Pregnancy Brain is Real. But Does it Ever Go Away?
First of all, I’m NOT pregnant. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
But I was reminded this week about “pregnancy brain” — the tendency to feel spaced out and forgetful — by my dear friend, who is expecting her first bundle of joy this summer. In addition to feeling sick, she reported feeling totally out of it, citing a few examples that can only be attributed to carrying a fetus.
Our discussion made me realize that my pregnancy brain never went away, even though my youngest child has been out of her uterus cocoon for almost three years now.
Case in point: Saturday, I texted our grocery list to our babysitter instead of my husband.
Embarrassing myself in front of teenagers since 2009.
I do haphazard stuff like this more than I care to admit. It rarely happened before I had kids, but it’s totally normal now.
I’m constantly misplacing my keys, sunglasses or phone.
I’ll respond to a text message or email, forget to hit send, then wonder why I haven’t heard back from the other person. I do this ALL THE TIME.
I get so distracted doing kid and dog duties in the morning, I forget to eat breakfast. (Mom, if you’re reading this, YES, I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day and yes, I do eventually eat.)
I will hastily post something on social media, only to discover later that it’s got misspellings or typos. I can’t tell you how much this bothers me. I’m a writer — how can I not even bang out a quick two sentences without noticing errors?
Ohhhhhh. Right.
Operation Brush Mom’s hair to “make it skinny.”
In short, I sometimes feel like a hot mess hiding inside a person who appears to have it together.
If this is not a continuation of pregnancy brain, it’s definitely related. I’m not a doctor or anything, but I’m pretty sure post-pregnancy brain could be defined as an inability to focus, caused by meeting the demands of small children for 14 hours a day.
How can I be expected to concentrate on anything while this is going on?
But, I’m trying to embrace this phase of life, and my new, feeble brain. Most of my friends here have small kids, so I hope they understand:
Somehow, I manage to maintain my smarts when it comes to work stuff, even if it means locking myself in a bathroom for a few to concentrate. So at least there’s that.
Now that Sweet Pea is in preschool, I’m hoping to rebuild this part of my brain a little bit. Maybe this week, I’ll remember to call and get her birthday party scheduled. If not, will someone please email to remind me? (Just don’t forget to hit send.)
Do you still suffer from forgetfulness after kids?
The Wild Rumpus 
Pregnancy brain. Toddler brain. Preschooler brain. Tween brain. Teenager brain. It’s all the same.
I’m just practicing for the dementia I’ll probably get after all my kids have grown up and left the house.
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Good point. It’s never going to end!
I guess that’s the trade off for all the cute drawings and tight hugs.
Totally worth it.
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I was going to write something fabulous in response to this great post, but I can’t remember what I was going to say 😳
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Hahaha! Glad it’s not just me. Thanks for reading! 🙂
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