That's right, having known the date of the first day of my last menstrual, I figured out our due date ... and August 31st it was! A Virgo baby. I said from the beginning that I wanted a little September Virgo ... on the 1st of September, so I wouldn't have to go too far overdue. It's now the 3rd, but I keep jumping ahead.
Christmas was delightful. Rob had to return to Tucson for work, but I lingered to spend some quality time with my Dad and sister. I was able to manage the heartburn with Cheerios and Tums ... a handful of Cheerios and a couple of Tums before I sat up in bed, and then some Tums sprinkled like candy throughout the day, and I did okay.
Nervous about the previous miscarriage, I called my obstetrician's office to schedule an official test. The scheduler told me she could get me in on January 9th...and I freaked out. When I started crying on the phone, it dawned on me that I wasn't just nervous about the previous miscarriage, but scared of another miscarriage. I told the poor girl on the other end of the line that I had miscarried by that point in my last pregnancy. I happened to be friends with my obstetrician's assistant, so I called in a favor and got an appointment for the first business day following my return to Tucson...January 2nd.
I nursed a horrid cold while we nervously waited for our test results to come in. We needed to establish a baseline for the pregnancy hormone, and then watch it climb to feel better about this pregnancy. And our little gator did not disappoint! Our first test results came back at nearly 9,000 HCG (we never got to 3,500 HCG our first pregnancy). I went back that afternoon to have another draw, and this time the results came back at nearly 20,000!!! I would have tested again, but morning sickness set in, which was proof enough for me that I was staying pregnant this time.
Oh yeah, morning sickness. If it wasn't bad enough that I was stuck with a cold for two weeks, then I had to go and get morning sickness. Every wave of nausea was a blessing and a curse. Mostly I felt cursed. I was cursed to the endless anticipation of a newborn that was months away from being born. I was cursed to the ongoing feeling of nausea. And I was cursed to have an immune system shocked and shot by the pregnancy, resulting in a second virus lasting another few weeks. I felt trapped in the bedroom, watching Discovery Health like it was going out of style, sucking on popsicles I couldn't even taste, and wondering if I would ever again enjoy food beyond Ramen Noodles. It was fortunate, however, that these symptoms were not in addition to heartburn, rather they were instead of heartburn.
In the middle of our 7th week, we had our first ultrasound ... and saw the cutest little peanut of a baby gator you ever did see! Lifted our spirits, it did ... between bouts of morning sickness, that is.
In week 8, I felt my first Braxton. All the sudden my uterus went tight and I had the oddest sensation of a moment in which you're both confused and enlightened simultaneously. It just happened that once, but it happened! And to me, it was a good sign that my uterus was waking up to the challenge of a growing fetus.
But the progression over the next several weeks was not as pretty. The fatigue was constant, along with the general feeling of not wanting to do anything. I did manage to get over the Ramen Noodle fetish, and replaced it with a health food fanaticism that boggled Rob's mind. I could only eat the foods that I could think of without wanting to throw up. And those foods happened to include a lot of berries, citrus, cucumbers, carrots, avocados, hummus, pita chips, and some cheese. Yummy, but no wonder I lost 10 pounds!
We managed to survive the first trimester, even with the hits to our morale and bank account (a nauseated massage therapist doesn't make much money). But, we were planning a good rally for the coveted second trimester I was entering ... the one that everyone says is the best trimester. Ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment