I had my 16 week appointment this week, a few days early. This was my first appointment with my doctor, and it held more "extra" good news than I ever remember hearing from our insurance system. So let me recap this week with a simple summary of the good and the bad for you.
The Good:
*On a minor scale, I actually lost a pound since my last appointment. Hey, in the course of pregnancy, every pound counts, right? But it's all back to those suspect scales. Remember how I said I wasn't sure I trusted them? Well, we'll just say that this week, they worked in my favor.
*Baby's heartbeat sounds good-holding steady at 160.
*This has maybe been my most productive week of pregnancy thus far!
*We can do our ultrasound (which is my next appointment- WOWSERS!) at our own clinic. This is good news because in the past, we've had to go to another office, and the ultrasound tech is notoriously grouchy and mean. No one should leave their ultrasound feeling grumpy, right? So thankful to not have to visit her this time around.
*And the best news of all: it's looking like we don't have to deliver this baby at our insurance's hospital downtown. Both Phoebe and Noah were born at that hospital. We haven't had bad experiences there, but they haven't been super great either. For starters, it's in the heart of downtown and VERY inconvenient to get to. Especially while in labor! Phoebe was born in a matter of mere minutes after arriving, very Hollywood television drama style, so I was not looking forward to a repeat of that experience. And she was born at 12:39 am. That meant we were driving to this hospital after midnight. I can't imagine what it might be like in rush hour. Or potentially in snow, during rush hour! YIKES! Instead, we get to go back to a closer, much newer hospital on this side of town. This happens to be the same one where Sophia was born, and we loved it there. Tim and I couldn't be more thrilled! It's not even an exaggeration to say that now, every time I drive by this hospital, I brief a sigh of relief and can't help saying, "Thank you, Jesus!"
The Bad:
I don't have much to complain about. Tim was out of town for the first part of this week, and it was a tough week with the kids. I should be past the first trimester fog by now, but I'm still so tired. I still have a hard time functioning through the day without a nap, and I would love to be able to use my kids' naptime to be more productive. Instead, I find myself sleeping their naptime away, and using every ounce of strength I have to rouse MYSELF so I can go rouse THEM!! All the while, the laundry, bills, and dust continue to pile up...
Friday, August 19, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Week 14: The 3 Month Hangover
My OB loving refers to the first trimester as "The 3 Month Hangover." I am going to unabashedly agree. Which is funny, because truth be told, I have never in my lifetime been hung over. However, from my very limited knowledge, everything I know tells me this is a very good analogy. And it makes me smile every time I think of it. At least in a 3 month hangover, you have something more lasting to show for it than an evening's worth of a good time!
That said, I would now be hoping to emerge from said "hangover." Unfortunately, that's just not seeming to happen at this point. There might be faint glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel, but I am certainly not there yet. After all, I am still finding myself dysfunctional without my daily nap.
At this point in time, Tim and I have done our best to let our so called "cat" fully out of the bag and are not attempting to be secretive in anyway about the newest Nielson. BUT, he has still not made any announcements to our youth group, so I am not entirely sure who at church knows our news and who hasn't heard yet at this point. Which makes it completely awkward when I am trying to decide what to wear to church on Sunday morning. He doesn't understand what it's like to have people looking at your midsection, wondering things they are too afraid to ask. Let's just say I've worn a lot of loose fitting shirts in the last couple of weeks. And pleaded with Tim to make a formal announcement in spite of how uncomfortable he is about it.
After my last appointment, and the relief of hearing the heartbeat finally, I need to tell my principal at work my news. We had just recently discussed a position for me next year, that I had verbally committed to, but I didn't know how this latest development was going to impact his vision of my precious one day a week "teaching" job. Of anyone I could think of, he was the one I was most nervous to tell. I walked into work on Monday morning, and decided that the sooner I got it out of the way, the better I would feel. So I hunted him down first thing on Monday, and wonder of all wonders, he was one of those few people who actually said, "Congratulations, that's great news!" It appears that my ideal will work out just fine. I'll go ahead and start next school year working one day a week, take off the months of November and December, and come back to work for just one day a week after the first of the year.
I am not sure if I have mentioned this prior to this point, but at the beginning of this pregnancy, almost literally every woman my age that I knew was pregnant. This week brought the birth of the first of those babies. On my way home from work at the end of the week, I stopped by the hospital to congratulate my friend and meet little Kate. What a sweetheart!!! And oh, did it make it seem like the next 26 weeks would NEVER end!! I can't wait for it to be our turn again, in the hospital, holding, bonding with and loving on this newest addition to the fam. It feels like that time might never come at this point...
That said, I would now be hoping to emerge from said "hangover." Unfortunately, that's just not seeming to happen at this point. There might be faint glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel, but I am certainly not there yet. After all, I am still finding myself dysfunctional without my daily nap.
At this point in time, Tim and I have done our best to let our so called "cat" fully out of the bag and are not attempting to be secretive in anyway about the newest Nielson. BUT, he has still not made any announcements to our youth group, so I am not entirely sure who at church knows our news and who hasn't heard yet at this point. Which makes it completely awkward when I am trying to decide what to wear to church on Sunday morning. He doesn't understand what it's like to have people looking at your midsection, wondering things they are too afraid to ask. Let's just say I've worn a lot of loose fitting shirts in the last couple of weeks. And pleaded with Tim to make a formal announcement in spite of how uncomfortable he is about it.
After my last appointment, and the relief of hearing the heartbeat finally, I need to tell my principal at work my news. We had just recently discussed a position for me next year, that I had verbally committed to, but I didn't know how this latest development was going to impact his vision of my precious one day a week "teaching" job. Of anyone I could think of, he was the one I was most nervous to tell. I walked into work on Monday morning, and decided that the sooner I got it out of the way, the better I would feel. So I hunted him down first thing on Monday, and wonder of all wonders, he was one of those few people who actually said, "Congratulations, that's great news!" It appears that my ideal will work out just fine. I'll go ahead and start next school year working one day a week, take off the months of November and December, and come back to work for just one day a week after the first of the year.
I am not sure if I have mentioned this prior to this point, but at the beginning of this pregnancy, almost literally every woman my age that I knew was pregnant. This week brought the birth of the first of those babies. On my way home from work at the end of the week, I stopped by the hospital to congratulate my friend and meet little Kate. What a sweetheart!!! And oh, did it make it seem like the next 26 weeks would NEVER end!! I can't wait for it to be our turn again, in the hospital, holding, bonding with and loving on this newest addition to the fam. It feels like that time might never come at this point...
Week 13: Second OB Appointment
When I went in for my first appointment at 8 weeks, they told me I didn't need to come back until 16 weeks. That seemed crazy to me. What about the all important 12 week appointment when you get to hear the heartbeat for the first time? When I asked about it, they told me that I could come back then, if I wanted to. Um, yes, please. (Hubs thinks I'm crazy at this point.) So I scheduled my appointment for 12 weeks, and spent the four weeks in between waiting very impatiently to hear a heartbeat. My fears of miscarriage were beginning to subside, but I knew I would feel so much better once we heard that precious, completely miraculous "whoomp, whoomp."
Sure enough, within minutes of being in the exam room, I was amazed, thrilled, relieved, moved to tears once again to hear that sweet little heart beating at 160 beats/minute. (For any of you interested in foreshadowing, I'll let you guess what that number might mean in terms of gender. And for the record, I made my first guess based on that very fact and was absolutely right.)
That was absolutely the best news of the day. But there was a bonus surprise that thrilled me beyond it's worth. I went into the appointment thinking I was at just barely 13 weeks, as of that day. Turns out, I had never actually thought it through or done the math, but I was actually 13 weeks and 4 days. Really, what difference does 4 days make? Well, anyone who asks that question has maybe never been pregnant! How great was it to go in thinking I was just barely 13 weeks and to walk out knowing that I was actually, almost, maybe on the verge of 14 weeks. Whoo-hoo, as long as it means healthy baby, we'll speed up the countdown anyway we can!
The bad news? According to the scales that day, I had already gained 7 pounds. In the first trimester? Really? How discouraging is that? Are you sure? Maybe I need to take off some more clothes- I don't think my shoes were enough this time. That is just not a good sign. And if that's true, how come all my clothes are still fitting? Again, I say- YIKES! Although I have since learned to be suspect of those scales- not sure if that's a good thing or a not? Today, we'll opt for not.
Sure enough, within minutes of being in the exam room, I was amazed, thrilled, relieved, moved to tears once again to hear that sweet little heart beating at 160 beats/minute. (For any of you interested in foreshadowing, I'll let you guess what that number might mean in terms of gender. And for the record, I made my first guess based on that very fact and was absolutely right.)
That was absolutely the best news of the day. But there was a bonus surprise that thrilled me beyond it's worth. I went into the appointment thinking I was at just barely 13 weeks, as of that day. Turns out, I had never actually thought it through or done the math, but I was actually 13 weeks and 4 days. Really, what difference does 4 days make? Well, anyone who asks that question has maybe never been pregnant! How great was it to go in thinking I was just barely 13 weeks and to walk out knowing that I was actually, almost, maybe on the verge of 14 weeks. Whoo-hoo, as long as it means healthy baby, we'll speed up the countdown anyway we can!
The bad news? According to the scales that day, I had already gained 7 pounds. In the first trimester? Really? How discouraging is that? Are you sure? Maybe I need to take off some more clothes- I don't think my shoes were enough this time. That is just not a good sign. And if that's true, how come all my clothes are still fitting? Again, I say- YIKES! Although I have since learned to be suspect of those scales- not sure if that's a good thing or a not? Today, we'll opt for not.
Week 12: Not much to report
To be honest, there was nothing super note worthy happening this week. A whole lot of tiredness, napping, and wondering when I could nap again. That's about it. For real.
I did finally tell a couple of my co-workers, though. The second one maybe not as much because I was ready to tell her, but more because as I walked into her classroom for the first time this week, I saw her less than subtle belly check, and I knew she was thinking it. Kinda a reality check for me: what does the rest of the pregnancy look like when people can already see my body changing at 12 weeks? Yikes!
And really, that's all for this week.
I did finally tell a couple of my co-workers, though. The second one maybe not as much because I was ready to tell her, but more because as I walked into her classroom for the first time this week, I saw her less than subtle belly check, and I knew she was thinking it. Kinda a reality check for me: what does the rest of the pregnancy look like when people can already see my body changing at 12 weeks? Yikes!
And really, that's all for this week.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Week 11: Spreading the News
This particular post is what prompted me to blog about this pregnancy. There were so many things I wanted to remember from this week that I decided I needed to record it all. And yet, when it actually comes time to write, I am having a hard time being very literary about it all.
This was the week that we finally started sharing our news and making it fully public. (Keep in mind this somehow became a very long process for us that lasted for about the next four weeks, but this was the beginning.)
Here we were, nearing the end of the notorious 1st trimester, and we still hadn't told most of our families our news. In the past, we had always found a way to tell our families in person, but we knew that wasn't going to be possible this time. And, because our two oldest kids are so much older this time around, we thought it would be fun to have THEM share the news.
The Saturday before Easter, we were all busy with Easter egg mess ruling our kitchen. With eggs, utensils, and fingers all plunged deep into the potent dye, my mother in law called. Hubs extracted himself to answer the phone, and we decided this was as good a time as any to tell his mom our news. So, amidst the cups o' color, newspaper, and commotion, he switched to speaker phone and asked S & N if they had anything to tell Grandma. My Sweetheart proudly exclaimed, "My mom's PREGNANT!" (It still feels weird to me to hear my five year old use the word pregnant.) Hubs looked at me in awe; he didn't know she knew that word. However, the person we were really looking for a reaction from- didn't have one! So my little man says, "There's a baby in my mommy's tummy!" Still no reaction from Grandma. He repeated himself two more times! Still nothing. Hubs was laughing- but giving the poor kids and Grandma no help. With a little prodding, he pulled himself together to realize this wasn't going as planned, switched off speaker phone, and translated for his mom, who probably was having the hardest time hearing the kids, much less understanding what they were saying!! And we finally got a reaction from her- lots of excitement and congratulations.
Later that same day, I had scheduled to skype with my family. Although we weren't able to be there in person to tell our families this time, we figured this was the next best thing. Little did I know that my whole family would be present for this skype session. Which obviously worked in our favor. Within minutes of getting everyone together, Sweetheart and Little Man were again able to share the big news. This went much better, as they didn't have to repeat themselves multiple times this time. Once was enough. I am not sure that anyone in my family was surprised- in fact, I think there might have been a comment that my sister in law had predicted that this announcement was coming. But they were excited none-the-less.
In the next couple of days, Hubs managed to get a hold of each of his three sisters and share the news with them as well.
And that was the easy part. After that, it got much more weird, and it wasn't long before I realized that to a certain extent, I needed to mentally prepare myself before I shared our news with people. And to be honest, I was also realizing that in some ways, I was thankful for a thick skin.
Because not everyone was as excited for us as our friends and family had been up to this point. There were only a very small handful of people that actually showed excitement and said congratulations after this. In fact, I got all kinds of crazy responses. I am not sure what it is about pregnancy that makes people feel like they are at liberty to say things that they would never say to a person who wasn't pregnant (case in point, at about 32 weeks along in my first pregnancy, a grocery store clerk who commented that I was probably going to take the dessert that I was purchasing home to eat the entire thing myself!). But man, when you're pregnant, it just seems as if people's tongues are loosed and all kinds of things come out.
Some of my favorites:
"WOW!...Holy cow you guys!"
"Was this planned?"
"Well you'll certainly have your hands full."
"Do you still get excited?"
"You guys need a hobby...a new hobby, anyway."
"Wow, 4 Kids!!!"
"How many are you going to have, anyway?"
And the top prize winner was actually not said to me, but to my mom, for crying out loud:
"Is there any limit?"
Seriously, who says that?
Anyway, in overanalyzing these varied reactions, I realized that I was so glad that I hadn't thought anything about them before we found ourselves in this situation. Not to say that I think that would have changed anything, but I think it was much easier for me to be polite and gracious in response when I hadn't thought it through too much before hand. We may not be the best parents in the world, and we may not have the most money in the world, and we may not get it right every single time, but who's place is it to judge us for the size of our family?
We are thankful for every life that God has added to our numbers, and again, I will stand my ground in my belief that this is divinely planned.
This was the week that we finally started sharing our news and making it fully public. (Keep in mind this somehow became a very long process for us that lasted for about the next four weeks, but this was the beginning.)
Here we were, nearing the end of the notorious 1st trimester, and we still hadn't told most of our families our news. In the past, we had always found a way to tell our families in person, but we knew that wasn't going to be possible this time. And, because our two oldest kids are so much older this time around, we thought it would be fun to have THEM share the news.
The Saturday before Easter, we were all busy with Easter egg mess ruling our kitchen. With eggs, utensils, and fingers all plunged deep into the potent dye, my mother in law called. Hubs extracted himself to answer the phone, and we decided this was as good a time as any to tell his mom our news. So, amidst the cups o' color, newspaper, and commotion, he switched to speaker phone and asked S & N if they had anything to tell Grandma. My Sweetheart proudly exclaimed, "My mom's PREGNANT!" (It still feels weird to me to hear my five year old use the word pregnant.) Hubs looked at me in awe; he didn't know she knew that word. However, the person we were really looking for a reaction from- didn't have one! So my little man says, "There's a baby in my mommy's tummy!" Still no reaction from Grandma. He repeated himself two more times! Still nothing. Hubs was laughing- but giving the poor kids and Grandma no help. With a little prodding, he pulled himself together to realize this wasn't going as planned, switched off speaker phone, and translated for his mom, who probably was having the hardest time hearing the kids, much less understanding what they were saying!! And we finally got a reaction from her- lots of excitement and congratulations.
Later that same day, I had scheduled to skype with my family. Although we weren't able to be there in person to tell our families this time, we figured this was the next best thing. Little did I know that my whole family would be present for this skype session. Which obviously worked in our favor. Within minutes of getting everyone together, Sweetheart and Little Man were again able to share the big news. This went much better, as they didn't have to repeat themselves multiple times this time. Once was enough. I am not sure that anyone in my family was surprised- in fact, I think there might have been a comment that my sister in law had predicted that this announcement was coming. But they were excited none-the-less.
In the next couple of days, Hubs managed to get a hold of each of his three sisters and share the news with them as well.
And that was the easy part. After that, it got much more weird, and it wasn't long before I realized that to a certain extent, I needed to mentally prepare myself before I shared our news with people. And to be honest, I was also realizing that in some ways, I was thankful for a thick skin.
Because not everyone was as excited for us as our friends and family had been up to this point. There were only a very small handful of people that actually showed excitement and said congratulations after this. In fact, I got all kinds of crazy responses. I am not sure what it is about pregnancy that makes people feel like they are at liberty to say things that they would never say to a person who wasn't pregnant (case in point, at about 32 weeks along in my first pregnancy, a grocery store clerk who commented that I was probably going to take the dessert that I was purchasing home to eat the entire thing myself!). But man, when you're pregnant, it just seems as if people's tongues are loosed and all kinds of things come out.
Some of my favorites:
"WOW!...Holy cow you guys!"
"Was this planned?"
"Well you'll certainly have your hands full."
"Do you still get excited?"
"You guys need a hobby...a new hobby, anyway."
"Wow, 4 Kids!!!"
"How many are you going to have, anyway?"
And the top prize winner was actually not said to me, but to my mom, for crying out loud:
"Is there any limit?"
Seriously, who says that?
Anyway, in overanalyzing these varied reactions, I realized that I was so glad that I hadn't thought anything about them before we found ourselves in this situation. Not to say that I think that would have changed anything, but I think it was much easier for me to be polite and gracious in response when I hadn't thought it through too much before hand. We may not be the best parents in the world, and we may not have the most money in the world, and we may not get it right every single time, but who's place is it to judge us for the size of our family?
We are thankful for every life that God has added to our numbers, and again, I will stand my ground in my belief that this is divinely planned.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Week 10: Sophia and Noah learn the secret
For fairly obvious reasons, we held off telling Sophia and Noah the big news. We didn't want to them to spill the beans for us, when we weren't quite ready to share the secret yet. I was sure that Sophia would be so excited that she would waste no time telling everyone she knew. And didn't know. To anyone who would listen, really.
After Tim got back from his trip last week, he decided he was finally ready to let the other kids in on the secret. But a couple days went by, and we still hadn't said anything to them. Then on Saturday morning, Tim woke up deciding that today would be the day, I guess. I had been excited to tell the kids for some time, so I think if we would have thought it through together a little better, I would have thought of a creative way to tell the kids and made a whole event out of it. But that's the difference between mom's and dad's. Tim started to tell the kids before I was even totally realizing what was happening, I think. As we're getting breakfast together, all of a sudden, Noah has somehow magically appeared at my side and lifts my shirt up to look at my tummy. I hear Tim saying, "What's in there?"
Noah very sheepishly answered, "A baby!" I am pretty sure Sophia giggled.
We didn't talk about it a whole lot more that day, except that I told them that the baby would come sometime after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving. (So great to have milestones to mark it by to help them gauge time better.) I think it took several days before it began to sink in for them. It must be especially hard when there is nothing for them to see yet.
Once Sophia and Noah knew, we ever so slowly started letting the cat begin to make it's way out of the bag. But we were still fairly selective in who we told, and it was still just a handful of people we came in contact with most frequently.
Our best announcement was to our nearest and dearest friends here in Colorado. We would be seeing them at the end of the week for a monthly dinner date, so that day, I dressed Sweetest P in the same "Big Sister" Tshirt we bought for Sophs when we found out baby #2 was coming. Things were a little chaotic as we got to our friends house, so it took Erika a couple of minutes before she caught the message in the shirt. But it was well worth the wait, and our most fun announcement. It was also the most excitement and enthusiasm shared with us when telling of the arrival of our 4th.
After Tim got back from his trip last week, he decided he was finally ready to let the other kids in on the secret. But a couple days went by, and we still hadn't said anything to them. Then on Saturday morning, Tim woke up deciding that today would be the day, I guess. I had been excited to tell the kids for some time, so I think if we would have thought it through together a little better, I would have thought of a creative way to tell the kids and made a whole event out of it. But that's the difference between mom's and dad's. Tim started to tell the kids before I was even totally realizing what was happening, I think. As we're getting breakfast together, all of a sudden, Noah has somehow magically appeared at my side and lifts my shirt up to look at my tummy. I hear Tim saying, "What's in there?"
Noah very sheepishly answered, "A baby!" I am pretty sure Sophia giggled.
We didn't talk about it a whole lot more that day, except that I told them that the baby would come sometime after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving. (So great to have milestones to mark it by to help them gauge time better.) I think it took several days before it began to sink in for them. It must be especially hard when there is nothing for them to see yet.
Once Sophia and Noah knew, we ever so slowly started letting the cat begin to make it's way out of the bag. But we were still fairly selective in who we told, and it was still just a handful of people we came in contact with most frequently.
Our best announcement was to our nearest and dearest friends here in Colorado. We would be seeing them at the end of the week for a monthly dinner date, so that day, I dressed Sweetest P in the same "Big Sister" Tshirt we bought for Sophs when we found out baby #2 was coming. Things were a little chaotic as we got to our friends house, so it took Erika a couple of minutes before she caught the message in the shirt. But it was well worth the wait, and our most fun announcement. It was also the most excitement and enthusiasm shared with us when telling of the arrival of our 4th.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Week 9: 31 more?!?!
It was right around this time that I got a message from a friend telling me she was expecting her 3rd baby near the end of October. (That must mean she's only a week or two ahead of me.) She was lamenting that every pregnancy symptom seems to be so much more exaggerated the third time around. She definitely didn't know our news at this point, and I read her entire message laughing out loud! All I could think was, "If you think that about the 3rd time, imagine what the 4th is like?"
I feel like I am experiencing symptoms that I had only heard about prior to this pregnancy. I have one friend whose first indication of pregnancy has always been round ligament pain. I always thought she was crazy. I had read about it, knew about it, never really experienced it too much, let alone known I was pregnant because I was feeling it. But this time around, I can now say that I not only know about it, but can definitely tell you what it feels like. Except I'll spare you. It's just weird to me that it's taken 4 babies for me to really identify with what it is.
And the bathroom trips. Geez, Louise, can I PLEASE sleep through the night without having to get up to pee? It's never been so bad for me this early on. One middle of the night trip doesn't seem to be enough for me this time around- there's usually at least one more, very early morning. As in, it's too early to really get up yet, but too late to be able to fall back asleep for any decent kind of sleep. Maybe, for me, I would consider this one of the worst symptoms of pregnancy.
Cravings? Like never before. For the most part, I haven't ever had too many pregnancy cravings. In fact, Tim often bemoans the fact that I am no ordinary pregnant woman. He has long awaited his ability to demonstrate his knight in shining armor abilities by making late night runs to the grocery store for pickles dipped in chocolate and ice cream.
Here's where it might be important to note the new page we turned in our family this year. Sometime in January, we decided this would be the year that we would pull together as Team Nielson and give up something for Lent. Somehow, something became some things and we decided to forgo both sugar (for the adults) and all beverages besides water and milk (for the whole family). (On an unrelated note, that's kinda a cool story that doesn't belong here. If you wanna hear about it, ask me and I'd love to tell you about it.) Anyway, at the time we made this decision, I was not pregnant. Had I been, that might have been a (major) factor. So...I pretty much endured the first trimester without any kind of sweets or coffee. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Tim's still waiting to ride the proverbial white horse disguised as a Honda Odyssey for a midnight pickles and ice cream pick-up.
Tiredness? Check. To the extreme. As in, I'm living for my next opportunity to sleep. My poor family. This growing a life inside of me stuff is making me next to worthless for them. It's amazing my 3 little people have survived the first trimester in tact without any major catastrophes for how I've been rendered ineffective on the couch. Ice cream for breakfast, anyone? (Except we're not eating sugar- for breakfast or any other time.)
In fact, Tim took an almost 5 day trip this week. I'm not sure how we survived. I have no idea what the kids ate for the duration of that week. Thankfully it was the perfect time for me to capitalize on some pre-made, healthy meals I had mistakenly purchased on Groupon. My meals were delivered to my door, and simply needed to be warmed up. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And they were all good. And healthier than what I would have prepared at that point in time. Somehow, we all survived. I had this monsterous list of catching up on life tasks that I had wanted to accomplish while Tim was away. Instead, I napped harder than the kids during nap time. I figured there was always after bedtime to be productive. Except that by the time the kids were in bed, I managed to muster up enough energy to crawl in bed and find Grey's Anatomy Season 1 reruns on Hulu. (And sadly enough, that's no exaggeration for literary sake.)
Holy smokes: there's 31 more weeks to go! How am I...and my kids...and my husband going to make it? I think it was at this point that I started thinking maybe four was a good number after all and maybe this would be the last time.
I feel like I am experiencing symptoms that I had only heard about prior to this pregnancy. I have one friend whose first indication of pregnancy has always been round ligament pain. I always thought she was crazy. I had read about it, knew about it, never really experienced it too much, let alone known I was pregnant because I was feeling it. But this time around, I can now say that I not only know about it, but can definitely tell you what it feels like. Except I'll spare you. It's just weird to me that it's taken 4 babies for me to really identify with what it is.
And the bathroom trips. Geez, Louise, can I PLEASE sleep through the night without having to get up to pee? It's never been so bad for me this early on. One middle of the night trip doesn't seem to be enough for me this time around- there's usually at least one more, very early morning. As in, it's too early to really get up yet, but too late to be able to fall back asleep for any decent kind of sleep. Maybe, for me, I would consider this one of the worst symptoms of pregnancy.
Cravings? Like never before. For the most part, I haven't ever had too many pregnancy cravings. In fact, Tim often bemoans the fact that I am no ordinary pregnant woman. He has long awaited his ability to demonstrate his knight in shining armor abilities by making late night runs to the grocery store for pickles dipped in chocolate and ice cream.
Here's where it might be important to note the new page we turned in our family this year. Sometime in January, we decided this would be the year that we would pull together as Team Nielson and give up something for Lent. Somehow, something became some things and we decided to forgo both sugar (for the adults) and all beverages besides water and milk (for the whole family). (On an unrelated note, that's kinda a cool story that doesn't belong here. If you wanna hear about it, ask me and I'd love to tell you about it.) Anyway, at the time we made this decision, I was not pregnant. Had I been, that might have been a (major) factor. So...I pretty much endured the first trimester without any kind of sweets or coffee. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Tim's still waiting to ride the proverbial white horse disguised as a Honda Odyssey for a midnight pickles and ice cream pick-up.
Tiredness? Check. To the extreme. As in, I'm living for my next opportunity to sleep. My poor family. This growing a life inside of me stuff is making me next to worthless for them. It's amazing my 3 little people have survived the first trimester in tact without any major catastrophes for how I've been rendered ineffective on the couch. Ice cream for breakfast, anyone? (Except we're not eating sugar- for breakfast or any other time.)
In fact, Tim took an almost 5 day trip this week. I'm not sure how we survived. I have no idea what the kids ate for the duration of that week. Thankfully it was the perfect time for me to capitalize on some pre-made, healthy meals I had mistakenly purchased on Groupon. My meals were delivered to my door, and simply needed to be warmed up. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And they were all good. And healthier than what I would have prepared at that point in time. Somehow, we all survived. I had this monsterous list of catching up on life tasks that I had wanted to accomplish while Tim was away. Instead, I napped harder than the kids during nap time. I figured there was always after bedtime to be productive. Except that by the time the kids were in bed, I managed to muster up enough energy to crawl in bed and find Grey's Anatomy Season 1 reruns on Hulu. (And sadly enough, that's no exaggeration for literary sake.)
Holy smokes: there's 31 more weeks to go! How am I...and my kids...and my husband going to make it? I think it was at this point that I started thinking maybe four was a good number after all and maybe this would be the last time.
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