How to Cope with “Pregnancy Brain”

I usually consider myself a “put together person”.  I have a good memory, I’m organized and at the very least, I’m pretty good at doing what I’m asked.

But….

No matter what anybody says, Pregnancy Brain is REAL. I can prove it.  Since becoming pregnant I have:

• Gotten up from my desk, walked to the other side of the office and stood wondering “Why am I here? What did I need to do?”
• Opened a web browser and stared at the screen wondering what I was going to look up.
• Left a myriad of tasks undone that my bosses asked me to do (and that I said I was taking care of!)
• Put laundry away in the wrong places.
• Stopped at a green light….for a while…

Some of it is just generally being forgetful, but some of it is downright crazy!

So to cope with Pregnancy Brain, I have set up a few systems to help me get through the day.

Rule Number 1: Write EVERYTHING down

I keep a writing utensil and paper handy at all times.  At work my desk is covered with sticky notes, I have a notepad in my purse and at home.  Especially when I’m at work, when someone starts to ask me to do something I ask them to wait until I’m ready to write it down.  It also helps that I keep these written notes in front of me all the time so I can quickly see what needs to be done (or when I’m staring at my computer and drawing a blank, I can glance to see which of those notes I might have been working on…).

Rule Number 2: Do Things IMMEDIATELY as they come to mind

If I’m given a task at work, or I think of something that needs to be done at home, I need to go and do it RIGHT THEN.  This limits the possibility that I will forget to do it (or that I will forget IF I have done it…).  Of course, if I really can’t do it at that moment, I refer back to rule #1.
Rule Number 3: Pray fervently that this is only temporary

Lots of people say once you have the baby, the memory doesn’t come back. Ahhh! I just keep praying that my ability to function as a normal human being will return.

I have no help for the stopping at green lights thing…I just try to respond quickly to the sound of honking…

Did you/do you have pregnancy brain? What are some things you did/didn’t do as a result?

P.S. Dear Sweet Baby, I’m not upset with you for giving me this Pregnancy Brain disease, but I do hope that it means that you are taking away my intelligence so that you will be really smart.

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