Hi friends,

Humble apologies for my lack of posts on here of late.  I simply haven’t had the energy to devote to this blog because…

I am pregnant again.

We found out just before we caught rotavirus/moved house and town/had a gazillion house guests over December and January.  We were um, quite surprised but delighted, to discover our baby no. 2 is on its way.

A few days after we moved – I was 6 weeks pregnant –  D, Eloise and I were out furniture shopping when I suddenly began feeling really tired.  And I mean SUDDENLY.  One second I was okay, the next I felt like if I didn’t have a nap that very second there was a good chance I would collapse at the store.  The shop sold beds, so it may not have been a total disaster… I thought I’d experienced fatigue before, but this was something much, much worse than I’ve ever had.

I’ve had these bouts of fatigue ever since.  Over December I pretty much had them every day.  I’d get to about 1 or 2pm and need to nap.  Sometimes all afternoon.   Normally I never take naps as they affect my ability to get to sleep later at night.  Even a 20 minute nap can mean I’m counting sheep for an hour or two.  But with this fatigue – a 4 hour afternoon nap?  No problem.  I’ll still sleep like a log later on at night.   Fortunately I now get these bouts of fatigue maybe a few times a week so at least there has been some improvement.

Fatigue in early pregnancy is very common, and usually goes away by the second trimester (returning in triumphant glory near the end of the third). Unfortunately mine doesn’t want to go away, despite the fact I am 18 weeks pregnant.  Some lucky women have it for the entire pregnancy.  I never got fatigue with Eloise, but you know what folks?  It’s true what they say: every pregnancy is different.  Damn.

The most annoying thing is there’s nothing you can do about it.  My GP and midwife (they are both awesome, I’m very blessed) shake their heads and say ‘all you can do is listen to your body and rest’.  Yeah.  That’s sooooo easy when you have a one year old to look after!

Sorry to sound like such a whinge.  In many ways this pregnancy is waaaay easier than my first.  I’ve had very little nausea and my going-off-any-food-that-isn’t-processed-or-totally-bland phase didn’t last too long, much to D’s relief.  When I’m not feeling like I’ve been hit by the big mack truck o’ fatigue, I feel great.  I almost forget I’m pregnant.

But…

…the fatigue has been really debilitating.  I had to give up my sweet, sweet part-time job.  I normally worked while Eloise napped, but I had to take naps myself.  The job was also quite a cerebral one, requiring a lot of attention to detail, checking facts and legislation, that sort of thing.  I just didn’t have the mental capacity to do the work while I was so tired.  My employers were fabulous and were happy for me to not work for a few weeks to see if the fatigue went away.  However, when I got to 13, 14, 15 weeks and there was no sign of it easing up I felt the fairest thing to do was resign.  Given that I’m still needing these naps, it was the right decision.

The cr@ppiest bit is I’ve had to put Eloise into care during the afternoons.  When I’m tired I simply cannot give her the attention she deserves.  It sucks so much.  Because the fatigue is so erratic D and I made the decision to put her in afternoon care every day.  My mum and D’s mum would happily take her, but because I can’t say “I’m going to need long naps on Wednesday and Thursday this week at precisely 2:13pm”, I didn’t want them to feel like they had to be on standby every day ‘just in case’.  They have their own lives to live after all.

Eloise has a great carer who was prepared to take her on for a couple of months  as I am still hoping the fatigue will go away,  and who is also prepared to keep looking after her for the entire pregnancy if it doesn’t.

When my fatigue was at its worst I really craved sugar and I’m sorry to say, I gave in to those cravings.  I wanted things like Moro bars – which I never liked very much, even in my sugary past.  I guess it was just my body’s way of crying out for some energy.  Fortunately I am at a point in my pregnancy where the thought of food doesn’t repulse me, so I have placed myself firmly back on the sugar-free wagon.

Baby no. 2 will thank me for it.  Maybe.  Like when they hit their health-conscious thirties.

How have you been doing?  I’d love to hear from my fellow sugar-free folks.

Oh, and here’s a gratuitous Eloise shot.  Just because.