Dealing with Cognitive Decline in Pregnancy
Hey Everyone!
I am currently 24w and I am having a bit of anxiety due to my noticeable cognitive decline that seems to have increased in the last few weeks :(
I am a manager at my work where I have to juggle quite a few things all the time. In the past, I have been great at this and I thrive, partially because I don't forget things and don't make "logical mistakes" (e.g. just knowing that a certain type of schedule should be made if we are having a certain type of event. Like things that are implied).
I have already noticed this decline as of maybe 5 weeks ago, but now it's getting so bad that even coworkers/my employees are getting upset with me. It's causing me a lot of anxiety, which impacts my ability to relax, which I know makes this all worse... I have asked my coworkers to have more patience with me and that I might ask for more reminders. Also asking them to tell me if they think I am mistaken. But it's getting to the point where they're clearly angry/irritated with me.
What triggered me even making this post is that I had asked my colleagues about an upcoming meeting's starting time and I didn't see the information in a spot that we normally have this information posted. Then they sent me a screenshot of a company-wide announcement post, rather than just telling me the time. I usually would know to look there next, and I'm annoyed/embarrassed that I didn't. I just told her "Thank you", but this kind of really hurt my feelings (another aspect of this whole thing that is making this all frustrating is that I wouldn't normally take something like that so personally).
It's noticeably creeping into my personal life as well this past week: I am forgetting to message people back, I am forgetting things my husband has told me. I am even forgetting to just put things into my calendar and then being surprised by things happened (and then immediately remembering and being so frustrated that I forgot). Family and friends are a little more forgiving, though...
I looked at other posts on here and there seems to be a lot of "it only gets worse!" commentary and this really is not helping the anxiety I am feeling about this. I really don't want to be "doom and gloom" about it. I want to know if anyone has any advice or tips on how they handled/are handling this issue in their pregnancy.
Right now I am coping with post-it notes all over my desk and rewriting meeting notes, but I feel that I could have a better system in place. I don't go on maternity leave for another 10 weeks, and I was able to work it out with my bosses that I will be working remotely starting in October. I think that this would help, but I guess just any advice about this all would be super appreciated! (Sorry for rambling, this was kind of rant, too, I guess).