Pregnancy Brain Is Real

Sure, pregnancy is a beautiful time in a woman’s life. However, research shows that our brains change and function differently during this time. The commonly used “pregnancy brain” expression is something I fully relate to.

As I count down my final weeks of pregnancy to my second child’s birth, I laugh at many of the sillier moments that make those around me question if I am, in fact, a college educated, published writer and senior manager at a global company.

For starters, I can never remember if I’ve taken my prenatal vitamin. There have been a few days where I’ve accidentally taken it twice or likely some days where I’ve missed it altogether but wasn’t sure. Most days, I remember that I already took it as I’m reaching for the bottle again. Basically, I’m taking the term multi-vitamin extremely literal, questioning multiple times a day if I’ve had one. And who are we kidding, those gummy vitamins are delicious, so there might be other issues at play!

Numbers have also proven to be a battle. I’ve given my wrong cellphone number to my doctor’s office. I should note that I’ve had this same phone number for 17 years. When playing hide-and-go-seek with my daughter, Charlotte, I found myself counting in a unique manner. “One, two, three … eight.” She likes hiding in the same place for back-to-back turns, so don’t worry. She didn’t need the extra time anyway.

Food is funny too. When my husband asked what I wanted to drink for breakfast, I said yogurt. In my defense, I had a toddler climbing up my leg and was holding yogurt in my hand, so this makes sense to me. Another time, I typed “coffee” into my Instacart search, receiving hundreds of options. I would need to narrow my search slightly if I wanted to track down Starbucks French roast Keurig-cup pods before this baby arrived. Lastly — I’m almost too embarrassed to share — I recently mixed up the pronunciation of “Sbarro” and “Subaru.” I should go grab some Sbarro pizza and take a test drive in a Subaru to make sure I never make this mistake again.

I’m now realizing that all of these are from my second pregnancy, so it must mean it’s getting worse. However, I must not forget my first-ever pregnancy brain moment. The task was simple: buy wrapping paper. In my defense, there were limited options at the Rite Aid. However, I mistakenly brought home cellophane, so the gift recipient would be getting zero surprise thanks to its clear, transparent sheen.

This is only the starting point, and I haven’t even begun to mention my mommy brain moments. I’ll save that for another time.

Lauren Burke Meyer is a Severna Park native who was inspired to write Lauren’s Law as a humorous play on the well-known Murphy’s Law adage: “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”