Tuesday, October 20, 2009

First appointment disappointment

So, this morning was my first OB appointment, and it was, well, anti-climatic. I met with a nurse at the practice, she asked lots of questions about E and my medical history, answered the questions I had, gave me lots of papers to read, and scheduled my next visit in two weeks. That's it. They didn't even verify that I was pregnant!

We're going to continue to wait to tell people until after my appointment on Nov. 4. I want to have at least some testing done before we spread the word!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Pregnancy symptoms - 9 weeks, 2 days

  • All day (morning) sickness subsiding, though mornings are still tough.
  • Tired like never before, but that's good since I was an insomniac and now I'm sleeping! Makes it hard to do things like get up the energy to clean the house though.
  • Migraines that I've had for 20 years are GONE!!!!! Had I known that was going to happen, we might have tried earlier!
  • Mild headaches during the day, though not every day.
  • Breasts sore, though less than 6-8 weeks. They're also 1 size bigger (started at 36D, how much bigger can they get?!?)
  • Not much food is appetizing, but get morning sickness if I don't eat, so I'm grazing a lot. I'm CRAVING Mexican food from the Border Cafe! May have to go there with E soon... I also had a dream this morning about french fries, and woke up drooling (first time THAT's happened). Discovered this morning that I've lost 2 lbs, probably due to the lack of appetizing food.
  • Sense of smell overpowering, which leads to morning sickness. Avoiding the kitchen at home and at work helps though.
  • "Pregnancy brain" - I keep forgetting things, which is so unusual for me, it's funny. I got out the winter clothes and left 3/4 of my long sleeved shirts on top of the cedar chest. Then thought I needed to buy more shirts because I only had 7 days worth of shirts in my dresser. The cedar chest is right next to the dresser!

Morning sickness

The last day we were in Bonaire (7 weeks, 1 day), my morning sickness symptoms really started, thought I didn't realize it. I smelled something at breakfast that literally had me running for the bathroom. I didn't throw up, but came so close, I was in a stall praying to the porcelain gods. The nausea passed and after splashing water on my face and neck, I felt good enough to go back to breakfast.

The flight home, I thought I was airsick. I'd reached stage 2 of sickness, the cold sweats that you get just before you throw up (stage 3), but luckily we landed and I was able to avoid stage 3. Whew! E gets airsick, and I told him that if this is how he feels when he flys, I don't know why he bothers! I didn't realize it wasn't airsickness until...

The following day (7 weeks, 3 days), when I had all day sickness. Ugh. I couldn't move without feeling nauseated. And the whole week (through 8 weeks, 3 days) was like this. Going to work was horrible. I was pretty miserable, and thinking that being pregnant was NOT fun. I now had an inkling of why there's only-children out there, who'd want to go through this again?

Then the nausea started to come under control. I realized that I needed to eat every 2 hours, no ifs, ands, or buts! I needed to avoid things like: the smell of coffee, vegetables (especially green beans!), and anybody smelling like onions. I found that saltines really did help. Mornings were still crappy (now I know why its called 'morning sickness'), but it was MUCH more bearable.

And that's where I am today (9 weeks, 2 days). I actually feel like I could do something this weekend!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Bonaire Vacation

Day 1 - Saturday September 26
N, EP, E, and I arrive in Bonaire at 8am, after leaving Boston at 7pm the night before. I didn't sleep on the plane, and E didn't get much sleep, so we get some breakfast and go to bed. Get up at 2pm and go snorkeling. EP's mom, dad, sisters G and L, and L's significant other, M, arrive. Relax for the rest of the day, have dinner with the whole gang, and call it an early night. Day 2 - Sunday Sept 27
Up early with the sun. Have breakfast, then head to the dive orientation at 9am to learn about the SCUBA facilities at Buddy Dive. Get our equipment and go for our first dive! N's ears weren't cooperating, so we end up continuing the dive without him. See tons of fish, including the Blue Parrot fish below. Drive south to the slave huts in the afternoon, then to the windsurfing side of the island, and back to the resort in the early evening. Day 3 - Monday Sept 28
Up early again. Have breakfast and head out for dive 2 in the morning, dive 3 in the afternoon. This is how most of the vacation goes until the day before we leave. Dove at Buddy Dive reef, saw a wreck during the afternoon dive, and some 4ft Tarpon's. Also found a Coral Banded Shrimp.
Day 4 - Tuesday Sept 29
Up, have breakfast, and head out for diving at Windsock. The dive site has a beach entry, probably the only beach on the whole island! Makes it easy to get in and out. I see an octopus, but E misses it, and also scares it into hiding. I get a picture though! We see a school of Blue Tang that will continue to show up at every dive site for the rest of the trip. That afternoon, go snorkling with the whole gang at Klein Bonaire, the island just off the coast of Buddy Dive. We see 4 turtles (and the school of blue tang), and have a good time. In the evening, go to Casa Blanca for dinner with the whole gang. It's an Argentinian Steak House, but they have very good salad and baked potatoes for me. E says it's the best steak he's ever had.Day 5 - Wednesday Sept 30
I wake up to E wishing me a happy anniversary! We have breakfast with EP's mom (the rest of the gang has gone deep sea fishing), then head to Windsock to dive. EP's mom comes along to snorkle and hang on the beach. See a bunch of eels today! After the dive, EP's mom buys us lunch (happy anniversary!) at the pool bar. In the afternoon, we go to Bachelors Beach to dive. Find a swirling school of hundreds of silver fish, that tries to school with us when we swim through. Very cool! That evening, we head into town for our anniversary dinner at the local Mexican place. Food's so-so, but it was nice having a night to ourselves.Day 6 - Thursday October 1
Up, have breakfast, and head to Oil Slick Ledge for a dive. Ledge is right, we have to jump into the water from about 12 feet up to get in. See some barracuda, a Queen Angel Fish, and a puffer fish. There's a ladder to get out, but that's no fun, so Evan takes some more jumps into the ocean once the gear is off. That afternoon, head to 1000 Steps (there's really only about 70) with N and EP to dive. The reef here is the best yet, we see a new kind of tiny blue shrimp. EP finds an octopus that she shows us when we come back in. The walk back up the steps with all of the gear makes it seem like 1000 steps! On the way back, take a drive on the 'bike path', which is a dirt road that goes over the mountain on the island. It's a fun drive, with very nice views of the desert island.















Day 7 - Friday Oct 2
Up early, have breakfast, and head north to go diving at Tolo reef. Best reef so far, too bad it's our last dive (we have to stop 18 hours before flying). We dive with some others from TN, and see a Spotted Drum and some squid (VERY cool!) Spend the afternoon having lunch, doing a bit of shopping, and swimming in the ocean. E and I watch the sun set from the pool bar, then have dinner alone, sitting by the water at a table for 2. Our first truly romantic meal here.
Day 8 - Saturday Oct 3
Did I say we got up early during the week? We're up at 4am today, so we can catch our 4:45am shuttle to the airport. N, EP, E and I stagger to the front desk, load in the vans, and head off to sit in the airport until our flight boards at 7:30am. Fly to Houston, arriving late. Rush through customs, security (thank goodness for friendly travelers that let us skip to the head of the line!), and immigration, and run to the other side of the terminal, stopping only for a quick bathroom break and to grab lunch to go. Arrive just in time to board our flight, whew! Fly to Boston, find out our luggage is still in Houston, fill out the baggage forms, and head home.

Epilogue - Monday Oct 5
2am, our luggage arrives. And I have to get up for work tomorrow? Ugh!

Pregnancy impatience

While on vacation, I was thinking that I didn't really feel pregnant. I felt normal. Then near the end of the vacation, on the 2nd to last day, I had my first serious bout of morning sickness. Nothing too bad, just sent me running to the bathroom during breakfast, but it passed. Then the flight home, I had the worst bout of air sickness I've ever had. If that's how people feel, I can't believe they keep flying!

When I returned home, I discovered that I definitely feel pregnant, every day. And I'm not too happy with it. It's not morning sickness, it's all-day sickness. I'm totally exhausted, I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to keep putting in a full day of work and still be awake enough to drive home. And my chest so sore, it's uncomfortable to walk down stairs fast. And I'm surprised nobody at work has said anything about my recent chestiness, it's not like they were small to begin with!

On top of all of this, I want to tell people. E and I decided that we would tell family when we returned from vacation, but wait to tell others until after the first prenatal appointment. Which is on Oct 20. That's like 2 weeks away! Argh!