Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Feeling Better

Last Saturday, after a particularly bad episode of hanging over the toilet, I was laying on the couch praying.

I told God, "You know, I think I'm done learning what You've been teaching me through this. I think it's time You made me feel better. I mean, I want Your will for me... but I really want to feel better. I know if You're willing You can make me well." Then I fell asleep for three hours. When I woke up I had the impression that God was saying, "I'm willing." Since then I haven't thrown up once! Which is a miracle in and of itself. I can eat normally again! I'm continuing to gain energy. I'm so thankful! I still have a small amount of nausea, but I can usually keep it at bay by eating frequent snacks.

I read that the placenta and the baby's own pituitary gland start taking over hormone production at this point in the pregnancy. This is why most pregnant women start feeling better around 12 weeks - their body is no longer being flooded by all the excess hormones.

I'm just so thankful that I'm feeling better. I think that sometimes God puts it on our hearts to pray for something that He wants to give us. That way we recognize that the gift is from Him, and can thank Him for it. So, Thank You Jesus!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Morning Sickness?

I'm really annoyed by the term "Morning Sickness."

I'm the youngest in my family, so I never saw my mother go through pregnancy. I also haven't had any really close friends who I've watched go through pregnancy. What does that leave me to base my expectations of pregnancy on? T.V. and movies, of course!

I've seen the movies with the women throwing up in the morning and then going on their merry way throughout the rest of the day as if nothing is wrong. I just have to say, this is a movie myth. And the term Morning Sickness isn't accurate at all. They should call it All-Day Sickness.

One of my books jokingly called it Progesterone Poisoning. I liked that. What with constant nausea, extreme fatigue, and occasional vomiting, I have felt... poisoned. But I must add in here that everyone has a different experience. Some women (my mother among them) never feel any nausea. (My mom was extremely fatigued however, and remembers sleeping constantly)

Okay, enough ranting...

For me, things are getting a little better. I still have plenty of bad days. But I have some good days too. I've started throwing up a lot more often. But I'm not always nauseous anymore, and I have a lot more energy than I used to. I weighed myself yesterday and found that I've lost 11 pounds since this whole pregnancy thing started. I felt a little worried. But then I thought of all the women I know that have had this same experience, or worse... and their babies have turned out quite normal. That made me feel better. The most worrisome thing is that lately I haven't been able to take my multi-vitamin everyday due to the vomiting. I get it down at least every-other day though.

Anyway, I'd appreciate all your prayers. I'm getting close to the 12 week mark! And I'm supposed to start feeling a lot better after that.

Greg's been great! I know it must be stressful for him having a sick wife... but he's been a wonderful support to me. He's done housework, run to the store to buy whatever sounds appealing to me at the time, listened patiently to all my complaints, and made himself endless meals when I've been too tired or nauseous to cook (which has been pretty much all the time).

Also, through this I'm learning to rest in God's will for me. He's all-powerful and completely loving. And so I can rest, knowing that even this is one of His good gifts. He uses everything (including nausea, vomiting, fatigue etc.) for my good and His glory. I'm so thankful that I have a loving Father's arms to rest in.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Baby Brock

pregnancy week by week

First Impressions

So I went to the doctor a few weeks back for my first prenatal appointment. It was pretty normal at first, you know... pee in a cup, stand on the scale, blood pressure etc.

The excitement started when the nurse started to draw blood.

Now my history in the blood drawing department isn't great. I guess I have small, "roll-y" veins. At Red Cross blood drives they resort to using the child needle, and even then they have trouble. This nurse was no different. She started to talk about how my vein wasn't cooperating, all the while trying to coax it into cooperation with the needle. I started to sink down in my chair. I was feeling terribly hot and light-headed... it kept getting worse and worse, and then all of a sudden... nothing. Was that a fan blowing on me? Ah, delicious breeze! This was the best I'd felt in days. Oh, did I just faint? Struggling to pull myself back into consciousness I saw Greg's somewhat anxious, though smiling face. There was another doctor buzzing through the room, he looked amused. And there was the nurse... Oh, and now I have a bandage and cotton-ball on my arm.

Well, several minutes later I'd been ushered into a different room, and the nurse was asking me family history questions. All of a sudden, I knew... my mouth tasted different. I grabbed the trash can and proceeded to empty the contents of my stomach into it. It's amazing how much you can have in your stomach even after eating very little. Anyway, I'll spare you the details.

Well, the rest of my appointment went without much more excitement. But I couldn't help but think, "Wow, quite the first impression."