Mommy Brain

I'm hoping to get a few personal stories on this post.

A lot has been written on this concept of 'baby brain'... the idea that your memory can become impaired during pregnancy and up to a year after your wee one is born.

Hormones aside, I'm convinced that the after-birth lack of memory has more to do with the lack of sleep, lack of showers, lack of adult contact, lack of nice clothes, lack of elastic skin, etc... .

I think my baby brain incidents have been pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, so I'm willing to share.

Here are a few of the things that have happened (and are still happening) to me and my brain:

• My immediate short-term memory has failed completely. Take a shopping trip, for example. I'll park the car, get out of the car, close the door and then have a minor panic attack because I have no idea where my car keys are. Something I never even used to think about. Of course, they`re in my purse, or in my pocket, but I have no recollection of the previous nano-second when I put them there. In order to alleviate my need to take Lorazepam in order to hit Metro, I actually have to tell myself, out loud, "the keys are in your purse." That eases the stress, and only makes me feel mildly idiotic. This is then repeated for the credit card when I pay for the groceries.

• I had to stop buying nice gloves, and now stick firmly with the 3/$3 mini-magics. I currently have no idea where most of those are.

• When making toast in the morning, I'll take out at least two knives for the peanut butter. One before I start, 'cause I'm efficient like that and want to make sure everything is ready once the toast comes out. When the toast is done, I'll grab another one because why the hell would I have taken out a knife before I needed it.

• I usually make myself a tea in the morning, and due to various activities that take me away from being able to just sit and enjoy it, I tend to put it in the microwave for a warm-up at least twice before I`m able to finish drinking it. More often than not, it goes in to the microwave and doesn't come out for at least 8-10 hours when my husband opens up the microwave and asks me if I'm gonna drink this. Cheeky bastard.

• Just the other day I poured myself a huge glass of milk, which under normal circumstances would be fine, except for the fact that I haven't had a glass of milk in 7-months because the dairy affects Colsen's digestive system (via breastfeeding).

• And, the pièce de résistance that prompted this post... I was getting myself a drink, dropped a couple of ice-cubes in my glass, and then mindlessly dumped a scoop of Colsen's formula straight into it. I am calling it PC Organics On the Rocks, and currently shopping it around to a few of the swankier bars in the area.

If you can actually remember any personal incidents - funny or just weird - please share!