Fatigued, fatigued, starved and fatigued.
The first 3 months for me was all about how much sleep I could get, and how much food I could keep down. I remember driving to work completely drained at 8:30am and frequently contemplating if I should call in late just to grab a couple more hours of Zzz's. Sleep was my number 1 priority. I couldn't wait to get home to be filled with euphoria as my head hit the pillow oh so gently..well, sometimes not so gently. Still it's one of the greatest feelings on earth to this day.
Eating is one of my favorite things to do. I LOVE trying new eateries and going back to the same old ones over and over again. I love food. The first 3 months... not so much. I lived off of bread, crackers, ginger ale, water and more ginger ale. One thing I absolutely could not stand was chicken (any kind- fried, roasted, broiled, in salads, on t.v.) gave me the chills. I loathed chicken and even to this day I never ask for it.
A Week of Bed Rest & the Return of My Taste Buds (Months 4-6):
It's a girl! So so SO overjoyed that we are having a baby girl! The husband was happy, but kept asking my doctor to double check. :p
Well into my fourth month of being preggers, my perinatologist confirmed I had two uterine fibroids.
One was growing and the other was stagnant. I felt fine at first, but about a week after my visit, I had severe lower abdominal pain and could not even walk properly. ER visits in the middle of the night was routine and my OB finally put me on bed rest for a week. Bed rest is no fun at all, but I have a very supportive husband, great friends and family who frequently came to visit with food. :) The one thing I did enjoy about being home for a week was that I was able to watch I LOVE LUCY with my favorite companion in the world- Sophie la-la Shin (my Maltese). I thank God everyday for his continuous love and faithfulness.
Hurray! By month 5 my appetite came back, and I jumped from restaurant to restaurant to fill my deprived taste buds. Steak houses, pasta factories, and grab 'n go chains were my second best friends. My first will always be the pillow. I was happy and I'm sure babyLee was happy too!
The Home Stretch (Months 7-9):
Preparing the babies room and shopping for all the necessary items is quite the challenge when your stomach feels and looks like the size of an 8lb. bowling ball. Slowly but surely the tasks are being completed, and the husband and I are getting more and more excited!
PILLOWS, pillows, pillows: I sleep with at least 4 pillows every night. One to go under my head, the other between my thighs, the pillow for my back and then the pillow for my arms-- so I have something to hug. I take up more than half the bed and poor husband has to sleep on the edge. I purchased a pregnancy pillow that stretches about mile long. It helped during the cold nights as it's very warm, but once the weather started to heat up it wasn't cutting it.
SLEEP DEPRIVATION: I am an individual who loves to sleep and SLEEP IN! I love taking long naps and waking up puffy faced. Now, I wake up about every 1.5-2 hours during the night to use the restroom or to change my sleep position. It's something I got slightly used to, but cripples me throughout the day. Get this, I wake up at 7-7:30am everyday (even on the weekends) and have an urge to clean. I have work during the week so, all I can do is a quick swifter here and there and organize my counter the morning. Sat. and Sundays are all about dusting and cleaning the floors-- "NESTING." :)
NO TOE POINTING!: This can cause severe pain to your legs in the middle of the night. I am almost always screaming and waking the husband as if a bomb just went off. Every time this happened, the husband had the same freeze frame expression/position. His eyes wide with one hand reaching out for my leg, as I scream in panic, "Don't touch me!" *sigh* stretch before you sleep ladies...stretch.
to be continued...
