I once read a study that said a woman loses brain cells with each pregnancy. I remember giving my sister a hard time, since she has had four children. "That's why you're such a dingbat!" ha ha ha.
But it's no laughing matter. Pregnancy brain is real. The books say that doctors don't have an explanation for the problem but that it's possible that the mommy to be just has a lot on her mind, so she loses focus or it could be the hormones. My coworkers say the baby is eating my brain. Somedays, I'm inclined to agree with them.
Examples of my own case of pregnancy brain include: using the wrong word in a sentence and not realizing it until someone makes fun of me or gives me that look that says 'you're not making any sense;' Putting strange things in the refrigerator -- like the sugar; Missing the turn toward home not once, but twice one day after work; and the most obvious preggo brain episode -- showing up for work at 9:30 a.m. when I wasn't supposed to be there until 1 p.m.
I don't know what to tell you, I just can't think straight and most of the time, I have no idea that I'm doing something completely stupid. Greg thinks it's funny -- well, most of the time. And, my coworkers think it's hilarious. Of course, that could be because I haven't shown up at work three and a half hours late yet. That probably wouldn't be as funny.
A friend on facebook told me that she calls it "mommy mush brain" and that the sad part is that it doesn't get better after the baby is born -- she says it gets worse! She should know -- pregnant with baby No. 4 as I type this.
In any case, if I write something completely incoherent, at least you'll know why.
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Actually your coworkers are right; your books aren't quite up to date. The most recent science says that it's from the baby receiving the omega-3s that you'd normally be using for brain functioning, and that the average woman permanently loses 3% of her brain for each pregnancy. The good news is that if you make up for the omega-3 loss through diet and supplements you can avoid it. I took a lot of supplements (over 1000mg per day, since I was carrying twins -- the amount in the prenatals that have omegas included is really not enough though it's a start) and I honestly never experienced any pregnancy brain or mommy brain -- well, except for what can be attributed to sleep deprivation, but that was temporary. I mostly took the omega supplements for the babies' sake, but the fact that it was good for me too was certainly very motivating, just like taking calcium supplements both for their bones and to prevent osteoporosis in myself.
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I don't know--I've taken omega-3/DHA supplements since day one and the placenta has STILL eaten my brain, haha. That brain fog is a real phenomenon, for sure. My issues are mostly stumbling for words or forgetting an entire word altogether...and even losing track of what I'm talking about while I'm speaking. My whole train of thought will just abruptly evaporate. SO WEIRD. ;)
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