Thursday, May 2, 2013

Pregnancy Bliss

So it has been some time since I last posted on my blog. I want to give you a quick update as to what I have been up to. So much has happened (although right now my brain is blah and I can't remember much). :-)

 So far this year:
 1. My husband celebrated his 29th birthday
 2. We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary
 3. Valentines day
 4. Mourned the loss of a great young lady who lost her battle to cancer and is now resting peacefully with the Lord
 5. I had several emotional breakdowns (trying to get pregnant is not easy)
 6. I successfully completed a Medical Billing and Coding Specialist Certificate
 7. Unemployment (because I was being an honest citizen and claimed my Medical Billing training) ended my Unemployment Benefits which has started an appeals battle with the government for that money back
 8. And best of all....... Im Pregnant!!!!!


 My husband and I are so excited and blessed to have a bun in the oven. We revealed our pregnancy to our families over Easter weekend. I made Easter baskets and placed items in them that were baby related. (ex: sugar babies, bite size candies, and items stating Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie and Uncle). Our families were so estatic. My mother cant help herself when it comes to shopping. She has already purchased several baby items and has a list of baby names about a mile long. I am 10 weeks pregnant today and due November 28th of this year. We are hoping to have the baby on the 9th of December because it is my Grandma Jeans birthday. She has been deceased for over 12 years now but was the glue to our family and the person I looked up to most next to my mother.

I have to say that there are so many joys that come with pregnancy. The excitement of planning for that little boy or girl to arrive, the maternity clothes I'll soon have to wear, the first time I will feel the baby move or kick, and the first time I will get to hold this child in my arms and kiss their little forehead. Yes there are many joys that come with pregnancy.... and some not so much happy experiences as well. No one could have prepared me for what I am going through now. I have to say that I have a new respect for mothers everywhere.

So far with this pregnancy (mind you this is my first pregnancy) I have experienced the following:

1. Morning sickness....which does not explain or describe what I feel at all. This nauseous and vomit inducing feeling can start very early in the morning and last all day. I bet a man named it morning sickness because he certainly doesn't know what it in-tells. Thank the Lord for Nausea medicine like Zofran. I would not be able to make it most days without it.

2. Mood swings..... Lets just say one minute I'm happy then the next I'm not. Then back again. Its a never ending cycle that my poor husband has had to endure and tiptoe around.

3. Prego brain....by Prego brain I mean forgetfulness, uncertainty, not able to make a decision to save my life and the ever wonderful blank mind. Yesterday I found a packet of Oreos in the fridge instead of the pantry and today a bottle of V8 Splash in the cupboards instead of the fridge. I can't think of what I want to eat (I just know I need to eat), I can't think half the time of what I need to do or even remember what I said two minutes ago.  I won't even tell you some of the things that I say that are so mixed up. People look at me weird and wonder what is wrong with my brain.

4. Constipation... Thats right ladies! I said constipation! If you have never truly experienced this (I was in the same boat) then be prepared. It is bad. You drink grape juice, prune juice, prunes, and anything else that may help you have a bowel movement. I know this sounds gross but trust me it hurts worse than it sounds. Just trying to poop feels like your giving birth. I wish someone had told me about this before so I would have been better prepared for it.

5. Soreness and pains.... Your breasts (although getting bigger and looking great) are extremely sore! The husband wants to touch but its hands off until they feel better. And the stomach pains! I can literally feel my stomach trying to expand. Sometimes its a light pain and sometimes its cramping; which when getting pregnant I thought I was done with because of not having a period for 9 months. Wrong! You may also (with me this is the worst) have acid reflux and heart burn more often. Sadly every time you burp you feel a little of your stomach come up with it.

6. The Peeing... I have never peed so much in my life! I have to run to the bathroom 4 to 5 times throughout the night and about 8 times during the day. And when you have to go you have to go like now. There is no waiting around or thinking you can go in the next five minutes. No. You make a beeline to the bathroom and push everyone out of the way to get into a stall. Ok so maybe right now its not that extreme to be beating old ladies for the bathroom, but it will get there eventually.

7. Hormone attacks... the other night my husband and I were watching a movie and my husband noticed that I was suddenly very quiet. He asked me if I was ok and I said no I wanted the movie to be over and I needed water. He said "ok the movie is almost over and I'll get you water in a few". Once the movie finished (15 minutes later- which was too long), he got me some water and started rubbing my back. Now, I call these Hormone attacks because they come out of nowhere and surprise the dickens out of even me. I suddenly started balling like (as my husband puts it) an orgy of critically wounded geese. After he asked me whats wrong I started saying how my back hurt, my stomach hurt, my head hurt, I was nauseous and so sick of being sick. He tried to console me which made the crying worse and made me feel horrible because he was being so good through all of this. The crying didn't cease for 20 minutes. Im not proud of these emotional breakdowns but hormones are unpredictable and a pain to deal with.

8. Overly Sensitive Sniffer.... Yes you smell pretty much everything. My husband thought I was weird for being able to smell the rolled coins we keep in a drawer. I smell the trash more than ever, I can't go near dirty dishes or I'll hurl, the cat box is an instant gagger, and the smell of a sleeping husband makes me sleep less. If its an offensive smell to your newly hormonally pregnant body, than be prepared to gag, vomit or become instantly nauseous.

There are some perks however, to being pregnant.
1. My husband gives me more back and foot rubs
2. I don't have to clean the cat box for 9 months
3. I don't have to worry about cleaning my house while dealing with morning sickness (although a messy house really bothers me)
4. My husband pitches in more and does laundry, dishes, cat box, gets me whatever I am craving (if I can at all eat it) and has been an amazing support while dealing with my changing body

I have to say that pregnancy is not what I expected so far. Yes you hear stories from people, you read blogs or online articles, stories from pregnancy books and your doctor may tell you what to expect. Those are all great and may offer an insight into what you could expect. These stories however, have no bearing on you because every pregnancy is different and women tend to not discuss the embarrassing or scary matters of pregnancy. Embarrassing being you now pass gas more (even in those awkward situations where you have no one to blame the smell on), you burp when you least expect it more often (due to increased acid reflux) and most embarrassing you may pee your pants. Yes peeing of the pants is almost guaranteed unless wearing a depends diaper (which I will not do) or panty liner. With all these pains and changes of my newly pregnant body however, I relish in the joy that I am creating a beautiful little human being and I cannot wait to hold him or her in my arms. I know my husband is going to be an amazing father and I hope I'm as great a mother as my mom is to me. To all those pregnant or if your looking to become pregnant, my advice to you is....Expect the unexpected. There are so many firsts with pregnancy and each one is different. I live every day trying to just enjoy this time in my life (you know before the screaming baby arrives and you loose all the sleep you think you'll be getting). I know I have much more to experience and I look forward to it.