Week 11

Week 10 ended badly which means week 11 started badly. I think I spent the entire weekend in bed with very few exceptions, I had to walk the dogs, go grocery shopping, and do laundry, but those were the only three things that I got done this weekend. I feel bad, because I really do want to clean the house, but I have been feeling so sick right now. Plus I got lucky and Husband took care of most of it on Friday. Have I mentioned how much I love Husband, it was like he could read my mind and knew I just wasn't up to it this weekend.

I know I have had it pretty easy up to this point, despite on the complaining I have been doing.(I don't do not feeling well, very well, so I complain.) But this week is turning out to be horrible, which makes me worry, am I going to be sick for the rest of the pregnancy. I am supposed to be close to the finish line on this feeling like crap crap. It is hard to get things done when you feel like crap.

I felt so bad for Husband this week. I never realized just how hard grocery shopping is when you feel sick and its food that makes you feel this way. I did do grocery shopping, but I am afraid I didn't come home with much to eat. I really did try. I went to 2 stores and walked the entire store. Now I know I don't feel like cooking much, especially when Husband works at night, so Husband suggested that I get some TV dinners. They have some pretty healthy ones out now. I thought this was a brilliant idea, up until the point I got to the frozen food section. I looked through all of them and they all sounded completely disgusting to me. The paninis that I was so excited to get for lunches just looked like they would instantly induce vomit. You many be wondering what I did end up getting to eat for the week. I got oranges (because Husband loves oranges, see I did think of him) and I got hot dogs. Yes I have been eating hot dogs all week. Oh and mac and cheese. I can also stomach that.

At first it was a craving for chili dogs, but I got all the stuff to make them and they just weren't that good. Probably because the moment I craved them I wanted the ones from Der Wienershnitzel. You know the crappy cheese over the crappy dog with the chili. My mouth watered for their chili combo, the one with the dog, burger and fries...mmm and a rootbeer float to wash it all down with. But as it is with ALL of my cravings we don't have a Der WienerSnitzel in Massachusetts. All the places that even serve chili cheese dogs, serve quality dogs, with quality chili and real cheese. I mean come on who wants that crap? Give me my cheap crappy stuff. Anyways so the stuff at home just did not compare, and the chili cheese baked potato I had made me sick so I am done with the chili now. Now its down to just the simple dog nuked for a minute, and the microwave mutilated dog put in a bun with just plain old mustard with a side of mac and cheese. I even had a hot dog for breakfast yesterday. It was the most satisfying breakfast I have had in a while.

MMM hot dogs. I am gonna have to buy some more before I get home tonight.

10 Weeks and First OB/GYN Appointment

I am now 10 weeks. Thankfully most of the annoying pregnancy symptoms are now gone. All I have left is the extreme exhaustion and the extreme emotional roller coaster that I am still riding. I am 2 weeks away from being done with the first trimester. I can't believe the first trimester is actually almost done. It seemed like I just found out I was pregnant. 

Pants are getting tighter in the waste, but fitting better in the legs. I am told this week that the placenta actually starts to help me out and hopefully some of the crazy emotional outbursts will calm down a bit. I am also able to eat a bit more and keep it in. This is a very much welcomed relief to me. 

I had my first OB/GYN appointment last friday. Husband came with me. Poor thing was starving the entire visit since it was a morning visit and we didn't get a chance to eat before heading down the hospital. We both liked the fact that while we waited  that there was a guy that went around the waiting room with a basket full of snacks. Neither of us have ever seen anything like that at a doctor's office. 

When I finally went back I met with the doctor, and she was really good. She also wanted my old medical records from my surgery in 97 just to make sure I don't need to see a specialist for the pregnancy. I didn't get this type of follow up for the doctors who were there for the surgery. This is all new for me. She gave me my full exam and when it came time for the sonogram they went out and got Husband so he could see it to. It was not the best quality sonogram as you can see from the pictures, but it was amazing non the less.

I got to see the baby's heart flutter. It was so exciting. When the doctor went to take the two still pictures, the baby started to jump around. It made all three of us laugh. My baby likes to move around. Husband started to call in the dancing baby. After the doctor left he asked how big I thought it was. I told him at that point it was the size of a strawberry. He now calls our baby our dancing strawberry. We love our dancing strawberry, my little monkey. It was just so reassuring to see the heart beat.

I get another sonogram, a more clear on in a few weeks at my next appointment and one again to find out the gender. Everything is so real now. I never knew I could love so much, especially someone I haven't even met yet. 

Week 9 and First Dr Visit

So this post has been a bit delayed. That was because I am becoming less and less energized, and more and more emotional. I am sure those of you that I text message all the time are getting a feel for just how raging my hormones are as of late. So the morning sickness is really going away. I still can't eat much and definitely can't eat the same thing more than twice, and that second time is usually forcing it down.

I have lost another 2 pounds this week. I was not nervous about this at first since my mom told me she lost about 60 pounds while she was pregnant with my oldest brother before she gave birth and her doctor told her she and the baby were fine. She told me to just let the doctors know that weight loss runs in the family. Plus the pants still aren't fitting in the waist so obviously the baby is still growing.

The husband has been great. When I do actually get a craving he is very loving and brings it home to me. Luckily I don't crave much, that and I am still scared to eat the cravings I get on a whim because the baby has burned me on that in the past and made me sick right after eating it. Yes my baby is already mean to me.

I also went to the doctor on Monday to get the official medical diagnosis of being knocked up. And I got the results yesterday that indeed I am medically confirmed to be knocked up. I love my primary care physician. She is great. Very reassuring. I feel confident that even if I am not completely comfortable with my OB/GYN I still have my PCP. She made sure that I was completely checked out and in tip top shape. She made sure that I had a contact number for her in case I freaked out or had a concern after office hours which she totally didn't have to do. She also made sure I knew that if I had any issues with billing to call her and she would get it straightened out. She brought back my faith in the medical profession. She saw me right away. I think I waited maybe a total of 10 minutes from the time I walked in the door of the office to actually having the doctor in front of me, and that counts the time it took to weigh me and get my height. She also personally called me with all my blood work results, and after the dumb people at the pharmacy couldn't figure out my prescription for my prenatal vitamins.

When I say the people at the pharmacy where dumb I mean retarded. When I told my doctor what they were having trouble deciphering... (DSS 0.8 mg).... She kinda sounded confused and said that that was the dosage of the pill.... When she hung up, I was like OH MY GOD, those people have to be complete morons....they are pharmacists and didn't know how to read a dosage measure on a prescription. I wont be going to that pharmacy again

She did scare me a little bit. Because I am asthmatic she was concerned about my recent weight loss. She let me know that asthmatics have an increased chance of low birth weight. (I am trying to thing positive and think about the fact that Husband's family produces big babies, so maybe if I do have a low birth weight baby it will be a normal baby) She also said that there are a number of other complications that are increased with asthmatics, and because of that she referred me to a pulmologist as well.

The other think I really liked about my PCP is that she actually cared about the surgery I had 10 years ago. She is the first doctor that I have had since then that thought hmmm maybe a major surgery like that should have some follow up. My surgeon at the time didn't even think I should get followed up.

Even with all the new concerns I have about the possible complications, I feel better knowing that I have an awesome PCP that cares about her patients. Its a nice feeling when I come from a belief that doctors don't really care they just want to diagnose you and get you out of their office and collect the fees.

So until Friday, my first appointment with the OB/GYN....

Aparently Now I am a Bloodhound

I always knew the sense of smell increased during pregnancy. I just never knew how much. Last month there was a faint smell of soap in my office, and I could smell it very strongly. So strongly that I actually asked a coworker of mine if he could also smell it. He had to get up and walk around my desk before he could pick up that scent. He was very impressed with my new superpower. I didn't think much of this at the time.

But today the super power is now in full effect. My friend at work ordered a piece of pizza which I did not know about because I was busy working at my desk. I got a whiff of the smell of pasta sauce and declared that someone must be having pasta. She looked across our shared cubicle wall and said she was having pizza.

Moments later I get a very strong sense of vinegar. I notice that the cubicle diagonal from me has a salad from a place that makes a vinegar based dressing. While these incidents seem to be cute. It is no so cute when I have to take this uncontrolled super power of mine out into the world. By this I mean outside to the dirty smelly streets of Central Square Cambridge. Each smell of the street is intensified. I cannot turn my super nose off, and I would really like to be able to do this when faced with the scents that want to make me gag.

I get to the corner right before the subway entrance of Central Square heading back to Boston and I have to just about run to get underground where I am safe from the hideous smells. This is not an easy task as this is always where a major bus stop is and crowds of people linger. So I also have to dodge the moving bodies that are trying to walk in the opposite direction as I am. in effort to find me safety.

A dear friend of mine decided to share the secret that this super power once activated does not go away. Please all mothers out there, tell me if this is true, and I stuck with this uncontrolled super power of the super bloodhound smelling nose?

What to Eat Is the Question?

What do you eat when even the thought of anything food related makes you want to gag?. I went grocery shopping over the weekend. I was so excited I got lots of chicken and fresh veges and fruit to make salads. I was craving so badly a chicken salad with Ranch dressing and a chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato and a little Dijon mustard. I went home that day and decided since the roll I got for my sandwich would best be used quickly I would make my sandwich first. It sounded so good, up until the point that I actually had it put together. I took one look at it all made and instantly didn't want it any more. I choked it down because I didn't want to waste a perfectly good meal, but I only managed to get half of it down. The dogs were grateful for that because they thoroughly enjoyed the other half.

Luckily I was not hungry the rest of that night so I didn't really have any issues until the next morning when I was starving and everything made me want to gag. I went to IHOP and ordered some pancakes with strawberries no whip cream for breakfast and what was supposed to be a spinach chicken salad for lunch later that day. The pancakes were fine until about the last bite then my stomach was done with them. And just looking at the salad was not a good thing. Luckily they gave me the wrong one and it was a plain garden salad so I didn't have to feel as bad for dumping it.

By dinner time I was starving again but couldn't bear the thought of eating anything that I had in my house. I texted some friends for suggestions. One good friend suggested salad and fruit. I had to tell her that was my original idea but it was a no go for my stomach. She then thought of fruit smoothies, which my stomach decided the day before when I made one for breakfast, that it was done with those. Fruit, she suggested. But nope I want to gag when I think of eating the fruit I have too. Then she said when she was pregnant she lived off of Fruit Popsicles for a while. I was desperate so I got me some, along with some fixings for mashed potatoes since all the sudden I wanted those.

The Popsicles were a life saver. They were tasty and refreshing. I almost managed to finish the mashed potatoes but the stomach kicked in again and did not allow that, which again the dogs loved. So I had another Popsicle and a ginger ale, another pregnancy favorite that I haded prepregnancy. and went to lay in bed.

I am seriously getting worried about my nutritional needs as this pregnancy goes on. If I have had it once it doesn't seem that I can even finish it. I don't know how much longer my body will continue to accept peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Popsicles with ginger ale. What happens when even those are done?