Thread: Pregnancy nausea and taking care of your family....

I am feeling sort of defeated right now. I am 11 weeks pregnant with baby #5, my other children are ages 5,4, almost 3, and 1. I can barely function and have tried every possible rememedy to ease the nausea and exaustion. By 12 noon all I can think about is getting my younger 2 to nap and let my older 2 watch tv, which I do not normally do. I feel like I am failing in all areas, even reading to my kiddos is painful.

How have you all felt when dealing with the first trimester?...I am sad because all I can think is "I am never doing this again." Even though, I know good and well I will want another baby once I have forgotten how hard it has been.

It is totally all worth it and I have wanted nothing but to have a big family and will always be open to a baby if that is in God's plans. However, I feel like a wimp and a failure at this point! Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

I wish I had good advice, but I'm wondering about that myself. I'm not pregnant yet, but we're planning to TTC soon and my kids are all little as well. I hope someone has something which might help!

Ugh ,I wish I had advice, but you have my sympathies. I home school (at least right now) and have 6 under 8, and that was what cemented our decision to at the very least take a break, if not be done altogether. I go into survival mode, and try and "forgive" myself for all of the stuff that's not getting done but man is it hard.

We do "quiet time" every day where the nappers nap, and the bigs have to either read, or find something to do that won't wake the others up. It's my time to just get that half an hour of rest that I need to keep going while I'm pregnant, or just sit and nurse afterwards (because the rest of the time I'm trying to bf, teach, and corral all at once). And while I'm not a fan of constant TV watching instead of preschool, I'll put on that DVD (hopefully of the educational variety but sometimes if I'm that sick it's like okay sure watch Cars for the 9 millionth time) if I feel that bad, and just need to sit down and not be moving for awhile.

I'm no help either... I only have 1 20 mo old and just 3yo, and am about 24weeks (I think). Last night DH was gone nad I fell asleep at 7:30 on the couch, only to wake up 20 minutes later with the two of them jumping on me... um... oops?

DH is a life saver. I have no idea how I'd do it without him.

Fortunately I find that the two of them can occupy themselves quite well for short periods of time as long as I give them some good snacks (cheese, crackers, pepperoni sticks, dried fruit) and get into minimal trouble. Sometimes, though, it's just survival mode and hope that nothing gets destroyed.

How are your older two for responsibility?

Survival mode all the way. Just hope for that day when the extreme fatigue and nausea go away. Until then, try to childproof your house so it is safe for you to close your eyes on the couch.
Hang in there honey- first trimester was always the hardest for me. Makes you feel like you are in the fog. It will get better soon!!

hang in there! Try to give yourself your rest and just make sure your up time is "quality" with them...that will reduce your guilt. It truly is quality and not quantity anyways...so if you need to lay down and give them busy stuff to do for part of the day...you should not feel bad! You are almost to the easier days!! Your housework will still be there on the days when you feel better...so let that go...and just give those kids and yourself the time!

You described my 1st trimesters very well. I do let my kiddos watch TV when I am feeling like that otherwise I would never get a chance to rest. I can't nap unless my oldest is home because the littles would run around doing who knows what. My house was definitely lacking attention up until just a couple of weeks ago because I just couldnt do it all. Decide what is most important for you to accomplish (spend time with kids, clean house, etc) and just make sure you are able to do what you can for those particular goals and try to not feel guilty for everything else that seems to fall by the wayside. The good news is that it will eventually come to an end and you will get your energy back (as I know you already know) even though it feels like you never will. HUGS.

I agree with everyone else, if there ever is a time to cut yourself some slack it is now!

I'm currently pregnant with my 5th as well and my kiddos are pretty much the same ages as yours... And to top it off, this has been my hardest pregnancy. I've been exhausted! Just completely wiped out all.the.time.

My best suggestions is to get what needs to be done finished in the morning (don't get carried away! I'm talking laundry, dishes, groceries, the barest necessities)... I totally cracked down on the kids as far as picking up after themselves. And that afternoon nap/TV time was a lifesaver (I usually don't really do TV either). Do what you must and only that!

Feel better soon momma!

Thanks, I truly appreciate the encouragement and advice. I love being a mom, love having babies, love the gift of life...but man...it is really kicking me in the butt this time. I just hope and pray the next few weeks will bring a little relief. I appreciate all of your thoughts, it is nice to know that others are going through or have felt the same way!

I'm currently pregnant with our 5th, so this thread peaked my interest!

I'm also having a hard time staying on top of everything, I'm SO tired all the time! I thought it would get better when I hit the 2nd tri, but not yet! I used to make our families bread, granola bars, yogurt, etc to save money on our grocery bill. But now I can barely muster up the energy to make dinner, let alone all the extra things I used to do. It's really frustrating to see our grpcery budget skyrocket because of that, and because I'm so darn hunngry all the time! I'm starting to wonder if I will be able to do this again. I've always wanted at least 6 kids, but dang - this is hard!