The First Trimester

I ended up having an AWFUL first trimester.  I’m still telling Troy there will be no more children.  I didn’t feel great, but I threw up the first day, and didn’t again for about two weeks.  The nausea was AWFUL, and it was worse every day.  Once those two weeks were up, however, all heck broke loose.  Troy’s mom left, and Troy left to go out of town the same day.  I ended up getting quite sick (THAT kind of sick) that day, and called the midwifery, where they were wanting me to keep trying things like ginger ale, sea bands and eating small meals.  I tried and failed. 

The next day I ‘got sick’ 6 times, and called and said that if they wouldn’t give me medicine I was going to switch providers, bawling, and desperate.  The LPN got me a midwife who when we talked about everything, she told me she would be seeing me in the morning.  My neighbor drove me to my appointment the next day, and they performed a test to check on the protein in my urine (ketones), and see how dehydrated I was.  Their specific office had run out of the tests, so they borrowed one from another office in the building.  It was different than their tests, and they looked at it and thought it was negative, but sent the nurse to the office where they borrowed the test to confirm. 

They, in the meantime, had brought me into a room and were talking to me about my ‘desire to medicate’, when the nurse opened the door and said, ‘Her ketones are literally off the charts.  She needs an IV NOW.’  Needless to say, I felt very vindicated.  I ended up spending my next 4 hours getting IV fluids (two full bags), and finally by the end I WANTED food.  My neighbor brought me a frosty, and then on the way home we stopped for another.

They put me on Zofran, which made it so that I could eat, and took my throwing up down to just a couple time times a day, and eventually I’ve gotten to the point where now it’s just a couple times a week.  I tried going back to work after this, but ended up spending most of my time in the bathroom, unable to function, so I’ve been off work until Mid-September, when a co-worker goes back to school.

The next 8 weeks were uneventful.  I’ve lived in my pajamas, and have been fighting a constant battle with my stomach.  I’ve also had very rough acid reflux, which has caused a range of problems. It’s been the reason for throwing up, my throat bleeding, an almost constant bubble in my swollen throat, and most recently my tongue bleeding, among other things.  It’s at the top of my list of things to talk about with the midwife at my next appointment.  I had been put on a couple of natural supplements for it early on, and they helped with my worst issues, but the tongue bleeding has pushed me over the edge, so I will be seeing what our next option is.

My other less severe symptoms were pretty typical.  I had some pretty bad fatigue that made me have a hard time breathing, but I’m starting to wonder again if this is acid reflux related.  My food aversions were extremely intense.  There are still words that are not allowed in our home because they make me want to hurl.  I was pretty weepy… Okay, I cried through Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.  So VERY weepy.  Troy hesitantly told the midwife that I am needy.  Ha.  It’s okay, I know it’s true.  I’ve struggled with staying hydrated as water itself has been one of my aversions.  I’ve had a lot of headaches and a sore back/muscles.

I had my 9 and 13 week appointments, and the midwives could find the heartbeat almost as soon as she put the Doppler down both times.  That’s always a relief!  I’ve had very low blood pressure, and eventually put on a whole ¼ pound.   They were happy with that considering how sick I’ve been, as they were anticipating that I could have lost weight.  Somehow I have to put on at a minimum 20 pounds, but more ideally 30.  However with my new appetite, that shouldn’t be a problem.  I want to eat all the food in the world.  All day long.  It’s really time consuming, and not nearly as fun as normal me would have thought.  Bummer.

This is me at 11 weeks

Needless to say, I’m not anxious to get pregnant again any time soon, and have been welcoming all the little bits of relief offered by the second trimester so far.  If I can just get the acid reflux under control, I will be one happy girl!  Less than 6 months to go… unless I’m 10+ days overdue.  Let’s hope not.