Notes from the First Trimester
So I'm now officially 14 weeks pregnant. Which means I am solidly in the second and supposed-to-be best of the 3 trimesters. Despite having started this blog well before starting a family I have never ever really written anything about what it's like being pregnant (because I usually feel sick the whole time and who wants to hear about that). But I decided to change that today. I'll write about it, at least a little bit.
First of all, it's crazy. Things change immediately. My first tip that I was pregnant this time came when I went for my usual 10 mile run one Sunday (happened to be Mother's Day), and I STRUGGLED to finish a flat, easy, and extremely slow 7 miles. I was dying, it was by far the worst I have ever felt during a run and I had no idea why. I had a great run the week before, and I didn't really have any aches/pains/injuries... I just, for whatever reason, found it incredibly difficult to put one foot in front of the other. It was so bad that I even WALKED at one point. Which I never, ever, ever, ever do. So after I got home from that, I remember thinking "something is off... I wonder if it's because..... but, wait no, it's still too early to tell." Well the next day I redid my math and realized that it was actually not too early to tell, and immediately took a pregnancy test. Suspicion confirmed.
Having been through this before I knew that I had a few short weeks before the morning sickness would kick in, so despite the exhaustion I tired my best to enjoy life. Which is good, because then the morning sickness kicked in, and every moment of the day was miserable. Although, having been through this before, I had a few tricks that I think helped to keep things from getting too miserable. First off, lots of sleep. Lots and lots and lots. Second, eat whatever I was craving, no matter how unhealthy (which believe me, it was), and whatever you do, don't let your stomach get empty. Third, get out of the house as much as possible, fresh air and distraction go a long way. So that's basically what I did for weeks 7 through now. And it worked somewhat, I don't think there's a way to completely defeat morning sickness, but the nice thing about this round was that I usually woke up feeling somewhat "normal" which meant I could kind of function for part of the day. Unfortunately, by the end of the day there's just no stopping the sickness. The other good thing, this time at least, is that I haven't (yet) thrown up :) Which is very unlike my other pregnancies, especially the first, where I think I was throwing up nearly every day.
Also, at one point during this time, I wound up contracting Lyme Disease. But we caught it really early, and my symptoms were minimal. I took my antibiotics (which I had a horrible aversion to, but still managed to choke down) and now hopefully that's all behind me.
I've been feeling better the past few days, which I'm hoping means that the worst is behind me. Which means I need to start functioning more, I don't think I've really successfully done laundry in nearly 3 months, and I've probably only cooked dinner like twice, but that's alright. Plus, I know to anticipate more exhaustion and the dreaded heart burn that comes in the 3rd trimester. So in contrast to that I'm happy to be feeling semi-normal. Evenings are still the most challenging time of day. I think it's because I don't really get to nap during the day with both kids around, so by the end of the day my body is just completely spent. But the one thing that I keep reminding myself of (well 2 really) is that a- this is happening because the baby is growing and developing and depsite how sick it makes me feel that is a GOOD thing, and b- this too shall pass, and one day I'll say "Oh I remember that morning sickness made me feel awful" without actually being able to remember how awful it really was.
In other good news, Aaron has FINALLY gone over 24 hours without a diaper on, and no accidents! Yay! Guess he will be ready for preschool this fall after all.
First of all, it's crazy. Things change immediately. My first tip that I was pregnant this time came when I went for my usual 10 mile run one Sunday (happened to be Mother's Day), and I STRUGGLED to finish a flat, easy, and extremely slow 7 miles. I was dying, it was by far the worst I have ever felt during a run and I had no idea why. I had a great run the week before, and I didn't really have any aches/pains/injuries... I just, for whatever reason, found it incredibly difficult to put one foot in front of the other. It was so bad that I even WALKED at one point. Which I never, ever, ever, ever do. So after I got home from that, I remember thinking "something is off... I wonder if it's because..... but, wait no, it's still too early to tell." Well the next day I redid my math and realized that it was actually not too early to tell, and immediately took a pregnancy test. Suspicion confirmed.
Having been through this before I knew that I had a few short weeks before the morning sickness would kick in, so despite the exhaustion I tired my best to enjoy life. Which is good, because then the morning sickness kicked in, and every moment of the day was miserable. Although, having been through this before, I had a few tricks that I think helped to keep things from getting too miserable. First off, lots of sleep. Lots and lots and lots. Second, eat whatever I was craving, no matter how unhealthy (which believe me, it was), and whatever you do, don't let your stomach get empty. Third, get out of the house as much as possible, fresh air and distraction go a long way. So that's basically what I did for weeks 7 through now. And it worked somewhat, I don't think there's a way to completely defeat morning sickness, but the nice thing about this round was that I usually woke up feeling somewhat "normal" which meant I could kind of function for part of the day. Unfortunately, by the end of the day there's just no stopping the sickness. The other good thing, this time at least, is that I haven't (yet) thrown up :) Which is very unlike my other pregnancies, especially the first, where I think I was throwing up nearly every day.
Also, at one point during this time, I wound up contracting Lyme Disease. But we caught it really early, and my symptoms were minimal. I took my antibiotics (which I had a horrible aversion to, but still managed to choke down) and now hopefully that's all behind me.
I've been feeling better the past few days, which I'm hoping means that the worst is behind me. Which means I need to start functioning more, I don't think I've really successfully done laundry in nearly 3 months, and I've probably only cooked dinner like twice, but that's alright. Plus, I know to anticipate more exhaustion and the dreaded heart burn that comes in the 3rd trimester. So in contrast to that I'm happy to be feeling semi-normal. Evenings are still the most challenging time of day. I think it's because I don't really get to nap during the day with both kids around, so by the end of the day my body is just completely spent. But the one thing that I keep reminding myself of (well 2 really) is that a- this is happening because the baby is growing and developing and depsite how sick it makes me feel that is a GOOD thing, and b- this too shall pass, and one day I'll say "Oh I remember that morning sickness made me feel awful" without actually being able to remember how awful it really was.
In other good news, Aaron has FINALLY gone over 24 hours without a diaper on, and no accidents! Yay! Guess he will be ready for preschool this fall after all.
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