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Anyone with writers block while pregnant?

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kaquinn

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I wrote two novels and a novella last year, but I haven't been able to write *at all* since I got pregnant with my first child. NaNoWriMo was a flop, and now I have no ideas for anything. My brain shut down months ago, and I really wanted to write another novel before the baby's born (3 1/2 months left). Did anyone else have this problem? Is there hope? I'm feeling the pressure of time running out, but it's not helping. With preggo brain, I can spend hours staring at the wall!
 

illiterwrite

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I worked seriously on a draft of my novel for two or three months of my pregnancy -- maybe months 5 to 7. Before that, I was too tired and too busy perusing baby sites/boards; after that, I was too fat and tired and too busy playing video games and bouncing on my yoga ball to get things moving. :)
 

kaquinn

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You are a superwoman. Gah, I just hit six months. Did I miss my window?

Admitting laziness is the first step to overcoming it, right? :)
 

clara bow

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Hmm, I'm not sure there's much you can do to fight the process! I agree, the pregnancy can be very distracting in that it's a whole different mindset. Right now, I'm on bedrest (had a preterm labor scare about a month ago). One would think I'd be writing 8 hours a day since I can't work or get up much. But, no. Even the writing gets boring or I reach a limit creatively. I usually find I need to visit AW and other writing sites in a kind of ritual before I get up the motivation to work on my current project. Plus, sometimes a pregnancy limits your mobility and sitting positions (I must say, thank god for laptops!).

Pretty much I just write when the urge hits. This can mean five minutes or an hour or two. I guess the main suggestion I have is to increase whatever you do to get your motivation going, but also remember that the body is forced to nurture the pregnancy more than anything else. It kind of sucks professionally (whatever one's job is), though.
 

illiterwrite

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kaquinn said:
You are a superwoman. Gah, I just hit six months. Did I miss my window?

Admitting laziness is the first step to overcoming it, right? :)

Listen, I'm the laziest person around, and I'm no superwoman. Honestly. But I wanted to finish the draft and send it off to my reader before the baby came. I certainly didn't have the time (or energy) to write after she arrived!
 

illiterwrite

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I just realized I didn't really offer you any solutions. :) Clara's right though -- your body is focusing on one thing right now. I wouldn't try to put too much pressure on yourself to do much of anything else, unless you have a specific deadline.

And Clara, I feel for you. That must have been scary. :(
 

clara bow

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illiterwrite said:
I just realized I didn't really offer you any solutions. :) Clara's right though -- your body is focusing on one thing right now. I wouldn't try to put too much pressure on yourself to do much of anything else, unless you have a specific deadline.

And Clara, I feel for you. That must have been scary. :(

Thank you! Yes, it was very scary. It was probably a combination of dehydration, a bladder infection, and some overexertion. I think it was harder on my husband, though, because he became really sick and had to take two types of medication. We are pulling through, though. Now I am drinking over a gallon of water a day and being very careful.

good luck to all the writer moms-to-be!
 

Shwebb

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My personal, qualified opinion is that, when pregnant, the brain moves into the placenta and is then expelled immediately after the baby is born. Then you have to grow a new one.

I'm on my fourth attempt at growing a brain. My last child was born just six weeks ago--I have a long way to go.
 

kaquinn

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Shwebb, LOL, I can understand that! My imagination is gone, and I'm so absent-minded! Congratulations to you.

clara bow. best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy. I hope it goes smoothly for you. I was on bedrest just a few days after an amnio, and it drove me nuts.
 

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clara bow

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kaquinn said:
Shwebb, LOL, I can understand that! My imagination is gone, and I'm so absent-minded! Congratulations to you.

clara bow. best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy. I hope it goes smoothly for you. I was on bedrest just a few days after an amnio, and it drove me nuts.

Well, if it weren't for this site, I think I would be nuts!
 

kaquinn

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Oh boy, I don't even want to think about colic. I'm planning to nurse (lactose formula intolerance in family), and I'm buying gas drops and I have a vibrating Pack N Play. *Crosses fingers she's prepared*
 

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TwentyFour

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Shwebb

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Kaquinn, don't be afraid of asking for help if you find the nursing stuff daunting. I'm nursing my third one, and it's always tough in the beginning. (At least for me.)

I think there are a lot of us nursing or former-nursing moms out here in AW, and just post a thread if you need to blow off steam or get advice or support.
 

scfirenice

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It's NOT naughty...I guess you could use it though....huh, now you have me thinking.

As to the original question, I haven't written more than a few pages since I found out I was pregnant with triplets. I'm only nine weeks into this and I see my career flushing down the toilet. Sorry I don;t have better news.
 

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kaquinn

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clara bow said:
my goodness, that almost sounds naughty! What is that?

LOL, a Graco Pack N Play's a portable playpen with a bassinet and changing table on top. Pretty handy. This one has a little vibrator thing under the bassinet, supposed to soothe the baby like a car ride does.
 

clara bow

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kaquinn said:
LOL, a Graco Pack N Play's a portable playpen with a bassinet and changing table on top. Pretty handy. This one has a little vibrator thing under the bassinet, supposed to soothe the baby like a car ride does.

sounds pretty neat. I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the info!
 

kaquinn

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scfirenice said:
As to the original question, I haven't written more than a few pages since I found out I was pregnant with triplets. I'm only nine weeks into this and I see my career flushing down the toilet. Sorry I don;t have better news.

My goodness. Best of luck! I figured out I was pregnant in a little over a week, because I swear my brain turned off. It was such an odd feeling I knew I had to be! I've had some amazingly realistic dreams and nightmares, so those were worth writing in the notebook by the bed.
 

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9 now and in 9 more years he will be old enough to clean his own room (hopefully, but unlikely it seems at this point!)


Right! (Said in my most sarcastic tone of voice...)

I can't say how pregnancy affects writing. I wrote a lot in my pre-teen and teen years, and then didn't write at all until after my daughter was born. Then I started again and haven't stopped (she's 17 now).

As for colic and all that jazz: my first child (a boy) was colicky a lot. I'd phone my parents up and tell them that if they didn't come and get him RIGHT NOW, they might not have a grandson in the morning. They'd take him for a car ride, and he'd be fine.

My second and third child started sleeping through the night as soon as they were born, and were both very happy babies. Maybe that's why I was able to start writing again after Ally was born.

I breastfed all of my kids for varying lengths of time, and I much preferred it to bottle feeding. Not only was it better for the kids, it made me feel good, too. However, while my eldest two were "naturals" at breast feeding, my youngest had to be taught, and there was a little bit of frustration during the first couple of weeks.

Also, I had a mother who hadn't breastfed, and when my colicky son cried all the time, she said, "Give him a bottle. He's not getting enough to eat." She was silenced at the one month mark, though -- when I brought him home from the hospital, he was 6 1/2 pounds, and at one month, he was 10 pounds. He was most certainly getting enough to eat!

So advice from the mother of two teens and a twenty-somthing: listen to your body, and do what you can without guilt-tripping yourself into an even bigger writer's block. And once the baby's born, hang in there. They do grow up, eventually. They may even start writing:

http://thestoriesofcookie.com/
 
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