Exhaustion, terrible memory, short temper…all things you’d normally associate with parenting…but for me, it started long before I ever got pregnant.
I was officially diagnosed with hypothyroidism (the Oprah “fat” kind of thyroid disorder) 10 years ago…but it was no easy diagnosis.
I went to the doctor complaining of fatigue, foggy memory, and general sluggishness…and what did they do to the 18 year old girl complaining of these symptoms?
They tested me for pregnancy and mono (why do they always think tired teens are pregnant? Seems kind of presumptuous to me…but that’s besides the point). And finally, after 2 years of doctor appointments and trips to specialists, they finally decided that I have an under active thyroid.
The shiny, silver lining of having hypothryroidism? It’s prepared me for pregnancy and parenting in ways I never expected:
1.) Being exhausted is the norm
Whether you’re a parent or non-parent with a thyroid disorder, you’re basically always cripplingly tired.
While newborns sleep deprivation hit me hard (sleep deprivation is a form of torture after all), after a decade of being exhausted, I found that it was much easier on me than my peers. Don’t get me wrong, I still put the remote control in the freezer and forgot if I’d washed my hair while in the shower…but generally, my normal existence revolves around being so tired I can easily fall asleep at 8:00pm every night.
2.) You adapt to crappy memory
“Pregnancy Brain” is a real thing, and what people don’t tell you is that it doesn’t get much better as “Mom Brain”….but adding hypothyroidism only super-sizes the memory problems.
If took me too long to realize that brain fog was a very real symptom of hypothyroidism, but once it clicked, I realized I needed to find a way to function better at work and home…so I became a compulsive list maker, obsessed with finding a new and better tool to make sure I didn’t forget to shut the garage or email a client.
While my memory was bad before, once having my daughter, things took a drastic turn for the worse. My recall is essentially gone, I can’t remember something I’m told 20 minutes prior, and I often forget simple things….BUT because of the organizational tools I acquired while learning to cope with hypothyroidism, I’m actually incredibly functional.
Now, I do things like:
- Follow the “one touch” rule
- Use a notes app called To Doist
- Take all my notes and store all important documents in Evernote
- Compulsively add calendar events (I even go so far as to add my friend’s ultrasounds, otherwise I’d forget to ask)
- Leave post-its at key places around the house (above the change table, I have a sticky that says, “put diaper away”, otherwise I’ll forget to put it in the diaper genie)
3.) Better control of my temper…most of the time
I often have days where I feel irrationally furious over small things…sound familiar? Because this is something that’s common for both hypothyroidism and parenting.
So, while I’m nowhere near perfecting an appropriate reaction every time when I’m furiously angry for now reason, I’ve had years to practice different coping skills (like diaphragmatic breathing or escaping to a quiet place for a few minutes).
