Fatigue During Pregnancy
Listen to your body

During the first trimester of pregnancy what you need is to get enough sleep to catch your everyday breath.

Why am I so tired?

Your body is working so hard, so you are likely to feel tired. In fact you may need as much as 10 or 11 hours of sleep each night in order to feel refreshed. Imagine how your body is burning all the energy in order to create your baby’s organs.

Fatigue during pregnancy is one of the first symptoms of pregnancy during the first trimester.

Emotionally you are changing, perhaps you are stressed, and with good reason, you are going through different changes in a very short time (e.g., increased oxygen consumption, increased levels of progesterone, increased metabolic demands), you’re about to become a mom. These changes tend to drain both physical and emotional energy. So there is a good reason to be tired.

During the second trimester you will take a break, but during the third trimester of pregnancy, fatigue increases due to several reasons: sleep disturbances from increased weight (many women cannot find a comfortable sleeping position due to the enlarging abdomen). There are also physical discomforts like heartburn, insomnia due to mood swings.

How do I manage fatigue?

Listen to your body!, and schedule a nap in the early afternoon daily. Feeling tired? get a rest. Your body is sending you a message: Rest!

Having a healthy pregnancy diet rich in iron and protein helps to reduce fatigue and to get a full sleep.

There is another remedy for helping your body to reduce fatigue during pregnancy, swing your sedentary activities with physical activities.

It may sound contradictory that exercise can help to reduce fatigue in pregnancy, but it is true. Exercise helps to oxygenate the body and this is exactly what it needs to recover energy and to reduce fatigue. I recommend that you do exercise at least 2 hours per week, or 30 minutes daily. An excellent exercise is yoga. Swimming or walking during pregnancy will also help to improve energy levels.

In the last month of pregnancy I was very tired and I had to go to bed earlier than usual, around 8 o’clock. My husband was not very happy about it because normally he comes later after work, but we got used to my new sleeping schedule. After all, I was not going to be tired forever, and our baby was a very good reason to get as much rest as I needed.

To tell you the truth taking a nap was one thing in the world that I liked most during afternoons. The fatigue of early and late pregnancy was overwhelming - I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.

If fatigue during pregnancy was an issue for you during your 9 months click here to share with us your own experience, what did you do to minimize fatigue while pregnant? Share with visitors to this page!

Exhaustion might be a constant companion during this time of your life, so make it your friend. Work with it, not against it. If you’re feeling tired right now, close my web site, put your feet up, pull up the covers, and take a snooze.

If fatigue during pregnancy is a big issue for you and you are feeling so tired, I recommend you visit your doctor as you may be anemic. Your body requires more iron during pregnancy, and if you are not getting enough, you'll feel fatigued. But let your doctor to give you the exact dose of iron you should take, you do not want an overdose that may cause you a serious constipation.

You can find iron-rich foods in broccoli, spinach, clams, lamb, liver, cereals, kidney beans, blackstrap, lentils, molasses, beef, and pork.

Caffeine and sugar are considered temporary stimulant, but not for pregnant moms. Completely avoid caffeine and sugar in any quantity.

Missed Period | Irregular Menstruation | Heartburn | Frequent Urination | Breast Tenderness | Morning Sickness | Cramping | Constipation

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