The Good and The Bad

The last two weeks have been interesting to say the least.  I was actually starting to feel better or maybe I was just coping better.  Either way, I was better!  I had my first nurse appointment and received a binder full of information and had a lot of preliminary questions answered.  They did a few screening tests but nothing too special.  The Sprouse-Shannon wedding weekend went so extremely well!  I was fearful of anxiety and morning sickness, which really should be called all-day sickness!  Friday went really well on the car ride up, the rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner.  It was so much fun to be with good friends while preparing for such a lovely event!  The day of the wedding went smoothly!  I actually did not throw up OR dry heave which was the first time in two weeks that happened!  We had our hair done in low updos with braids incorporated, we did our makeup and primped, we went to the country club and got into dresses and shoes, we did pictures, we saw the happy couple get hitched, and we danced!  I felt pretty well most of the day.  I was pretty darn hungry by the time dinner came and went back for seconds.  This was the first meal that I just completely downed because it was that good!  Finally was back to feeling like me.  Dan and I went home after the reception.  The doggos were pretty excited that we were home to love on them.  Sunday, I went to Mass and then crashed on the couch for a four hour nap...seriously, four hour nap!

I was feeling so good that week and feeling very hopeful...until the wee hours on Monday morning!  I woke up at 4am with an incredible painful right shoulder, achy left shoulder, stiff neck, and blaring headache.  I could not get back to sleep so I went downstairs to check out my handy dandy binder for what I could take for the pain and headache...turns out only Tylenol is approved.  I took some and it dulled the headache enough so that I could get back to sleep.  I did lots of stretching as I waited for the medicine to kick in.  When I got up for work, I was still in a lot of pain and just wanted to cry.  I had one of the worst morning sickness throw ups ever (ick!) but  got out the door and to work.  The all-day sickness was in full force.  I kept my door closed most of the day because I dry heaved regularly...so not fun.  My shoulders and neck were so stiff that I tried to do a little yoga to stretch them out but turns out that was a very bad idea.  Downward facing dog made me throw up at work for the first time.  Then to top it off, my nurse called informing me that my urine test came back as a UTI so I needed to start antibiotics.  I was just about to leave work and pick up the Rx when the pharmacy called saying they did not have that antibiotic in stock so I would have to wait until 4pm on Tuesday to pick up my prescription.  I wanted a mulligan, a redo on my Monday!  On Tuesday, I went in for a massage to get my back, neck, and shoulders worked on which was a tremendous help.  Tuesday through Thursday were tough with a closed office door but not as bad as Monday.  Somehow on Friday, I was back to feeling human...what a week!  A good thing about last week was that I was not scared looking at the baby development information that scared me into a tizzy in week one!  That darn little tadpole that makes me so sick is only the size of a grape...a grape!  I just kept reminding myself that only a few more weeks until I am out of the first trimester...just keep swimming, just keep swimming kept playing in my head (with the seen of Dory in Finding Nemo)!

We had a great Memorial Weekend.  I slept until 11am on Saturday and did a whole lot of relaxing and playing with cute doggos.  My big adventure was purchasing my first maternity clothes.    My work pants were just too tight, even with my McGyver paperclip trick.  I bought a pair of work pants, two pairs of casual pants that can be turned into capris, three shirts, a super cute dress, and a cardigan.  I went to Mass on Sunday and then out to lunch with Adele and her parents.  I claim them another set of parents, too!  We had a lot of fun.  Then Adele and I went over to the mall to look for a few more maternity outfits but did not have any luck.  Dan and I went over to his aunt and uncle's house on Monday and enjoyed some quality family time and a BBQ.  All in all, the weekend went well!

They Should Call It...

It is time for a new update. After the shock and joy wore off...reality hit like a ton of bricks with many fears. I went from pure excitement to pure dread. I asked Dan, "What did we do? Can I do this? What were we thinking? Who's idea was this? Why didn't we just stick with dogs?" Anxiety and morning sickness made for a very tough week. I found that I did not want to eat. Food just did not sound good or look good or smell good. I had to force myself to eat. The foodie did not want food! Not only did I not want food but I did not want any sweets. Just the thought made me queezy! The first Monday was filled with doubts, fears, anxiety, morning sickness, and lots of tears. Those hormones definitely kicked in! The rest of the week slowly got better. I had to rest my head regularly because the morning sickness, headache, and tiredness. That first week was one toughie!

Last week was close to the same. I constantly felt ill and tired. My pants were putting a lot of pressure on a specific spot on my torso that was making me even more sick. I used a paperclip to extend my pants and that made a huge difference! Go figure! Monday morning started the ever so lovely puking. Every morning that week, I either puked or dry heaved...so lovely... I would continue to feel extremely ill for the rest of the day and had to force food. I had a mini breakdown on Thursday night because I was worn out, tired, and at my wits end in pain. Dan was a great comforter and let me cry and rest with him. Dan left right after work for a weekend trip in Portland. I was scared to be on my own because Dan is such a huge support. He makes dinner and gets me drinks and takes care of the dogs and takes care of the bunnies and is extremely reassuring! On Friday after work, I stocked up on freezer food so that I could eat regularly whenever I needed to. I actually slept until 10am on Saturday and started to actually feel human. I went to the Vigil Mass, just in case I wasn't feeling up to it on Sunday. After Mass, I ran an errand and passed a restaurant that actually sounded good so I placed a to go order. I got home and ate my whole dinner...and it was good...so good! I actually wanted to eat and it was awesome! I puked on Sunday but felt pretty good the rest of the day so the entire weekend alone was a huge success!

This week so far has been pretty good. Yesterday I actually felt like myself again. I was out of my office cave and chatting with co-workers instead of dieing at my desk. I think I have figured out that there will be good days and bad days. If I get enough sleep and rest, the mornings are so much better. It works better to shower at night. Also, if I eat every two hours, I feel better, too. It's nice to finally figure out some of these tricks so that I can feel more alive and more like myself. The big events of the week include an appointment with the nurse on Thursday and Sprouse-Shannon wedding festivities on Friday and Saturday! Really what I have learned over the last two weeks is that they should not call it morning sickness, it is all-day-sickness!