Thursday, April 8, 2010

Preggo Brain: My Excuse to be Stupid

There have been many times throughout my pregnancy where I've done something incredibly dumb and chalked it up to this thing I heard about called "preggo brain." Your body is working so hard to create life that it sometimes stops fueling the thinking part of yours.

I've stressed over losing things that I actually was just holding in my other hand, written down the wrong addresses, had numerous misspellings, failed to solve simple math addition without a calculator, forgotten my own name. It's pretty normal these days for me to do something stupid on a daily basis. But what I did yesterday pretty much takes the cake.

That morning I hit the snooze button at least five times on my phone. My back was hurting the night before and I didn't sleep very well. I was completely exhausted and didn't want to get out of bed. By the time I did get up I was running late for work and needed to hurry and get ready.

It was Wednesday, which meant I'd be working on a story about foster kids, and featuring them to help them get adopted. That means I don't have to get all dressed up in business attire like I normally do. I can slip on a pair of jeans, a casual maternity top and go.

In a hurry I run downstairs, where my shoes are, slip them on, grab my purse and kiss my husband goodbye.

By the time I get to work it's right on time for me to be able to print our directions to where we're doing the filming, and hook up with my photographer. I say hi to a few people but I'm pretty much in and out of the building.

The first shoot we were doing was at a boxing club. Once we got there my photographer realized he forgot the memory card to record the story on, so he dropped me off to meet with the people inside, while he drove back to the station to get what we needed.

I walk in and introduce myself to the hosts as well as the 13-year-old foster child. I told them we forgot our disk and that it would be another few minutes but we could just hang out and chat in the meantime. There's about five different adults there. Some of them volunteer at the boxing club, a couple were the boy's foster parents, and one of the ladies was a woman I work with for coordinating the kids we interview.

We're all getting friendly, and since there were chairs up against the wall I figure it would be a good idea if we sat down and talked since it was going to be a little while.

As I look down to make sure I don't fall while I sit (my balance is a little off) I notice something incredibly wrong, something I should have noticed an hour ago, something someone should have noticed long before I noticed, and someone probably did notice but was too confused or embarrassed to tell me. I notice this:
(actual photo from the scene)

Yes, I'm wearing miss-matching shoes. This is WAY worse than accidentally slipping on a navy blue with a black sock, or even two black shoes that are different styles. Not only am I wearing shoes that are two different colors, they're COMPLETELY different styles. I silently wondered how in the world I didn't feel the difference sooner, given that one of my feet was half exposed, and the other was covered by a loafer.

I immediately tuck my enormous size-11 feet under my chair and pray no one notices. But I don't have a desk job where I can hide my feet until the clock strikes five. There was no way no one was going to notice. I needed to do something.

I debated taking my shoes off. Sometimes that's appropriate, depending on the shoot... But this was not the case. Being a gym, it would not only probably look just as awkward as my miss-matching shoes, but I'd probably contract some sort of foot disease in the process.

I knew I had to be up front.

I thought of ways to admit my mistake. I debated making up an excuse like: "I hurt my foot and this is the only combination of shoes that I can wear."

Or: "It's miss-match shoe day at work."

But I knew I wouldn't be able to play it off and that it would just be best if I came out and was honest about my dumb mistake.

"Want to hear a funny story?" I asked, breaking the ice. I went through my story of being in a hurry to get ready for work, and ended with the punchline. I brought my feet out from under the chair.

Everyone about died laughing. I laughed too, but I was still incredibly embarrassed, especially when one of the ladies pulled out her camera to take pictures and I realized that from now on when they see me on TV they'd remember me as "the newslady who wore the wrong shoes."

To my credit, it was dark when I slipped the shoes on my feet, the heels were the same height, so I wasn't walking lopsided, and I did have this obstructing my view:But most of all, I have the excuse of pregnancy, and the dreaded disease that comes with it called "Preggo Brain."
(After filming that story I did have a chance to go home and change my shoes before the next shoot, and before more humiliation. I am able to laugh about it now.)

***
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42 comments:

  1. I suppose my husband suffers from the same malady? He did the exact same thing about a month ago...no, wait - he's not pregnant!

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  2. This made me giggle! I'm glad you were able to run home and fix the shoes. lol

    Once when I was pregnant I put the milk in the cabinet and the cereal in the fridge. Didn't realize it until the next day when I had to go buy new milk! Ew!

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  3. This made me laugh so hard because I've had so many preggo brain moments!

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  4. At least it was a left and a right! Glad you were able to go change!

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  5. LOL I love this story. At least you do you have the excuse of preggo brain... if you weren't pregnant people might be worried about your sanity. Thanks for sharing that story, I am sure a lot of women can relate!

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  6. Your shoes combination is very fashionable and cool :)!

    Once I went to school with my top inside out/front to back. Very embarrassing, my teacher noticed and pointed it out in front of the class. Imagine...

    xxxMsBabyPlan

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  7. oh my! LOL.
    Glad you had a chance to run home and change before the next shoot, most of the time though you usually don't see the news reporter's feet--thank goodness for that! ;)
    I've had preggo brain before too...

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  8. A few months ago, when I was, in my pregnancy, where you are now, I went to the ATM to deposit my husband's paycheck and sat there for five minutes, staring stupidly at the screen, because I could not, for anything in this world, remember my pin number.

    The pin number I've had for SEVEN years. It was gone, poof, totally vanished. I ran a few other errands and picked up my kids and then went back to the bank to try again. Finally, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I remembered. And then I told my oldest so that he could help me remember in case it happened again! (His little eight year old brain is so smart... he immediately made up a word that corresponds with the numbers, so now I'll never forget again!)

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  9. Love it...and love what I have to look forward to -- preggo brain!

    On a side note, a co-worker of mine did this a few weeks ago, but wait, she's not pregnant! Thanks for another great blog post. I love not only your writing style but all your preggo-related stories! Can't wait for your little one!

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  10. I've done it LOL, it was also dark my belly was big and I was rushed.

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  11. Oh my goodness, It's so good to know you are not the only one who has done things like this. I have done some serious damage (as in throwing away checks, losing bills, my cell phone, etc) but know that it does get better afterwards. Right now you just have to laugh it off. :)

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  12. Oh, so funny, and you handled it really well! I've been PARANOID about what my husband calls "PB"...just him saying those initials in response to something I say or do incites PR, our other acronym (pregnancy rage).

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  13. LOL wow, i think it was cute that you were honest.

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  14. oh my that is too funny! It's good that you can laugh about, I would have done the exact same thing...who am I kidding, I HAVE done the exact same thing and I've never been pregnant so not sure what my excuse is LOL

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  15. That made me laugh so hard. Thank you for that. I feel like I never understood how bad pregnancy brain was until I got pregnant. I am surprised I can still do my job.

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  16. Ain't it fun being pregnant!!

    www.frugaltractormom.blogspot.com

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  17. hHAHAHAHAHAAHAH omg! your so adorable!

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  18. Haha! That is too funny! Glad you are able to laugh at it now. :)

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  19. Lol! My pregnancy brain has moved onto mommy brain! It never gets better! But, at least you have an excuse, my old 50 year old coworker did it a couple of times!

    http://hisluckylady.blogspot.com

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  20. You are too cute Jenn! At least you look good rocking two different shoes! That's one for the baby books!

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  21. That is hilarious! I did that same thing once and found out what I had done while at work. However, I wasn't pregnant at the time. Yeah, that makes me a bit worried about what my brain will do when I actually AM pregnant.

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  22. Well, at least you have an excuse! I did that once about 4 years before I ever thought about becoming a mommy. :-)

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  23. HAHA oh shoot! Sorry I had to get that laugh in there because IT HAPPENS!! My mom once did the same thing and we laughed at her also. She had to run home and change shoes and she wasn't even pregnant! :)
    Also, I have that same maternity shirt from when I was pregnant. I loved it!

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  24. Aww that is sad, but kind of funny! I have done some crayz things because of preggo brain. My husband makes funny of me all the time! Thanks for sharing!

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  25. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....

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  26. LMAO Thanks for the pick me up...even at your expence. Nice to know people that look like thay have it all together don't always. But I bet you still looked cute.
    Ha! After 4 kids I still have prego brain, but cant use the excuse anymore.

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  27. Too funny! I never did that. But just a word to the wise, preggo brain turns into mommy brain. I just wish someone had told me that before.

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  28. Oh em gee, I'm cracking up here! Watch out, preggo brain will be followed by mommy brain. I think my brain got pushed out with the placenta and tossed. ;-)

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  29. oh my gosh, i was readin this blog and i was bracing myself for the worst...like u forgot the day or had walked out half naked (ever have those nightmares, ur naked or u forgot ur shoes?).haha, funny though

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  30. Wow . . . What's my excuse. I look for my cell phone while I'm talking on it and look for my keys when they are in my hand. And let's not start with the day I almost walked out the house wearing no shirt. . . . . gosh, I'll be a mess when I actually get pregnant.

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  31. hey, i'm a size 11 too! and i've done the same exact thing. i was TOTALLY mentally incapable when i was pregnant, and i hated it. i feel for you girl...trouble is, your brain never really goes back to normal--now you're going to have to think for your kid too. and your husband will probably wanna jump on that bandwagon, too so...you're going to have to divide your brain three ways. good luck with that!

    love your shirt btw.

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  32. I've heard so much about your blog! I am here via Friday Follow :)

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  33. Happy FF! I'm your newest follower! Please follow me too at http://www.mommylivingthelifeofriley.com

    Have a great day!

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  34. Bwaaaaaahaaaaaa! That was too funny. Don't worry about it, girl. It certainly happens to the best of us.

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  35. this was way too funny. I loved it. lmao, i notice i forget things too now that i'm pregnant.

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  36. Baby brain is real! My first pregnancy, I ran into a cement pole and wrecked my truck - this was at the OB doctor's office and I was so mortified, I called (while driving away in the dented vehicle) to reschedule and they freaked out and wanted to dial 911.

    My second, I was cleaning house and grabbed my lemon scented pledge only to find - after I had dusted the entire house - I was using lemon scented RAID! No wonder it left this nasty film on everything.

    You handled it perfectly, but it must have been embarrassing. Maybe this will be the worst that happens? Hang in there for these last few months!

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  37. So funny! I have pregnancy brain all the time and I am not pregnant... Darn it : )

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  38. I just wanted to let you know that I have an award for you on my blog! :)

    http://diapersanddandelions.blogspot.com

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  39. I loveeeee it! This made me giggle.
    It doesn't get better post baby actually I have more of these moments now than during pregnancy!

    Btw I'm following u now!

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  40. There's an award waiting for you on my blog!

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  41. Ha ha ha, this is the best!!!!

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