Unexpected Things #1-5

5. Extremes. I’m not a little hungry – I go from not hungry at all to RAVENOUS in a very short period of time. When I have to pee, I REALLY have to pee – there is no “I can hold it for an hour”, which makes sleeping a challenge. I’m not a little tired – I am utterly exhausted after very little work.

I started to feel badly about sleeping all the time, when a friend of mine pointed out that I’m MAKING BONES, and a little brain. When she put it that way, it made sense. Of COURSE that’s why I’m tired all the time – I’m making freakin’ bones, people! This isn’t a brownie recipe that you throw all the ingredients in a big bowl and bake for 40 minutes. You put two main ingredients into a uterus, mix well, and if the stars align, your body starts duplicating. I’ve seen enough science fiction to know that duplication takes a lot of energy – but I guess I didn’t realize how MUCH energy something smaller than a blueberry could use up.

4. Morning Sickness is a Misnomer. Before I got pregnant, I just figured that I’d be sick in the morning, throw up, feel better, eat an Egg McMuffin, and carry on with my day. It would be just like college! The problem is that the term “morning sickness” implies a few things.

– It happens in the morning.
-You can throw up and feel better.

You know. Like the day after a college bender.

Morning sickness didn’t feel like I thought it would…AT ALL. For me, it felt like motion sickness, without the ability to blow chunks and feel better. Nausea also implies throwing up.  I felt nauseous, I felt sick, but not in the ways I thought I would, and therefore was totally unprepared for how to feel better.  Which leads to #3…

3. When sick, eat something. When I’m sea-sick, which I have had the pleasure of experiencing during our honeymoon, the last thing I want to do is eat. However, when you’re pregnant and feeling what is termed (inaccurately) as morning sickness, the best thing I found to do was eat. Do you know how hard it is to go against every instinct in your body that says “oh god – I’m going to throw up!”  by putting more food IN? I’m sitting around 10 weeks right now, and only in the last week have I really started to figure it out.

2. Taste Aversions: Not Just Applicable To Food. I knew once I got pregnant that I’d have some sort of taste aversions. We all have heard of the people who can’t stomach coffee, or that they can’t eat their very favorite food. I still can’t eat green peppers for fear of getting physically ill (which is sad. I generally love them).

However, there are other things that make my stomach literally turn. Toothpaste and Mouthwash are two of the biggest offenders. My prenatal pills are another big offender, which is a HUGE problem. I’ve never given any thought to toothpaste- just get what’s on sale. My husband likes a particular type of mouthwash, so we get that. Since about week 6, when I brush or rinse my teeth with products endorsed by the ADA, I feel that I can taste every single chemical. My mouth doesn’t feel clean – it feels icky. Can you imagine brushing your teeth to get a clean sensation, and feeling like you just swished with a Duracell?

Conveniently, my husband had to have a couple fillings from the dentist, and they sent him home with some Sensitive toothpaste. I tried it, and my god – it was the best thing I’ve ever discovered. For the first time in WEEKS my mouth feels clean. I’m now cleaning my teeth for me, not solely out of obligation for those around me.

1. Metal Taste. Somewhat related to the toothpaste, for at least 1/3 of every day, through out the day, my saliva tastes metallic. I thought the toothpaste would take care of that, but no. I tried a couple of different Prenatal vitamins – that didn’t help (though, I can’t recommend the Gummy Prenatal Vitamins more! They are a lifesaver, especially since any other pills I take make me want to throw up….read #4).

The solution, though by no means a permanent fix, is to just keep Winto-Mint lifesavers on my person at all times. Any hard candy will do, but I find the more sugary -like the red and white pinstripe peppermints, the less helpful after the candy is gone.

Christmas With My Family

Over Christmas, we decided to tell just our immediate family and their partners. We were going to wait until after the ultrasound, but decided that our family should know, and they SHOULD be told in person. We were only at 6 weeks, so it was too soon for imaging, but the likelihood that we would see everyone to tell them in person in February was zero.

We started by telling my brother and his girlfriend, which was really fun. The next night, my sister and her boyfriend had a rather…..unique reaction to our news.

First, Heather got really excited – unbelievably excited – and then got speechless.

Then, she blurted out the words I didn’t expect to hear at all:

Me, Too.

So, it turns out, my sister and I are approximately 3 weeks apart.

Oh, and then we had to tell Dad the next day on Christmas that both of his daughters are pregnant. If you ever find yourself in this position, it’s best to have beer on hand, and a nurse. Fortunately, we had both of those things (thanks to our home-brew operation, and my brother’s choice in dating a really smart, medically capable woman)

Priorities first…we gave him a beer. We disclosed our news first, and he promptly sat down. After a couple of minutes of utter silence, my sister chimes in with the catch phrase of the evening:

Me, Too.

I’m pretty sure that’s as close to a heart attack that you can bring a grown man without actually producing a heart attack.

He looked to my brother, who was standing with his girlfriend. My brother just blurted out “Nope – we’re good!”.

I can say I expected many things. I expected my dad to be confused – I was the kid that no one would ever think would want children. I expected my sister to be excited. I did NOT expect to be the one shocked and awed at Christmas with the same news we were doling out.