Pregnancy Sucks ;)

I wrote this during my 7th month of pregnancy. I've never been more sick or felt more defeated and depressed than when I was pregnant. Thankfully, pregnancy has an end date. As crappy as pregnancy is (except for the baby moving - that's miraculous) things will turn out better than you imagine. Kallan is sitting next to me, growling and playing with my phone. Every once in a while he'll look up, call me "dada", and go back to playing. Life is good.

[Disclaimer - for those of you who are unable to have a child biologically, I am so sorry. This post is not meant to demean your experience. At the same time, please do not demean mine. Pregnancy was very hard for me. Although I wouldn't change the experience, because without being sick I wouldn't have my sweet baby boy, I wouldn't wish that misery on anyone. Unless you've been through it, you simply can't understand. Just like I can't understand your experience. I wish you all the best with the future of your family. If you decide to adopt, read my posts about adoption. Maybe they will help. :) ]


COMMENTS ON PREGNANCY AT 7 MONTHS:

I've come to that stage in my pregnancy where I'm still pretty sick but not completely miserable. The magical second trimester ended up being more of a mirage, but at least I've gotten this far with some pretty good stories. This isn't meant to scare anyone, I just thought it would be fun to share and laugh about all the crazy symptoms of pregnancy. Right now, laughing about it is the only thing I can do :). If you want to share any stories of your own, just post them below. Hopefully we can all have a good laugh about it....if not now, then later!

--Nausea - Nausea is one of those words that exists on a gradient and I feel like I've experienced the full spectrum. Predictably, I started getting sick during the sixth week of my pregnancy. But unlike many, the first 24 hours of my sixth week were spent hugging the toilet. I went from 0 to 60 in no time at all. The weeks that followed included daily vomiting with constant, 24/7 nausea. The kind of nausea where the back of your throat feels like you'll lose your lunch at any time and a quick glance at the snake cage will send you running to the bathroom. I know that everyone tells you to always keep a snack nearby or to chew on ginger, but for me, nothing worked. If I didn't eat, I would get so sick that I would throw up. But, the very act of putting food in my mouth would make me incredibly nauseated, also resulting in getting sick. It was a losing battle no matter how I approached it. I was taking multivariate statistics, teaching, and losing weight at a fast rate, so I finally decided to go on medication and haven't looked back since. Zofran and Phenegran have become my closest companions. I'm still nauseated, but I can keep food down. Oh, and for those who say that you only get nauseated because of an increase in progesterone and that it will improve when the baby develops the placenta, you're grossly misinformed. (***recent studies suggest that taking Zofran before 12 weeks gestation increases the risk of your baby having a cleft palate).


--Vomiting - I don't feel like details are needed here, but I will say this, I won't be eating saltines for a while.

--Sleepless Nights - I'm a sleeper. When I go to bed at night I don't wake again until morning, that is unless Shawn's snoring or acrobatic sleeping style wakes me up. But when I was experiencing extreme nausea I would wake up about 4-5 times a night with a strong urge to throw up. Luckily I kept things down most of the time by having snacks on my night stand. After starting the medication I still wake up often but I don't loose my dinner, so I'm considering that an improvement.

--Acne - My face looks like it did when I was 20, maybe even worse. I'm blaming it on the excessive amount of progesterone. Please just bare with me until this is over.

--Constipation - Turns out, babies are really thirsty. I have a special appreciation for rabbits now that I know what it's like to poop like one.

--Leaky Left Eyeball - Up until now, all the symptoms I've discussed were anticipated because they are so common in pregnancy but I was a little surprised when my left eye began to secrete endless amounts of fluid. I have really dry eyes (lasik dry eye) and neither of my eyes do a very good job of staying lubricated so I'm constantly using eye drops. But, starting in month 3, my left eye decided to turn on the facet and it hasn't stop running. I wake up in the morning with my lids caked shut with eye goo. During the day, I just look like I'm crying, which isn't very professional when you're "crying" during a seminar on white-nose syndrome. Even though I'm sure people have cried over this disease - poor bats!

--Tear Duct Hemorrhoid - Tear ducts can actually push their way out of your eyelid. Who knew? It was probably due to excessive eye leakage. Luckily it didn't last longer than 24 hours, but I never want to see that again.

--Eczema - Overnight my hands and feet broke out in a bad rash of eczema. I have no idea what set it off, it just showed up. Now it will probably take a month or so to clear up and I'll just look like a leper until it does...face, hands, and feet alike.

-- A Superhero Sense of Smell - I could have teamed up with police dogs, I was that good. The smell of toilet water was by far the worst because I knew that smell all too well. The smell of most foods, except for Indian and Thai, also made me pretty sick. There were multiple occurrences where I would be sitting in class or in a seminar and I would have to breathe through my shirt sleeve. I could smell the people all around me and the moment I would take the sleeve away from my nose I would gag. Fun, fun times!

Everyone keeps saying that I'll forget the misery of pregnancy after birth and share only the wonderful details. NOPE. It does, however, make for a funny story to tell. If you have any crazy preggo stories that you'd like to share, feel free to add them below.......