Too Tired... Lacking Coping Skills Tonight - How Do You Motivate Yourselves?

You are doing too much. Since you can't drop being a Mom or being pregnant it's either work or cleaning. So drop one and stop feeling guilty about it! Get some sleep.

Good Lord, you're PREGNANT. Cuddle with the kid then go to bed. Give yourself a break already!

:)

Try letting your daughter sleep in with you while he is gone-this always worked for me. This way when she wakes with a dream you will be right there to snuggle her back to sleep and it won't wake you out of sleep.

Oh honey, you just need to put your feet up and have a big bowl of ice cream.

The dishes can wait until tomorrow.

Let your little one sleep with you while dad is gone. (No, you won't start a vicious cycle and never get her back into her own bed again. At 4 1/2, she'll be fine.)

You are doing too much. After you finish your ice cream, make a list of all the things you need to do and decide what can get done tomorrow and what you can do on Thursday.

But for now, call it a day. I hope you have a good evening!

Prioritize.

Sometimes you need a day or night to just chill out and relax... recharge your batteries.

My hubby is out until Thursday so today was cleaning day, tomorrow, some shopping but when he is out, daughter and I indulge in some tv, down time and go to bed early. It is SO nice to get a good sleep.

I hope you have a good night... give yourself a little break

Drop the things that can be done later and just do some relax time.
Hang out in the 4yr old world for the rest of the evening and let go of your grown-up worries ;)

When I was pregnant with my 2nd child, my daughter was about 3.5 years old at the time.
And I was REAL tired.
But, she and I, napped together.
I merely explained to her, that Mommy needs to rest, and because I am pregnant. She understood.
Or I would lay on a sofa keeping one eye open, and she would, stay by me on the floor and play. I explained this to her as well. That Mommy gets tired being on her feet all the time and with a HUGE belly etc.

And sure, a child wakes during the night. So I did that too. Tending to the waking child at night.
But at those ages, a child does get nightmares (or more so when they are over-tired) and they get lack of sleep too.

So when I was pregnant, although I spent a lot of time on my daughter, I also explained to her that Mommy needs to rest, too. And per my Doctor. She understood.

Or, have your 4.5 year old daughter, "help" you.
She can. Per her age.
I'm not talking cooking for you. But per her age, she can also help.

And when pregnant, go by your cues as well.
If you are tired, don't clean.
I am sure, your Husband can understand that? You are pregnant and have another child too. And he is not there to help.
So if need be, you explain to Husband as well... that you cannot do it all.

For a child the age of yours, it is important to explain things. In a simple way they can understand. I did that with my daughter when I was pregnant. But I did not make it like my being pregnant was more important than her. But I let a lot of things slide, when I was pregnant. My belly was just too HUGE and I got so tired as the pregnancy went on.
And my daughter was home with me, not yet in Preschool. But after my son was born, she went to Preschool and loved it.

When I was pregnant with my 2nd child.... I was home alone too and with my daughter. AND I also was doing babysitting. I had 1-2 other kids here besides my daughter. Then I stopped babysitting when I was about 8 months pregnant with my son. By then, I was just not mobile. My daughter even had to help push my rear-end, as I went up the stairs. Which I had to do a lot, because our home is upstairs and downstairs.

Just tell your Husband do not expect a spic and span house. You are pregnant. You need to take care of yourself.
And when he is home.... then HE can wake up during the night, if/when your daughter wakes. So that you can sleep.

I try to put myself on auto pilot. Just get up and keep putting one foot in front of the other without thinking about it too much!

OMG...you sound like me only about 17 years ago when I had my first daughter and a second one on the way! I know exacly how you feel! My husband worked close to 50 hours a week and also traveled on business trips a lot. The worst ever was having a 2 1/2 year old toddler and an 8 day old infant and my husband got sent to Atlanta for a week! I thought i'd NEVER make it....but because I'm writing to you right now today, I obviously did make it through and now I have two beautiful and intelligent daughters ages 15 and 17. Being a mom is tough but what I found is the easiest way to manage stuff is to do a little bit each day so stuff does not "get away from you". If you can tackle three things per day, the chores and general "stuff" will get done but at a more even pace. For instance....I would only do grocery shopping on a ceratin day and buy for the week or two weeks ahead so I didn't have to keep running out. I would do all my bills online and only on a specific day. Try to do laundry every other day so the loads are small and manageable. Get your 4-year old to help you!!! Kids love to fold clothes, or at least mine did! Make simple meals especially when hubby is away. There's nothing wrong with PB&J sandwiches, a grilled cheese, fruit and yogurt or even cereal as meal if it saves you time. As long as you eat frequently and as healthy as you can, it will be fine. Have your daughter help you with some chores each day. Clean three spaces each day and the house should stay pretty clean on a regular basis this way. Does your daughter nap? If so....lie down and close your eyes as well. You need the extra rest so take it if you get the chance. As for the night wake ups....why is she doing this? At 4 years old and a baby on the way, your daughter should not be waking up anymore and should not be having repeated episodes of bad dreams this frequently. You might want to investigate this and talk with the pediatrician as to why this is happening so much. You need your sleep and so does she! I promise you that as you get further into this pregnancy, the blah and tired feeling will give way to more energy and stamina. Second pregancies are harder than the first and primarily because you have another child to care for. Toward the fifth and sixth month, the body kind of gets with the program and the tiredness turns into a Mama-Machine! I know that happened to me and I was thankful for it because in the beginning I thought I was going to lose it! LOL! Good luck to you and take it easy. Just pace yourself, do a little each day, plan your work and work your plan. Before long, your sapped energy will return and as your daughter grows up before your eyes, she can be a source of help and accomplishment at the same time. I hope this helped!

when my husband is away, sometimes I just say--heck with the dishes. And when your pregnant, then give yourself a break. Now, for the 4 1/2 year old--have you ever thought of just having her sleep in your bed with you? My family co-sleep and when my 4 year old wakes crying, we are there to comfort her right away. She just needs the reasurance and the snuggle she needs and she goes right back to sleep.
Give that a try. She just needs extra comfort and having mommy right there may make things easier. Oh, either I or my husband, lies down by our kiddies, so they fall asleep with assurance that we are right there. And when the child is asleep, just get up and do what you want to do leaving the door open a crack...or just plan to go to sleep at the same time and leave the house work for the next day. Daddy's not home--don't worry about the dishes.

Hope that works! It works for us :)