September 29, 2013 – 12 weeks

We are excited to have made it to 12 weeks without major incident.  As we are finishing out the first trimester here is what has been going on:

Morning sickness: the only time I am not sick is in the morning.  Eating dinner after 6pm will result in throwing up.  Brushing my teeth does the same.  I have to brush, vomit, brush, and go to bed.  I have to try my best to get in enough calories early in the day that I don’t lose weight each day.  Some days are definitely better than others, and some are much worse.  One night it was so bad I burst blood vessels around my eyes.  It was a sexy look on my ultra-fair skin.  According to my OB it is going to get worse before it starts getting better.  He told me that on the very same day I burst blood vessels that night.  As long as I am able to maintain my weight it is okay for me to be sick.  The baby is fine and my being sick is awful and uncomfortable for me, but not at all hurting my baby.  I asked.  Three times.  I try to think of morning sickness as God’s way of reminding me I am pregnant until I can count kicks. 

Medications: No additional meds for morning sickness or any symptoms.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, has told me to take my Zofram.  I am uncomfortable taking anything during the first trimester.  I am a house wife; if I am sick it really isn’t a big deal.  If I need a nap I can take one and if I need to vomit I can hang out on my bathroom floor for as long as I want.  I don’t have a job that I must get to.  If I need to wake up at midnight to eat, I can do that too.  So why would I take a medication which adds unknown risk to my pregnancy?  Here is another thing I think my friends/family don’t understand; If I took Zofram to avoid morning sickness and then lost this baby I would be unable to live with myself even if it had nothing to do with the Zofram.  If I took anything to avoid a symptom that I could have lived safely with and lost this baby I would be unable to forgive myself.  That is a big deal.  Last night I was questioning my decision and asked Doc if he thought I was crazy and should just take the Zofram already.  He drops this bomb on me, which hardened my resolve; The OB said not to take it until you were safely into your second trimester.  Somehow I totally missed this conversation.  Doc looked at me like I was crazy for not remembering it, but I get all excited and nervous at the doctor’s office and they show me the baby and things are pretty much a wash after that.  So, the guy I pay to worry about safely delivering a healthy baby said not to take it and that being sick is safe.  I am going to just live with the morning sickness for a bit longer. 

Baby bump: I am already showing.  My body started moving fat all around the moment I was pregnant.  My belly sports most of it and my boobs the rest.  The baby bump is starting to get harder as baby stretches the muscles.  It is kind of amazing to see how major the changes are.  When I went for my massage last week my masseuse was worried that I had lost weight because I looked thinner everywhere (awesome thing to hear from someone who sees you naked).  I showed her my baby bump and explained it all moved around.  It means I couldn’t fit into normal pants for very long, but I bought some maternity pants and am not really sure why anyone wears anything else. 

Sleep: I have fun pregnancy insomnia.  I feel exhausted all the time, but just can’t sleep.  Sometimes a “nap” consists of me lying in bed for 2 hours so I can manage 30 minutes of sleep.  I wake up frequently at night, sometimes just to pee but sometimes just because.  I am usually up from 2:30-5:30.  It is rare that I sleep longer than 2 hours at a time, although I have managed a 4 hour nap on a few afternoons.

Exercise: I was cleared to return to my normal workout.  I am rarely up for our nightly 3 miles any more.  We go after 6 and that is when the symptoms are usually the worst.  I shoot for 3-4 times a week and cut myself a break if I can’t make it.  Doc and I have been trying to go for walks at other times just to make sure I get my exercise in.  When I do go I try to run part of it and walk what I can’t run.  As the baby grows the part I can run gets shorter.  I loved spending that time with my family and dogs and want it to continue to be a part of my life.  We have another 5k coming up next month, so hopefully we will continue to enjoy this family activity.  There is more talk about joining the YMCA as winter approaches and walking outside will become more dangerous. 

Stress:  The one thing my doctor came down hard on was doing anything that adds stress to my life.  Anything that makes sleeping or eating more difficult than it already is needs to be off the table.  I promised to work on that and have made some adjustments to my schedule to try and improve the amount of stress I have.  You would think being home I have very little stress, but trust me, no life is perfect and stress free.  I still have bills to worry about, a household to run, and the normal stress of family/friends.  Not to mention that I am on my 3^rd pregnancy with a history of them not going so well. 

Weight gain:  The part every woman dreads about being pregnant.  So far I haven’t gained any weight.  I think the morning sickness is part of that, but also I was overweight to begin with so I don’t need to gain a ton of weight with my pregnancy.  The OB said 15-25 pounds was going to be perfect and that not gaining weight in the first trimester wasn’t a concern.  If I haven’t gained weight by the next visit he said we would have to talk.  I am assuming the minute the morning sickness lifts I will begin putting on weight. 

Overall, things are going well.  We are still cautiously optimistic and just trying to spend each day living in the moment.  We have 3 more weeks before we see our OB again, which is kind of nice because it means he feels like things are going well.  J