Feeling Better!

Morning everyone!  I had a rough day yesterday.  The highlight of my day was getting so many wonderful comments and messages from my friends and family about my pain management concerns.  You all shared ideas with me that I had never even thought about yet.  The internets are so amazing, aren't they!?  I don't trust most online forums, but when I have people I know, love and trust sharing their experiences with me, it makes is so much easier to know what I want and need.

This is tough to go through for your first time, without a lot of unbiased help.  Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who is patient and supportive of my decisions.  He guides me with advice that reminds me that I should always think about the healthy options first, before I think about anything else.  That is why I am so lucky.

When it comes to the path I will take for pain management and childbirth, I've decided to look at as many options that I can outside of the traditional OB delivery experience.  I know I love baths, and I know that I have a strong mind.  I will probably call the American Fork hospital later today and set up a tour to see what options they have for undecided mothers like me.  I know that knowledge is power, and so I need to more completely educate myself to help eliminate some of this anxiety.  Once I've done that, I feel like I can set up my birth plan.  Halfway through pregnancy is a good time to do it, right?  I also want to register for some birthing classes, so Arthur and I can be as prepared as possible. 

I am feeling so much better today.  Last night on my way home I stopped and got some Vick's Vaporub and some earplugs.  Part of my problem is congestion waking me up and then little sounds keeping me awake, such as my cats, or even the sound of Arthur breathing next to me.  It's awful.  I think I was blessed with my mom's light sleeping ability, which will work wonders when I have my Finn here.  :)  I know, I know... "it only gets worse, Genevieve!"

I just have to get him here safely, without a cold.  :)

Last night I came home from work and put my head down at the kitchen table and just cried, because I was so tired of feeling sick and wanting so much to just feel like I am normal again.  Arthur was very patient with me, and he took my coat off and helped me stand up.  I got some dinner and went downstairs to watch TV with him.  Obviously, I fell asleep pretty quick after some Vick's.  My sinus cleared up and I slept until it was bedtime.  I only woke up once in the night, at 4:30 to go to the bathroom.  This is an every night thing.  So to my friends who love to get uninterrupted sleep, pregnancy will always wake you up at least once or twice a night to pee.  Awesome.

Because I had my earplugs, I was able to go back to sleep and even slept through Arthur's alarm.  This was planned, of course because I knew I needed to sleep at least until 7 to get caught up.  It was so nice.

How far along:  17 Weeks, 6 Days
How much time left:  22 Weeks, 1 Day

Top two symptoms:  Some congestion and I'm sure I'll have a headache later today.  Yesterday I was super, super emotional.  I have been pretty good at not crying at the drop of a hat with these hormones, but yesterday I had no control.  I think I cried 4 times. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  Because it's early in the morning, I haven't eaten much.  I've got my Green Tea with Jasmine here and some cereal.  I'm looking forward to some delicious food later today, not quite sure what it is yet.  I have been really enjoying Raspberry chocolate shakes from Arctic Circle.  The raspberries they put in are fresh, and it is just delicious.

Mood:  I'm a lot happier this morning because I got enough rest and I am not as congested.  I also appreciate that my throat is feeling better.  I hope the happy mood lasts.  :)  I felt so bad for Arthur last night because I was so sad, and so grumpy.  He is so good, he did all of the dishes and even scratched my back.  Ladies, you need to make sure your husband treats you like a queen when you're pregnant (or even when you're not.)  I am so lucky.  :)

Worried about:  I'm not as worried today as I was yesterday.  I am maybe a little anxious about getting the research on alternative birthing methods going.  I am lucky to have a great friend who is willing to go with me when I tour the hospital.  She also is trying, and so it will be interesting to her as well in case she gets pregnant soon.  (Fingers crossed!!!)  :)

Excited for:  My doctor's appointment on Friday.  I had a funny dream that I had twins, and one of them was a girl.  I know this isn't the case, because I'd be so much bigger this far along, but it was still funny to feel those weird emotions in my dream.  I hope the doctor decides to do an ultrasound!  :)

Not Again...

Happy Monday!  Although, today was not too happy.  :(  I think I'm getting sick again.  I had a scratchy throat a bit over the weekend, and last night I woke up at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 AM with so much throat pain that I had to get up and take a Tylenol.

I also ate an orange and drank some water, hoping that it would help me go back to sleep.  I was able to fall back asleep around 4:15 or so, and then I had to wake up again at 5:30 to get ready for the day.  We are out of sugar, so I couldn't make my normal cup of Green Tea with Jasmine.  I still had the tea, but used honey instead.  I guess that's probably better for me anyway, and for my throat.  It just wasn't as sweet as I am used to.

At work, I was feeling pretty good, until around lunchtime.  My congestion is starting to get bad, which tells me this is another standard cold.  I can still breathe out of one nostril... for now.  I was able to leave a bit early today (around 1:00) and I came home and worked for the last few hours of my day.  I fell asleep around 3:30 and woke up when Arthur got home around 6:15.  I felt a bit better at that point.

I'm pretty worried about tomorrow because I have a lot of meetings, from 8AM to 6PM.  It's going to be a very busy day.  I hope I feel ok.  I can't really miss work right now because I don't have any more paid time off.  :(  I am going to try my hardest tonight to rest and not to push myself too hard tomorrow, if I can.

Ok, I have a question for all of the moms out there that have already had a baby.  I am worried about the pain of childbirth, and I struggle to understand how anyone can say "it's not that bad" when talking about their first.  Has anyone who reads my blog had a natural first time childbirth?  I know it's possible, because a lot of the women in my life who are older than me are very confident that it is completely possible with your first.  I have a few options that I am going to research more, such as hypnobirth.  Hypnobirth is a method that is used by midwives to help women mentally get through the process with no pain at all.  I watched a video on it on YouTube.  It seemed very interesting, and I'm willing to try it if I feel I can do it.

I'm open to your comments and suggestions, for a first time mom.  I'm interested to know how many of you had a natural childbirth for your first, and how many of you didn't.  If you didn't, please tell me how your baby reacted to the epidural, because I think that's a big concern.  If the baby comes out asleep, or not able to function, or dies from an epidural, I don't think I would be able to live with myself.  Please help...

How far along:  17 Weeks, 4 Days
How much time left:  22 Weeks, 3 Days

Top two symptoms:  Today because of my cold I had a headache and exhaustion.  I also have really bad congestion and a sore throat.  Not really pregnancy symptoms, but symptoms all the same.

Favorite thing I ate today:  I had my first pickle craving as a pregnant woman.  I ate 3 dill pickle spears.  They were so good!  But they didn't make me feel so good... :(  I'm still craving more.  Ugh!

Mood:  At work this morning, I felt really rushed and stressed.  After I was able to get through all of my meetings, I felt more calm.  I worried about getting sick and possibly missing work... and I can't do that.  I hope that I'm feeling better soon.  My mood when I'm sick is always awful, and I feel bad for Arthur because he has to deal with grumpy and pregnant me.

Worried about:  I worry about making the right decision for my baby with childbirth and managing the pain.  I know I've been through a ton in my short life when it comes to surgeries and handling pain.  I just don't know how I'm going to feel for my first birth and how strong I am going to be with getting through it all.  I know I shouldn't be scared, but I am.

Excited for:  The weekend.  Is that bad, since it's only Monday?  :)

Lots of Rest for the Weary

Happy Sunday!

I have had a very low-key day today, and really focused on trying to rest and recover.  I am looking forward to feeling normal again.

During the week at work, when others realized I was getting sick, they would say "It sucks to be sick during the holidays!"  I would keep replying that I didn't care if I was sick for Christmas, as long as I was not at work.  After missing 2 really big Christmas parties with my family and Arthur's family, I'm starting to understand why people say that it sucks.

I really was looking forward to going to my sister's Christmas party last night to see Jackson and Brielle and Adam and Whit and EVERYONE.  I realized as time got closer to when it was time to leave that there was no way I was going to be able to shower and get ready.  So I had to call my sister and tell her I couldn't go.  The good news is that I got to FaceTime with them and waved hello to everyone from my bed.  That made it better.

Today I've done little but nap and eat a little here and there.  My cough is significantly better.  I still just have those violent fits of coughing every once in awhile, and less often than before.  My congestion is much better, and I can breathe through one nostril.  :)  I'm still feeling pretty tired and generally out of it, which tells me I'm still working on getting better.

My parents and Grandma came out today so they could see our Christmas tree.  My Grandma has only been to our house once before, but it was very dark out, and so she couldn't see much of the house with just the inside lights on.  She sat in front of the tree for nearly an hour just admiring it and commenting about how pretty the blue ornaments were.  I stayed upstairs the whole time and just waved at my family from the "loft" of the kitchen.  I told my mom that if she was going to insist on coming over, then I was going to Lysol everything and stay away from them.  I did that.  I didn't touch anybody and Arthur did a good cleaning before they all came over.  It was nice to see my Grandma and my parents after being cooped up in my house for so long.

After they left, Arthur got ready and went to his mom's house to help her with wrapping her gifts for their family.  Arthur loves to wrap, so it's something he looks forward to every year.  He left me here so I could get some more rest.  I wanted to go, but I know that if I go outside in the cold air, it could set me back.  The freezing air just killed me on Friday when I went to work, and it took me like 4 hours to feel normal again after being outside.  So, I stayed home.  I'm marinating some chicken and Mike is going to BBQ it for us.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  I really hope I've got some more energy tomorrow so we can go to the Christmas Eve party at my parent's house.  I look forward to that every year.  The gift exchange is the best part, when we trade white elephant gifts.  It's also the beginning of the Christmas Day marathon.

The Christmas Day marathon begins on Christmas Eve night.  We go to my family's house for dinner and dessert and a Christmas program.  By about 9:30-10:00, we leave and go to Arthur's mom's house.  We get Christmas pajamas and open presents that the siblings give each other.  Then, we sleep there and get up super early on Christmas day for presents with his family.  We stay there until about noon and then go to my family's house.  We open gifts there until about 3 or 4 and then go back to his mom's house for Christmas dinner and gifts from his Aunt Joan.  By the time we get home to exchange gifts with each other, it's usually about 9 or 10 PM.  I'm always so exhausted, but it's always fun to look forward to our gifts to each other.

How far along:  11 weeks, 3 days
How much time left:  28 Weeks, 4 days
Top two symptoms:  Nausea today a bit, since my cold seems to be getting a bit better.  Cold-wise, coughing and congestion.  :(

Favorite thing I ate today:  My little brother Mike made me a grilled cheese sandwich.  He calls it a "Grilled Cheesus".  It's pretty funny.  :)

Mood:  I was pretty mopey/whiney today.  I think it's because I want to get up and do stuff, but my body just wants to drag, so that makes me feel like I can't do all of the things I want to do. 

Worried about:  The Christmas Day marathon.  After thinking it through... I hope I have the energy to do everything.  I will rest most of the day tomorrow and hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow night. 

Excited for:  Christmas Food.  Maybe some mashed potatoes.  Maybe some turkey.  Not sure what's on the menu, but I'm hungry for it!!!!!  :)

Pregnancy + Sick = Bad News Bears

I normally post every day, but this past week I've been really sick.  :(  I've got the next 4 days off, so I'll definitely try and blog over the holidays.  

I got a lot of great feedback after posting my initial announcement to the limited number of people on FaceBook.  I got a lot of blog views, and a bunch of people who commented on the post.  It made me feel good to know that I have so much support.

So, about being sick... I always have a very dull headache due to hormones.  The headache usually gets worse if I haven't slept much or if I'm getting hungry.  It comes along with nausea and so if I don't eat at the right time, it gets worse.  I hadn't slept well on Sunday night through Tuesday night.  I scheduled myself to work from home on Wednesday because I didn't have any meetings in office.

As I was working comfortably from my office couch on Wednesday morning, I noticed that my headache was getting worse than normal, and I was feeling a bit congested.  I brushed it off as nothing because congestion comes and goes for me.  By Wednesday afternoon, I started feeling dizzy, and my back was throbbing.  I decided to log off a couple of hours early (I let my boss know) and go try and sleep.

I got into bed and I started having chills really bad, and so I plugged in the heating pad.  It was nice to get a nap and warm up.

A few hours later, I woke up with the worst headache of my life and a terrible backache.  I was worried about the backache because that combined with cramping (which I didn't have) can be a sign of the beginning of miscarriage.

Fast forward to Thursday morning.  I woke up very sick and had congestion like crazy.  Because I'd slept on my heating pad, it helped my back a bit.  I had to call in sick because there was no way I could go to work.

I stayed in bed most of the day on Thursday.  Arthur had the day off, which was nice for him.

I had to go back to work on Friday, because I had a mandatory 2 hour meeting that I had to run and my team's Christmas party.  I wanted to go to that, so I really pushed myself to get up and get going.  I got to work by 9:00 AM.  Barely.  My cough was so bad, I had to pull over a few times on the highway to cough a bunch before I could drive again.  Ugh!

At work I was in a daze.  I don't remember much of the meeting at all.  I do remember that my boss gave everyone on the team a gift, and I got a great present from my friend Ashley.  She gave me a funny Awkward Family Photos (siblings edition) puzzle, and my first gender neutral baby outfits!  When I say first, I mean the first from someone that's not me.  :)

One was a onesie pack of 3, with tan, white and yellow.  The white one has a super cute little duck on it, and the yellow one has a brown and yellow print on it.  The one on the left is footie pajamas with a hat.  The hat, it's the cutest part.  Arthur loved them as well.  :)  They're hanging in my office closet with some of the other stuff that Arthur and I bought (even before we were pregnant...)

Anyhoo, work was done by 12:30 PM and so I went with my team for our Christmas party lunch.  We went to the Olive Garden.  I was so sick before I went in.  I sat in my car and just coughed for like 5 minutes straight because I knew that coughing in a public place like that wouldn't fly with strangers.

I ordered my food (Chicken Parmesan) and was a zombie the whole time.  I had a few coughing fits, but made it through alive.  When the check was signed, I was OUT OF THERE.  I couldn't stand to be sitting up anymore.  I was worried about the drive home because of how I was feeling.  But, I made it home.  I don't remember the drive, but I know I ended up in my bed about 45 minutes later.  I slept until it was time for the Christmas party at our house.

We had Arthur's family over for the "Festivus for the Rest of Us".  It's a knockoff from Seinfeld.  We ate sandwiches and treats, and played games, including a gift exchange.  I was in bed most of the night.  I felt so bad because Arthur's family was so nice to me and no one was frustrated that I didn't socialize much.  I also felt bad because Arthur worked from early in the morning on Friday until his family got there at 7 on getting ready for the party.  He cleaned the whole house (every room, including my office) and prepared the meal.  I did nothing but lay in bed.  :(

Last night after everyone left, Mike gave me some TheraFlu.  I drank it so fast.  Within minutes I started feeling drowsy and so I was able to sleep.  I woke up this morning feeling a bit better.  My temperature was down (from 100 the night before) to 97.9.  I was so grateful for that!

Arthur woke up sick, unfortunately... so he is going to go through all this tomorrow through Christmas, probably.  I feel really bad for him, and I understand.  I'm going to do what I can to make it up to him for all of the hard work he put in while I was sick.  :)

Tonight, I'm feeling fair.  My cough has gotten significantly better.  I continue to have a few violent coughing fits, and it hurts pretty bad when I do.  The worst thing right now is my congestion.  The good news in all of this:  It's masked my pregnancy symptoms, so I haven't really dealt with (or cared much about) nausea or anything else.  Amazing!

How far along:  11 weeks, 2 days
How much time left:  28 Weeks, 5 days
Top two symptoms:  Pregnancy related...exhaustion.  Cold related?  Congestion.  I can't WAIT to breathe normally again. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  A Kraft Mac and Cheese bucket.  It was so good. 

Mood:  My mood was normal.  Not as grumpy as I've been over the past 4 days or so. 

Worried about:  Not feeling well enough to get the house clean before Christmas.  I hope I feel like a rockstar tomorrow. 

Excited for:  CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't Sleep

I've been struggling over the past week or so with this cough that has been in my lower throat.  I thought it was on it's way out, but I just woke up at 2:00 with some pretty nasty throat pain.  I took some Tylenol and drank some juice so I hope that helps.  :(

I'm pretty tired still and I know I need the extra sleep, because that's when my body heals itself.  I don't like not feeling 100% ok while I'm pregnant. 

I also think I've got a glorious yeast infection coming on.  I don't know if I care if that is TMI, but I do know that I can't go my normal route of a prescription-strength pill to knock it out like I normally do.  I will probably have to go with the route of Monistat or some other equally horiffic thing.  Well, it's worth it I guess so my baby doesn't come with some random medication-induced deformity.  :/

I just have to figure out how I'm going to get back to sleep now that I feel so awake... 

This is the first time since I've been pregnant that I don't feel happy.  Ugh!!