Brain Drain

The past few days at work have been hectic, since we try to get in all sorts of "staff ed" professional development sessions over the summer when we don't have school groups in the mornings. Busyness at work aside, everything continues to go well. My main task these days is to figure out ways to adjust to the expected and increasing discomforts associated with pregnancy, like figuring out how to manage a comfortable night's sleep, get my pants on in the morning without face planting, and so on. (That changed center of gravity thing in a person like me, who wasn't very coordinated to start with, is a killer...) One thing I have noticed more and more as the weeks go by is evidence of what some people call "pregnancy brain." I thought I had a tendency toward absentmindedness before, but pregnancy has brought it to an entirely new level. Most incidents are harmless and laughable, but it is somewhat disturbing at how they just keep adding up as the weeks go by. Below are some of the classic pregnancy brain moments I've enjoyed so far. Mind you, given my hormone-induced mental condition, I'm impressed that I was able to keep my thought train on track long enough to come up with this list.

1. Searching the living room for my cell phone while talking I'm on it. To my credit, it only took me about two minutes or so to figure out where it was...

2. Having an inner dialogue with myself and suddenly completely forgetting what it is I'm talking to myself about.

3. Taking the elevator to the wrong floor at work. This one doesn't seem so bad, but it is somewhat awkward when you hit the button for a floor and you're the only person on the elevator going to that level, yet you stay on the elevator when it arrives and then hit the button for yet another floor. Trust me, people give you looks when you do this.

4. Neglecting to fill out my timecard at work all week. Really. Who forgets to fill out the paperwork that gets you paid?

5. Heading somewhere with a purpose and then completely forgetting why I went there in the first place. Truth be told, this type of thing was pretty typical before I got pregnant--the difference now is that I can't recall my purpose after a moment or two.

I'm sure before this is all over I'll have plenty more of these blank-out moments. On the bright side, since I rely heavily on my memory and knowledge I've built up over time for my gallery talks at work, I'm thankful that pregnancy brain appears to only effect short-term rather than long-term memory. Hopefully, once I have the baby the brain drain will cease and I can go back to my normal, more acceptable rate of forgetfulness.