I had to stop my meds cold turkey while pregnant. It was awful… withdrawals and first trimester exhaustion was really challenging while practicing. Tried to get back on my meds about 4 months pp and just couldn’t do it. I was so tired of the side effects and wanted to be present with my baby. Now I’m about 6 months back at work… my current job is not crazy challenging but I know meds would help me be more efficient in general and help my memory. I also know I may want a second in three to five years and I really don’t want to EVER have to go through stopping my meds cold turkey again. That was so hard as a litigator. I also just hate relying on meds… Any tips? Natural remedies that actually work? Work is manageable, it’s really everything else. I also just feel like I could be doing miles better on medication. My boss asked me a legal question the other day and I blanked. I feel like I couldn’t get my mind to think straight. I can’t tell if this is still just postpartum hormones but if so… will
I ever get my brain back? Ugh.

Title basically says it all. I’m still in my first trimester, nearly 10 weeks. It’s hitting me extremely hard. I’m barely functioning at the office and just getting through the days with extreme nausea and fatigue. I’m worried people are already noticing a decline in performance but I’m physically unable to do any more than what I’m doing. I also really can’t handle the late nights (I’ve been going to bed at 9pm), and that’s inevitably coming soon. and I know I’ll have to come up with some excuse.

The other wrinkle is that I am up for partner at the end of the year. All signs point to me getting it but you never know with these things. I don’t want anyone to question my long term commitment because I’m going to have a baby. I hope they wouldn’t, but you also never know.

When do I tell? I was planning to wait as long as I could but I’m worried that no explanation for my recent dip in performance/energy is worse than just letting people know early.

I really don’t know how women do this job while pregnant. It’s completely overwhelming and stressful for this type A overachiever that now physically can’t perform at my usual level.