Taking Stock at Week 22. 9-19-11

Here is what is happening this week:

• I've started back on the prenatal vitamins that have everything but iron, and I've been tolerating them pretty well, thank goodness! My color looks better, the yellow undertones on my face are back. The angular chelitis seems to be almost gone. My stomach seems to be doing better; although I do have a fair bit of nausea here and there. My weight gain has been steady, and little Boop is getting stronger.
• Sleep continues to be an issue. Poor Winnie is having a hard time and is driving me a little bonkers with her scratching, biting, and licking. I hate to put her on Benadryl as it knocks her out, but she just seems miserable. Hopefully, our trip back to the groomer will help a little, and I can give a little Benadryl this evening. Other than that, it was not a quiet night, or weekend for that matter :(
• I looked up what is happening at Week 22, and they didn't mention much, except for a growing baby. I'll take that! Of course, that also means that I'm growing, but it's for a good cause. They did mention that babies develop their sense of touch during this time, and that babies can even grab on their umbillical cord. That's cool. I just wish that so many other people weren't yanking my chain <hwah, hwah>.

Rock City. 9-17-11

I'm recovering. I've been fighting a bit of morning sickness for the better part of the day. By the time I made it to the picnic, I was about to just dig into my cake. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long today, and oh my goodness, the homemade Indian food! I ate and ate and ate. Many things I hadn't seen and tried before. The joke is that the students can't get into the program unless they are good cooks :) It's good to see that this new crop is holding up to the standard.

So, after dinner, the students started talking about hiking. I was wondering how it would work with me being pregnant. I knew the Rock City trail and thought that they might like it. However, I haven't been walking like I used to; so I didn't know if I could manage it. They were kind enough to let me go in front, and I think we set a good pace. The rock formations were quite nice, and they stopped to get pix. We emerged from the rock formations to link into the other trails, but I couldn't find the blaze on the trees quickly enough. I think the students were getting a bit nervous; so we just followed the trail back and went the way we came. Unfortunately, I began to realize on the way back why I had such an easy time going... it was all downhill... which means it was uphill all the way back... Between eating such a big meal and the 2 mile hike, I was having to take little breaks to catch my breath. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one!

Vile. 9-13-11

I thought I smelled something when I came home yesterday, but figured it was just dirty dishes. So I emptied out the dishwasher and put the dirty ones in. Fine. I started to sleep downstairs, but I couldn't get comfortable in the bed. So, I headed upstairs. I slept until 3:30am and fought to go back to sleep until about 4:30; then I came back downstairs. Wow! It had to be the trash all along.
So, I decided I better take out the trash. It was making me ill. Nothing prepared me for what was outside. The curb trash can smelled bad. As it turned out, it was half full of water, some Taco Bell from Mom's visit, and one of Winnie's 'presents'. I knew I had to dump the water out. VILE. Hello, Morning Sickness. Thankfully, I kept everything down. I just hope some creature doesn't get into the trash, now. I sprinkled baking soda in the trash pail and left it outside. I hope things calm down outside before I go to work.
How likely is it that I'm going back to sleep? I have class at 8:30am. It's nearly 5:30am now. There are plenty of "men's jobs" that I take on without batting an eye, but taking out the trash is the worst, especially when you're already a touch nauseous. I came in and washed my hands. Then, I proceeded to eat breakfast. The joys of pregnancy: you can be sick one minute and chow down the next.

Morning sickness 6-28-11

The first 4 weeks of pregnancy. I thought I had it licked. I couldn't figure what all of the fuss was about being pregnant. Just women wanting sympathy... like making their husbands make a midnight run for hot fudge cake and pickles. But then, the weekend I got back from a conference in Baltimore, it hit me. Yargh! So this is morning sickness.

At my 6 weeks, my RE showed me this article from 2010 New England Journal of Medicine, listing the various treatments for pregnancy nausea. It's actually a summary of an earlier, more thorough Cochrane Review, but the NEJM article is much easier to use. First recommendation was B6 at a certain dose 3 times a day. Threw that up. Second suggestion was ginger. Ooo, disgusting eructations (yep, that's a nasty burp) and threw that up. Third recommendation was Unisom, of all of the crazy things. Did okay with some, but yep I threw many of them up. Plus, it's Unisom. It's a SLEEP medication. Can't exactly take it before I go to work. And it makes me groggy. Talk to the hand! Another suggestion I've read is that you should never let yourself have an empty stomach. So, explain this to me: how do you keep your stomach from getting empty if you're not able to keep anything on your stomach?

So, I was pretty green the next time I went to the RE. I was sipping water, and the nurse said that the doctor didn't want me to have a full bladder. Nope, not an issue here. The ultrasound. I heard Boop's heart beat for the very first time. It really puts things into perspective. It was racing--the ultrasound print out said 178 beats per minute (which is a bit fast). Boop is pretty fantastic and BIG as in my Dad's side of the family. Hopefully, big and healthy! It was a momentary distraction for the constant nausea and the debate about whether and when to run to the bath--speaking of which, I just lost my last Unisom, just as an FYI--room. Afterwards, in the consultation room, the RE wrote "hyperemesis gravidarum" on my clinic chart, which means horrible, horrible morning sickness! He wrote me a script for Zofran. It's one of those unknown drugs as to the impact on pregnancy, but it helps me make it through the day. I'm somewhat functional at work, if not a little agitated from the meds. It is a med used for chemo patients.

I remember telling my primary care MD, "You know, at least this gives me a little bit of empathy for what chemo patients go through." She responded, "But at least they TREAT those people. They don't do anything for pregnant women. That's what really gets me!!" It's true: pharmaceutical companies do not want to touch pregnant women with a 10 foot pole. In Canada, they have a version of Unisom that has a longer, sustained dose with less of the sleepy side-effects, but they won't even put it on the market in the US.

I was a bit disheartened to read more about hyperemesis gravidarum. For most women, morning sickness usually wraps up by 14 wks., for those with HG, it is more like 20 wks, if it resolves at all! Keep your fingers crossed for 14 wks.