combating pregnancy fatigue

What the experts say about dealing with pregnancy fatigue… and what a pregnant mother of a toddler says in response.

Fatigue is the unwelcome tag-along to pregnancy.

Duh.

They say that the first trimester is the worst, the second trimester is the “golden” one, and the third gets hard again as your weight skyrockets through the roof and your sweet little baby is perfecting his karate moves in your belly.

But whoever ‘they’ are… I’m thinking ‘they’ have obviously only had one child. Or maybe ‘they’ are sane people . (You know the ones… the ones that space their children at least two or three+ years apart.)

The thing is, any pregnant mother of a barely-not-a-baby-slash-new-toddler knows that there is no “golden second trimester”… at least not how she remembers it from the first round of pregnancy (when it really was golden).

Because baby-growing combined with toddler-chasing just makes for two kinds of days: tired days… and super tired days.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, or not worth it (I wouldn’t trade being pregnant for anything!). But seriously… does tired get any more tired??! (Don’t answer that please.)

In my attempt to figure out how to deal with my exhaustion (and—to add insult to injury—insomnia) I’ve come across these tips from the professionals. These are things ‘they’ say that will help curb pregnancy fatigue:

1. Go to bed early.
2. Take a nap.
3. Eat mini meals.
4. Exercise.
5. Get help.
6. Eat healthy – lean proteins, veggies, water, etc.
7. Use essential oils such as grapefruit and mandarin.
8. Adjust your schedule.
9. Avoid stressful situations.
10. Avoid caffeine.

And here are the things that a baby-making mother of a 17-month-old recommends to help curb pregnancy fatigue:

1. Hire a house cleaner.

2. Figure out how to make your toddler nap three 2-hour naps a day and then go ahead and “sleep when the baby sleeps” for at least two of them.

3. Hire a cook to make your meals. (Any meals, not just mini-meals.)

4. Make sure you go surfing every day for at least an hour – channels or internet will do.

5. Get help… mental help if necessary.

6. Eat. Period. As in make sure you are actually getting a few decent meals yourself. (Handfuls of Cheerios with “no added sugar” don’t count.)

7. Ask your husband to use those essential oils to give you back and foot rubs.

8. Hire a babysitter so you can take naps, read home-decorating magazines, and watch re-runs of Friends. (I’m positive this will help with the fatigue.)

9. Hire a fairy-toddler-feeder to come over at mealtimes and deal with your vegetable-rejecting (and sometimes everything-but-toast-rejecting) fickle eater. (This will be a drastic stress-reducer.)

10. Find a money tree so that you can afford to hire the cook, house cleaner, psychologist, babysitter, and fairy-toddler-feeder.

Dear friends, my tips may or may not be realistic… but I’m pretty sure they would work in helping to curb that dreaded pregnancy fatigue. Have you tried any of these? Have I forgotten any good tips? Or perhaps you’ve stuck with the conventional tips as stated in my first set. Any luck with those?? I’m pretty much game to try anything these days.

*yawn*