I’m only 26 weeks with my 5th baby and I get how your feeling!! The exhaustion is a killer I can’t do much even just the food shop kills me. It’s perfectly ok to not enjoy pregnancy it’s a major change on your body which is working 24/7!! See if you can be signed off from the dr for exhaustion so you can rest or if possible start maternity earlier. Sending hugs 🤗
@Hester thank you so much for your message I really appreciate it 😊 Yeah I got told to be careful now as I’ve had a lot of days off sick in the last year. Before I was pregnant I was really struggling with stress and was signed off for 8 weeks & I don’t want to risk any disciplinary 😥 I never know what to say when it comes to having time off for pregnancy related stuff, my bosses really don’t get it & trying to explain it to them is painful! Maybe I will consider speaking to my doctor then, fingers crossed it will be ok. I do think I’ve worn myself out without even realising it!
@Lorraine thank you so much, it’s nice to know I’m not alone, even though it’s horrible 😣 I am tempted to start maternity earlier but just don’t want to lose any precious time with baby if she comes late! I’m planning to go off at 38 weeks right now but I’ll consider bringing it forward and speaking to my doctor about some time off, thank you ❤️
From what my work have said, any maternity sickness can't be counted towards normal sickness and therefore wouldn't count towards any disciplinary action. Do you have an HR type person who you could talk to who can then speak to your bosses on your behalf? It sucks that they're making things harder for you. Good luck :)
@Hester yes I believe the policy is the same at my work, so I’ll have a chat with HR or my bosses boss to make sure everyone understands! I just think my boss is a grumpy middle aged man with no partner and no kids he just doesn’t get me 😭 so sad!
You say you can't take any time off, is that because you've used your max sickness days? You can take as much maternity sickness days off as you like without it affecting your annual leave or normal sickness days off/pay so it might be worth doing that, especially if it's affecting your mental health too. A cold sore definitely shows that you're run down and should take things easy. A doctor would probably even sign you off work for a bit if you asked. I'm 28 weeks and definitely think some people on the street would assume I'm just fat but try not to worry about what others think, you and your friends/family all know so try and enjoy it, people close to you will still notice as your bump gets bigger. I found taking photos often shows me how much it's changed since the start. I've also struggled with walking or anything vaguely energetic but you're growing a whole human so you can't expect your body to still function as normal, you're not a failure 🩷 Feel free to message me if you need someone to talk to