Diary of a Real Pregnancy - Week 6: Eye-Burning Exhaustion

Week 6... it's finally starting to settle in that you're pregnant. PREG.NANT. And that's when it starts to get really, super fun. Super fun.

First there's the exhaustion. Not just, Oh gee I'm tired, *yawn*. No. This is eye-burning, head-pounding, brain-numbing, feel-like-I'm-going-to-die exhaustion. The kind of tired that has you constantly searching for the nearest place to lay your head, trying not to walk around anywhere, or talk to anyone for that matter.. I literally closed my eyes while driving home yesterday, thinking "Ohh I just need to close my eyes... for a second... or two..." Seriously! ACK.

Anyone who already has kids knows you can't just go home and go to bed or crash on the couch... no, there are littles to attend to, and they don't let you take any time off. Constant little needers of things! (But I love them... I do.) But I've come up with a few games to keep them off my back just a bit: like hide & seek where I hide in my bed, under the covers, with my eyes closed, while they walk around the house saying "Mommy? Where ARE you??". Then they find me... and I cry a little.

From the moment I wake up until I drag myself to bed, all I can think about is when I'll get to close my eyes next. Unfortunately, I still have to work, and since nobody knows my little secret, I have to sit at my desk or walk around the office and look alert. I won't lie -- I've done the whole head-in-hands, 'concentrating really hard on the papers on my desk' thing... with my eyes closed. People must be wondering if I have a drinking problem and I'm hung over all the time... which is a super way to maintain professionalism around the office, I'm sure. Alternatively I've found I can go to the washroom (which I need to do anyway) and put my head in my lap and get a little nap that way. I'm sure my stall mates wonder what the heck is going on there... Especially when I emerge from the stall with knee-imprints in my forehead, wiping away the drool. Heh. For the record I've never done that.

On top of the eye-burning exhaustion and peeing all the time (really... the pregnant peeing starts this early -- it has to do with kidneys flushing, or something...), there are the headaches which have started for me right at 6 weeks and haven't let up. My entire head and face hurts... but of course I can't take anything useful because of the whole, growing a baby thing.

Finally, I am starving All.The.Time. It's the weirdest thing because I don't really feel like eating, or nothing sounds good to me... but my stomach is constantly growling. Strange state to be in.

I am very lucky (knocking on all things wood) not to have been affected by morning (read: all day all the time yuck yuck yuck) sickness. Sure, the occasional wave of nausea just to remind me I'm not so special, but I know some people suffer from day one and it can get BAD. So far so good in that department.... I wait with baited breath for that loveliness to kick in.

Now if you will excuse me... I have some more "concentrating" I need to do... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

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