Pregnancy brain, baby drain brain, pregnancy amnesia, momnesia or whatever you may call it has totally hit me and it has hit me hard. I admit it! I have actually heard that pregnant women are sometimes "smarter" during pregnancy, but I couldn't find research to back that up. However, I found plenty of websites that confirm baby brain drain effects most pregnant women. What is it? Well, we are talking about temporary lose of memory and forgetfulness. The websites I found all said that it is common because of the hormone levels and excitement in the first trimester. I don't recall (see what I mean) having forgetfulness/short-term memory loss in the first trimester. They also say it happens often in the 3rd trimester. I am only in my second trimester and this baby brain fog is clouding up my memory.
Here are some of my mishaps:
I do my grocery shopping at a local store that allows customers to self check-out. I find self check-out works best for me because: one, I bring my own bags and the cashiers usually give me an annoyed looked when I hand them 10 bags to bag my groceries in (sorry, cashier, just doing my part to save the earth) and two, I actually enjoy it. Well, twice in the last month I have forgotten items (after they had already been paid for) in the check-out area. I grocery shop once a week, if you do the math that is 2 out 4 times I am forgetting paid merchandise. Once I just bit the bullet and didn't bother calling the store but the other time it was a couple of items and a bit more money so I called. They didn't find the items which leads me to believe the person after me decided they deserved free items or I actually have the items somewhere but I just can't find them. Either way, I went back to the store and they allowed me to get the items and not repay for them. Of course, if I run across these misplaced/hidden items somewhere in my car or house I will return them to the store that so kindly trusted my pregnancy brain.
Last week, while I was driving with my daughter I ran a red stoplight. I never do that!! I just wasn't paying attention. Thankfully, the other drivers saw my flashing neon light that read: warning, pregnant woman behind the wheel.
I can't get any child's name right the first time. When my daycare is full, I have 10 kids. You can bet that I go through at least 3 names before calling the child the right name. Sometimes I even throw in the dog's name. Sometimes I can't think of any name so I am in a frozen state of "duh".
And lastly, I have many times gone to put the milk in the cabinet and the sugar in the refrigerator.
Oy! Oy! Oy!
These are just a few samples of my memory loss. A lot of what I read says that fatigue is a key factor, too. I can understand that. I had been sleeping pretty well up until about a week ago. Our youngest has not been sleeping through the night lately. We are hoping this passes quickly and we can return to our normal sleeping patterns.
On to random thoughts...
The other day I didn't have any clean pants to wear to church so I pulled out a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans. I know some women can wear their regular jeans throughout the entire pregnancy. I guess I just never thought about it for myself. So I dared myself to try on these low-rise cut jeans and they fit!!! Do you understand the significance of this? This means my butt and thighs have not grown in size. Ha! The 14 + pounds (we'll find out more weight damage this Friday at my next appointment) I have packed on are mainly being distributed to my torso, I say torso because it's not just my belly (some will understand that and some won't... it's okay if you don't get it). I guess you could add my chin to this list, too. I am pretty sure I have 2 1/2 chins now.
For those wondering, no, my belly button has not popped. It hasn't in my past pregnancies so it probably won't with this pregnancy either. Belly buttons kind of freak me out anyway. No one is even allowed to touch my belly button. Just add this information to my weirdness factor :)
As for my bump, I feel I look about 7/8 months pregnant. Others say I don't look that big but I am not so sure they are just saying that. I have a shirt that I wore when I was pregnant with my first son (6 years ago) and it almost does not cover my belly. I wore this shirt until the end of that pregnancy. Sooo... the shirt has majorly shrunk, right? I am not sure what I will wear once I hit 8/9 months. Lucky for me, I don't work outside the home. Yoga pants and sweats always sound good to me.
I read a blog authored by two men preparing themselves for fatherhood. Read here. It's also listed under "My Blog List" to the right. Their babies, triplets, were just born at 30 weeks and one day... incredible. Their surrogate had been on bedrest for quite a long time. From what I have read, the babies are thriving. Feel free to stop by their blog and leave some positive thoughts.
The babies:
We have reached 22 weeks! The babies have gained much strength in their movements. They still seem to follow the same pattern... once one starts the other will join in on the action. Sometimes I can see my belly move when they are busy adjusting their positions. My belly shuffles around as if there were aliens in there preparing for their departure. I will record it once it becomes more noticeable and frequent. It's a bizarre but beautiful show.
Each baby should weigh around one pound each. My guess is they are a little bigger than a pound because they have seemed to always measure slightly bigger. Even in the very beginning they were measuring a few days ahead. They are starting to hear things around them and are probably discovering their sense of touch. My house is in constant noisemaker mode. We often have to remind the kids to use their "inside voices". I don't know what it is about children but generally everything has to be said a few notches higher than the volume actually needs to be. I haven't noticed much response from the babies in regards to loud noises. Actually, they seem to be more active during quieter moments. This will probably change as we trek further along.
I spoke to the daddies-to-be a few days ago and they told me they had purchased the cribs. It always feels so much more real once a big item like that has been purchased and set up. They are already looking into their trip here, too. They are coming from a place that does not have snow. Boy, will they be in for a weather shocker! January in Minnesota isn't so enjoyable unless you plan on skiing or snow tubing, which I doubt will make their "to-do" list. It is not clear how long they will need to be here. Secretly, I wish they could stay a month or longer but realistically (depending on the health of the babies) it will be a week or two. I will be sad to see them go as I have no idea when I will see them again next. :(
Thanks for checking in!
Melissa
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