Working full time

tewinkle27

for he ladies that work 40+ hours a week how do you deal with being exhausted?? I work 50+ hrs a week. I could probably cut back to 40 but the extra money would be really nice right now for when we're ready to buy the baby things and to have saved up when I go on maternity leave. But I'm just so exhausted all the time, I dread going to work and I can barley finish my shift at 10pm.

bailyg

Snack all day! I nibble almonds or even a couple slices of cheese, greek yogurt...the more protein the better! I put flax seeds and hemp hearts in my morning oatmeal, keeps me energized I work about 45hrs/week usually.

Kat987

Hi tewinkle27, I'm at home with an 18 month old and absolutely exhausted so I can't imagine how you're feeling. During my 1st pregnancy lots of family told me to take my maternity leave early (during the 2nd trimester)and rest while I could, I didn't listen and wish I had. Resting with a toddler around now isn't easy lol and working while pregnant is hard! Look after yourself and listen to your body, only you know what's best for you and your baby ;-)

sbost0118

I nap during lunch.

tewinkle27

I work as a cna in a private assisted living facility. So we don't get breaks or lunches. We eat when they eat. We have downtime to sit and stuff but I can't nap sadly. I have a almost 3 year old at home too, so work plus her it can get pretty exhausting lol

I have to remember to bring healthy snacks. They always have cookies and candy here that I seem to have no problem eating

jenlynn1204

I agree, healthy snacks help.  I just keep telling myself this is temporary and I will get my energy back soon

Melissadmag

I picked up a second job two months before getting pregnant so I am literally working day and night sometimes for days in a row. It sucks, but one of them really is just a "job" and not my career so I made the decision to not request days off ever from my one job, but on the days I am working that one, I request off from my other one so that I only have to make it through one and not both in a day. I have been getting crap about that as well since I am supposed to be full time, but in the end I would rather have a healthy baby than miscarry and have some extra money. Sometimes to get my energy up I dance around a bit, but I have cut off caffeine so no help there. The only thing besides moving and getting my blood going that seems to help is eating something. I start to get sleepy the second I get hungry, so I keep munching all day..  I'll have to keep an eye on what others say to this question because I could also use all the help I can get for the days they wont let me take off.., =/ I think cutting back on work is a good idea though, especially this early on when everything is so up in the air, and so extra exhausting. 

OurBabyS

I feel the same way! Between waking up from 2-4am daily, feeling completely wiped all day, preggo brain, and giving up my coffee habit, it's been a rough two weeks. I've been tempted to tell my boss (whom I'm close with) what's going on so that she doesn't think I'm slacking or losing my mind! I was putting in 12-15 hour days (I'm in sales) up until we got pregnant so this has really slowed me down!

powellgirl

I feel ya! I'm a teacher and can't even take a break to tinkle if I need to. It's my first year so I'm always at work early, stay late, and take work home with me. DH says baby is more important than students so I've been trying to take it easy this past week

Marchmellow2

Exhausted here too! I noticed that my daily prenatal pill has been helping with energy.

MT2015MT

RIght there with you! I'm a nurse and work 12 hour shifts. They are exhausting. I also haven't been able to eat much lately, so I just feel drained in general. No advice, just know you're not alone.

steph_neel

I am a finance manager at a tech company and I generally work 40 hours sometimes more. This was the first day I had morning sickness, so work during the morning was rough. Snacking every couple definitely helps!

hcdmdf

I'm right there with all you ladies. I'm a medical assistant and we get a lunch hour but no breaks. This pregnancy has actually been easier than my first physically, but with a 2.5 year old with sleep regression I get tired quicker. My advise, go to bed as early as you can and be honest with your partner when you need a break. I will ask DH to occupy LO for 30 min while I take a quick break or snooze. You just need everyone to be on board to help. It's too hard to be pregnant and responsible for the home too!

AshleyCottrell

I agree with all of you--I'm a nurse and it is hard to stay awake around 10AM. I followed my boss's advice for what she use when she had morning sickness (which I don't have), and I made a PB&J sandwich, cut it into quarters, and snack on a quarter every hour or so throughout the morning. That gets me to lunch, and then around 3 I have another snack of some sort that is healthy, and then I hit the gym and head home for dinner. I do go to sleep around 10pm now, so that helps too! I'm thinking about all of you, good luck!

kesselringmama

I feel for you guys. I worked full time as a nurse up until my due date with baby #1. I was finally able to cut back to part time last summer.

The only advice I would give is definitely agreeing with the snacking. I would bring healthy cereal/trail mix bars & cheese wheels that I could eat on the run.

The other thing that I did last pregancy that I think made the fatigue worse is weaning completely off of caffeine. I'm just making sure my intake is <200 mg/day this time around & I don't feel nearly as tired and grumpy.

It is a personal decision one way or the other, but I think sometimes we are really hard on ourselves & feel like we can't have anything. Everything I've read says that excessive caffeine causes low birth weights, but keeping the caffeine intake low is not shown to have any affect.

Pregnacy is hard enough without all the rules or goals that we place on ourselves & others. And although it's good to be caffeine free, if it makes you miserable, then it's not worth it.

tewinkle27

Thankfully I was caffeine free for the most part before pregnancy so that won't be a problem during pregnancy (hopefully) I think I'm going to tell my boss that I won't be able to do any more doubles. 6am-10pm are just way to much. My issue is whenever I eat a real meal I get super sleepy afterwards. So should I make my meals smaller and just eat more often?

Caraherrera

Im in the auto business running a finance company so short hours are nonexistent. I work an hour to 45 to 55 hours a week about six days a week give or take my every other Thursday off which is today woo hoo! I am absolutely exhausted however my work still doesn't know that I'm pregnant and I'm not telling them for a few more weeks until I'm closer than 12 week mark. we don't have paid maternity so I am going to be saving every single penny I possibly can! I eat a lot of almonds and drink a ton of water and have lots of other healthy snacks and eat a salad for lunch a bagel for breakfast and yogurt granola anything that's a healthy option. I don't have any morning sickness yet and I don't know if I'll get any I'm hoping I don't being optimistic! I'm also hoping that this exhaustion working so much fades during my second trimester.