ladies!!!

i described it to my DH as a permanent hangover mixed with PMT as that is exactly how i felt. Sick, tired, depressed, hormonal! He didnt understand altho he tried - my mum said she didnt ever feel like this and to pull myself together when i went sympathy seeking form her! all in all it was a miserable 12 weeks but suddenly i felt human again. Im now 36 weeks and suffering the tiredness, aches, pains and immobility - pregancy is SO hard, i know some have joyful pregnancies but i clearly dont. I HATE being pregnant - altho i desperately want the baby - its means to an end - we'll all get there and WE WONT SUFFER IN SILENCE!!!!xxxx

Don't like to be discouraging, but I'm 16wks with dc2 and still feeling knackered (although that is enhanced by having a 1yo boy). Even last time I remember being exhausted until about 20wks and then suddenly felt great.

I keep crashing out at work - it's very hard to keep going so I sympathise greatly. It'll be worth it in the end though when you have a lovely healthy baby .

Hi emma2617

As others have said, it will pass. Don't be afraid to take the odd day off work as sick leave or go home a bit early if you can. I took two days off during my first 12 weeks and it gave me enough energy to cope with being at work the rest of the time so I think my employer got more out of me in the long run than if I had struggled on.

Emma2617 - this is my third pregnancy and the tiredness this time round has been worst of all (could be to do with my getting more geriatric, or having two kids to run after!!)

I was in bed at 8pm sharp every single night for the first 14 weeks - though that was also to do with the overwhelming nausea, I would sleep from then until 7am or even later at weekends.

Then at work my fave trick has been going to sleep on the hard tiled floor of our lockable women's shower room at lunchtime!! Not exactly comfy, but there's nowhere else to go and I can conk out for 30 minutes even on the cold hard floor and it's just enough to get through the rest of the day.

I like your duvet in car idea though!

Anyway, the tiredness does get better a bit after the first trimester.

Good luck

You are completely normal and it WILL get better. It's so annoying that no-one tells you this stuff beforehand - I had expected to be a bit tired but the tiredness combined with nausea is like the worst hangover that never goes away. I am 23 weeks now and felt like total crap for all of the first trim - knackered, weepy, starving, spotty - everyone kept saying how happy I must be to be pregnant and I wanted to hit them.

I don't have the burst of 2nd trim energy every talks about but since about 13 weeks I have felt much better - no sickness, skin much better, a proper bump at last and less tired.

My advice would be like everyone else says - take whole days of work sick (not holiday!) - and your employer is obliged to give you rest breaks. Go to bed as early as you possibly can and cancel all weeknight evening engagements. Rest and read baby books and magazines on weekends - don't trawl the shops or paint the nursery! That's what husbands/partners are for. Hang on in there and the depression and tiredness will lift and you'll get really excited about the baby - I promise!
xx