Why the extreme tiredness during pregnancy Karen? Is it normal? It’s one of the questions I get asked a lot in my prenatal Pilates classes in Epping and online.
Tiredness during Pregnancy
Pregnancy fatigue is tiredness to beat all tiredness. If you’re in it, you are possible dropping off round about now. If this is round two or three (or more) for you, then the chances are you are desperate for a nap but one or more of your little cherubs is making that impossible for you. You have my sympathies.
No one is as sympathetic to pregnancy tiredness as another pregnant woman. And yes – when baby is out – there will be a new kind of tiredness that you’ve never experienced before – but nothing compares.
You’re growing a person
Here’s the thing: You are growing a person. You can never sit back and contemplate that fact enough times. It is AMAZING. But it is also exhausting. Your body is taking a back seat in terms of priorities in order not just to sustain but to grow a human being.You are growing a human being!But then it isn’t just a human being you are growing. You are growing organs (the placenta), blood vessels, your heart is increasing in size and your blood volume will increase too.
It’s estimated that the average increase in blood volume by the end of your pregnancy will be 45-50% and your heart will increase in size by about 12% (it also moves, stretches and increases its capacity). So it’s not just baby, it’s all the support systems that go with it.
How much energy (in calories) does it take to grow a baby?
The best research on this (and what many of the calorie consumption during pregnancy recommendations are based on) comes from research completed in the 1980s. According to the report, the combined energy costs of energy deposited as new tissues plus the associated increase in basal metabolism during pregnancy amounts to approximately 243 additional calories per day.
243 calories x 270 (average pregnancy length in days) = 62,100 calories.
And just in case you’re wondering (because I was) that’s the equivalent of 565 gin and tonics, 90 bottles of wine or 150 chocolate brownies.
For details on Karen’s ante natal classes visit: Pilates for Pregnancy
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Why do we get fat when we get pregnant?
Help! I’m really pregnant. Why do I need to pee every time I stand up?