Foggy Brain Syndrome

Forgetfulness During Pregnancy or Pregnancy Brain

Pregnancy Brain — What It Is

Pregnancy-induced brain fog, a true (and truly frustrating) hallmark of pregnancy. You may forget appointments, what you just walked into the store for, where you left your purse, whether you turned off the stove — and maybe, your phone number.

Pregnancy Brain — What Causes It

As usual in pregnancy, it's just your pregnancy hormones having some fun, this time at the expense of your memory. And believe it or not, your brain-cell volume actually decreases during the third trimester of pregnancy (which could explain why you can't remember what you just read about in that last paragraph). Not to worry, your brain will plump back up a few months after delivery.

How has this “Foggy Brain Syndrome” (what Matt and I like to call it) affected me?

I have a couple examples that have topped the chart, but many little “forgetful moments” have happened since Noah.

Example 1: Throwing away not only the coffee filter but also the coffee drainer that you can take out and wash when need be. Yes. I did this. I went to go make Matt coffee two months ago. We have a timer, so we set it for the morning. I looked inside of it -there was no permanent coffee drainer in sight. I then asked him if he’d seen it. He said no. I knew IMMIEDIATELY that I had thrown the drainer away a couple days earlier. I remember thinking that when I threw away the white coffee filter, it felt awfully heavy. Yep- that’s what I thought and did nothing about it. I told Matt we could look online and buy a new little filter. He said we might as well buy a new one. It will cost just as much to buy that dumb filter. Matt is a patient man.

Example 2: About three months ago, I decided I wanted to get a Snickers from the candy machine downstairs. I had been craving one all day, and I thought “let’s get out the wallet and count the change I have.”About two minutes later after I had found my change, my boss brought in sugar cookies; I decided to eat that instead. The problem was I had all this change sitting out sprawled on my desk- I decided to put it my desk drawer for another mid-day slump. When I did this, I also proceeded to put my wallet in my desk. When I left Friday, I didn’t realize I’d put my wallet in my desk and left without second thought. I didn’t do anything on Friday that required money, so I didn’t realize it until SATURDAY night when I went to go pay for my friend and my dinner. (She had bought my lunch earlier that day on the boat). I had a minor freak out, thought I’d lost it. I calmed myself down and told myself that it was at my apartment or my parent’s house. When I woke up Sunday, I looked everywhere and COULD NOT find it. I had no idea where it could be. My only last resort was work. So on Monday, after a weekend without a wallet and driving without a license, I came into my cube. I expected to see my wallet just sitting there. It wasn’t. I then started to panic and dig. I opened up my drawers as my last glimpse of wallet finding hope, and there nicely sitting was my change and my wallet. I still don’t know what went through my mind, and why I put in there, but wow, pregnancy brain is ridiculous.

Example 3: Last week, I was in charge of groceries. My favorite game is see if I can carry all the groceries to the apartment in one trip- I did just that. (I may have gained some weight, but I’m still pretty buff).  Whenever I opened the door to the apartment, I left the keys in the lock (unintentionally) and went about my business. 8 hours later after Matt arrived home from work; I get a phone call telling me to come outside. I had left the keys in the door all day. This could have been bad- real bad. That day I cleaned, caught up on reading, and took a nap- I could have an easy intruder. Let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson- always make sure the keys are on the key ring if you are staying home alone.

More foggy brain adventures to come I’m sure….