Then I got sick. I haven't been to a Dr. since I was 8 weeks pregnant with my daughter. What? like 3 years ago now! I've worked in so many hospitals, nursing homes, and day cares that I think my body has built immunity to all the nasty things. During pregnancy, your body drops its immune system so it doesn't reject the new foreign object in your body...aka the baby. I was miserable. I thought I had the flu. I tried all the natural remedies and it was just getting worse. I didn't want to take Tylenol and I didn't want to take medicine so early in the pregnancy... so I was doing what I could at home. My husband is terrified of getting sick and was treating me like I had Ebola. Sad day. I woke up crying one morning and went to the urgent care. Strep throat. They gave me Amoxicillin. I was better in 3 hours. I would marry it if I could.
During that time I was so worried about the baby. I was so sick, but I was so worried because I didn't feel like I had any sick pregnancy symptoms. Except for dying of strep throat, nothing else seemed different. My stomach was flat, my chest didn't hurt, I had energy, nothing. The next day after my medicine kicked in.... pregnancy all of the sudden hit. I didn't even have a day of feeling good! I spoke too soon.
It's comforting in some ways though. It's reassurance that your body is pregnant and growing a human. I can honestly say I forgot how much hard work it is. I'm so incredibly tired. I sleep all the time. My chest is huge and hurts and my stomach is already big! I can't even suck it in. I've always showed early with my babies...but 6 weeks?! I haven't gained any weight so I know it's not my fault just yet. I'm not sure if it's because my uterus is tilted forward, the hormones i'm on, or that the cyst on my ovaries are enlarged or have burst and leaked fluid. I guess we will find out this week at the ultrasound. Just praying that everything is progressing perfectly!
So, how is it being pregnant with someone else's baby?! Weird in some ways! We don't really acknowledge it at home. Right now we are just moving along normally with our lives and enjoying that. Obviously, my husband is still giving me shots and sees me falling asleep randomly on the couch but most days he doesn't acknowledge that i'm pregnant. Of course, I'm totally obsessed with all things pregnancy. Googling symptoms, reading blogs, installing baby apps. But, it's totally from a selfish point. I just want to know what's happening with my body and how to make this pregnancy the best it can be for the baby's heath and for my own. I'm not looking at baby nurseries, pinning creative ideas, worrying about baby supplies and making room in my house. I don't want to at all. I don't feel that need. I'm just focused on my job; keeping the baby safe. Also, enjoying getting to know the family more! It's so fun now that we're pregnant. To be building this relationship is awesome. I love how she's always asking how i'm feeling and wanting to make sure I felt the same with my other pregnancies. If you've never been pregnant how else are you supposed to know what's going on?! So, I want to share as much as I can with her. If i'm stressing out over this baby.....I know she is as it's mom!!
After the ultrasound on October 30th, by next ultrasound is November 6th! The baby will be so small! My intended mom and her step mother are coming to Lousiville for 5 days to be able to be at the ultrasound and hear her baby's heartbeat! I'm so excited! Starting to look around for fun things to do while they are here :)
Cravings: The struggle is real y'all. I was determined to be fit and healthy with this pregnancy. I'm a couple weeks in and already want to give up! Since this is my 3rd pregnancy It's neat to see that my body always responds the same way. I've never really had morning sickness, but I just feel weird. If I don't eat every hour in the beginning I feel like i'm going to throw up. Actually I will throw up if I don't eat. I've done it plenty of times. I always feel super light headed and dizzy. And the intense cravings for carbs is unreal! I blame in on blood sugar levels. I haven't eaten grains in 3 weeks but last night I NEEDED a cheeseburger so bad. I got one :). Of course I Googled it and read that since a pregnant body needs to make and carry 30-40% more blood volume in order to support metabolic demands of a growing baby. Some bodies have a hard time keeping up with this demand and cause inadequate blood flow to the brain. The brain knows that the fastest and easiest way to temporarily increase blood flow is sugar and starches. Hence the reason for salt and carb cravings. Ice cream and pickles anyone?!
Feelings: SOOOOO tired! Maybe a little moody too :) Or a lot if you ask my husband. Starting to feel nauseated if I don't eat constantly. I feel bloated and pregnant so soon! Excited and freaking out for the ultrasound this week and way excited to spend time with the Indented mom in 2 weeks! Also, I have 6 more weeks....but i'm getting over the shots now. I'm over prepping them and the pain and knots in my hips constantly.
Exercise: I know exercise is great for you....and if this were my baby it would be different...but there is no way i'm going back to what I was doing previously. I am way to paranoid! I'm afraid to run or hop. Maybe after 12 weeks when the risk of miscarriage goes down. I've been lifting light weights 4 times a week. I did yoga a couple times, walked at a incline at a super slow pace. I went to Zumba one night....but half did anything. There's a lot of bouncing in there. Trying to maintain some muscle, but just taking it easy.