I found out I was pregnant and I was a little relieved, after all I’d been exhausted all the time. In fact, part of the reason I found out I was pregnant was because I went to the doctor to find out if I was sick. I’d been so tired and that was so unusual for me. It hit me over night, it seemed. One day I was fine and then over the course of a weekend, I felt run down and almost constantly craving a nap.
The Amazing Race
Your body is really quite wonderful. During what is called the implantation phase of a pregnancy (the time when the ovum and sperm have joined and it is getting settled into the uterus) the development of the zygote is extremely fragile. Your body is in an amazing race to get the zygote implanted so that it can develop into a fetus. Your body understands this reproductive process far better than we can and it produces hormones to make you tired so that you will take it easy and you will rest – this helps to protect the fragile life that is getting settled in your womb.
We’re a society that is constantly on the go so the constant feeling of tired can be really annoying. But as the old saying goes, rest is often the best medicine. You need the rest so that your body can utilize the extra glucose for the baby. It needs it to fuel development and so once you know that the line has turned pink, it’s important to plan for some rest time during your day.
Office Jobs and Career Choices
When I was pregnant with my first child, I worked outside the home at a large technologies company. I was often in work at 5 o’clock in the morning, out of work by 2 and then off to the farm where I worked with horses and let my dogs run until 5 or 6 in the evening. Once I was pregnant, the getting up early was really difficult unless I got to bed early.
It wasn’t long before I found myself asleep before 7 in the evening. Eventually, I started taking 30 to 45 minute naps in my office. Those naps were a lifesaver. Even if you can’t sleep, just getting relaxed for a 15 minute meditation break was enough to help me feel a little more energetic. You may also consider eating smaller, more frequent meals. Keeping your blood sugar from crashing can go a long way to providing you and your baby with optimal energy levels.
You should make sure you get a lot of iron-rich foods like raisins, spinach and red meat. This helps prevent iron deficiency anemia. Limit your caffeine consumption and drink a lot more water. In fact, dehydration can actually cause more fatigue than not getting enough rest. Add a little exercise into the equation and you may discover that you are getting the oxygen spread through your system more efficiently and while you may not be bouncing off walls, you can keep your energy from being completely sapped out.
What do you do to cope with the tiredness?
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