I have by no means had an easy pregnancy so far. I spent the first two months in bed 24 hours a day (literally in bed all day/all night) feeling pretty miserable and unable to do anything. I could only eat a few bites of food at a time, and I ended up losing ten pounds right off the bat. At 11 weeks, my doctor ordered an IV for hydration and a Reglan (anti-nausea meds) pump for me to have at home. Fortunately, the insurance company took so long to approve this (like 2.5 weeks) that I didn't need it anymore by the time they gave us the go-ahead (this didn't stop them from sending all the supplies to my house... hydration drip, anyone??). We also found out that I have hyper-thyroidism at 11 weeks (I've been pretty sure I was hyper-thyroid for a few years now... just never had the health insurance to do anything about it until now).
Of course, it could have been/could be much much worse, but it certainly hasn't been smooth sailing so far. Honestly, I'm kind of terrified of ever doing this again, and I've asked Levi to please be okay with having only one child just in case I never get my nerve up again. Anyway, now that I'm starting to feel a bit better (still waiting for this so-called second trimester energy peak everyone's always talking about...), I wanted to make a list of things I have loved and things I have hated about being pregnant. I'll try to keep my hate list brief. ;)
Things I Hate:
1. No Boar's Head cracked pepper turkey sandwiches or bleu cheese.
2. Constipation (sorry, but it's true).
3. Eating. Most food completely grosses me out now, and I rarely want to eat.
4. Gross smells.
5. I'm sure I could come up with lots of other stuff, but let's get to the positive side now.
Things I Love:
1. Crying at everything all the time. You know how sometimes it just feel SO GOOD to cry? That's how pregnancy crying feels to me. Every day.
2. Getting to see our baby via ultrasound. I've never thought an ultrasound of a baby was so cute until now.
3. Good smells! Even though a hyper-heightened sense of smell makes lots of things stink, good-smelling things smell sooooo good now - my mint chocolate deep conditioning treatment, for example.
4. My boobs!!! They're HUGE!
5. Knowing that even when I'm doing absolutely nothing, I'm still growing a human being. So even if it doesn't look like I'm being productive, I really really am!
6. Having health insurance!
7. Shopping for baby things.
I'm sure I'll have lots more to add to my love list in the coming weeks, but that's what I've got for now!
What do you/did you love about being pregnant? If you've never been pregnant, what do you look forward to the most? (Besides the baby...)
It's funny how we never hear about the bad stuff before it actually happens, you know what I mean? So I like your hate list as much as the love one (well, maybe not ;).
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm looking forward is that feeling that this little one is going to be part me, part my love. I can't wait to feel the little (or big) kicks. I'm looking forward to all the good things there are. Maybe the bad too, since it's a whole experience but I hope it won't be too bad.
I just can't wait until it really happens.
Congrats!!!
ReplyDelete<3
Sarah
theonewiththeb.blogspot.com
Dear Jasmine, I almost hate to tell you this but I loved being pregnant! I have four children and I felt good the whole time. Never any morning sickness--no problem with constipation (make sure to eat a well-balanced diet). Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteLove, Kathleen
Oh man.. Yep last two months in bed.. sounds familiar. And holy cow, the SMELLS!! Yuck. I unfortunately had to go to work every day (and then spent a good portion of the day dry heaving in the bathroom) but made all the girls promise not to wear lotions, perfumes, or eat food around me. Yep, I'm that girl. Food is disgusting too. I've thrown away so many dishes because it sounded good for a minute and then I lost my appetite once it was placed in front of me. Everyone has promised it gets better at 12 weeks.. (liars.) :) I'm nearly at 14 and still feel it all. Needless to say, I feel you girl. Sending prayers for both of us the Second trimester really is BLISS!
ReplyDeleteAnd yay for having an online pal going through the same things together!
I'm sorry to hear that you've been so sick! My favorite part of pregnancy is definitely feeling my baby girl dance around and karate kick. It makes all of the sicky days worth it.
ReplyDelete(Also, I don't know if you remember me, but I creepily approached you at Target a few months ago. I'm so happy to hear that you're pregnant!)
Love,
Elise (http://eliseandjoe.tumblr.com/)
Jasmine!
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed with Graves' Disease (a type of hyperthyroidism) in 2009. If you need any advice on what to do, please let me know! <3 xo
Elizabeth
i am thinking of you, always.
ReplyDeletei hope you start to feel energetic very VERY soon.
love you lots!
xox
How exciting! I can't wait to read more. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel ya on the constipation and the boobs. Colace is your best friend and mine are even more ridiculous because of the nursing! ;)
ReplyDeleteI hate(d)(currently pregnant with #2):
ReplyDelete-Morning sickness (that is totally NOT just in the morning) and tends to trail into the first several weeks of the second trimester.
-Constipation, something I literaly NEVER dealt with before. Coffee & soda both help with this. 7up & Sprite are great if you're avoiding caffeine and also might help with the morning sickness a little bit.
-Being tired...not an issue at all the first time around; still exhausted this time around and I'm almost 22 weeks. (could be the 8 month old at home who still likes to wake up at 4:00am though!)
I love(d):
-Feeling our baby move!
-My husband feeling our baby move!
-Knowing everything I do impacts this little life inside of me.
-Hearing our baby's heartbeat.
-Watching my belly grow and know it was for an amazing reason (struggling with this a tiny bit this time around, mostly because I still looked pregnant from the first time!)
-Noticing other pregnant women. I noticed them OFTEN because it took us 2 years to get pregnant the first time, and it felt like everywhere I looked were pregnant women. But amazingly, I notice them SO MUCH MORE now! And it just makes me smile.
-Reading and singing to our baby, knowing she/he will recognize my voice (and Daddy's) at birth because we talk to her/him.
I've already had one...and there are so many more loves (and hates) than with pregnancy. As someone mentioned, you never hear about the hates until it happens to you, so I appreciate that you listed them on your blog for someday mothers to read. Most people hear about and/or understand the loves, both with pregnancy & after baby arrives...hello, you've got a baby to hold, doesn't get much better than that! But to prepare you...there are hates afterwards too.
I hated:
-Feeling like a failure because I couldn't birth my baby girl after 24 hrs of labor.
-Dealing with a nasty period for 8 weeks.
-Breastfeeding: I didn't produce enough but didn't really know it for 2 weeks nor did my daughter ever latch and every single time resulted in lots of tears from both mommy & baby. I knew it wasn't easy as pie going into it, but it was so much harder than anyone ever mentioned.
-Still looking pregnant 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, etc after the baby was born. It got better, but I was still in maternity clothes when I found out I was pregnant with #2!
I love:
-Holding my baby girl, cuddling her, singing to her, reading to her.
-Seeing my baby smile, it lights up a room and fills my heart to overflowing.
-Watching her grow, change & develop new skills.
-Knowing that I'm the most important person in the world to her and she prefers me over anyone else.
-Listening to her "talk" and express herself.
Okay this list could get really long so I'll stop, since this comment is already out of control! ;-)
I LOVE BEING PREGNANT! soooo excited for you. the second trimester made everything in life sparkle for me. i tried for a really long time, so truly i love being pregnant more than anything in the world. i did a little series on all the many fun and interesting and sometimes uncomfortable aspect of my pregnancy on my blog. now, at 31 weeks, even more changes! i cannot emphasize enough how important it is to drink lots of water! i truly think that has helped me not be constipated, since that is generally a woe of my life even not pregnant, i totally thought i'd be hating life. but i have been great! i eat salad every day too and tons of fruits and veggies. good luck to you and i can't wait to follow your journey.
ReplyDeleteI am 36 weeks pregnant today, baby #3. Don't feel guilty about that hate list! lol I have my "love list", but at this stage in pregnancy I have quite the "hate list" as well. But still, #1 love, feeling baby move! It's so reassuring that I am doing this right. Congrats to you on your pregnancy! I too had awful sickness for the first trimester, as well as hypothyroid. Thyroid meds have helped. Then of course I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes, really? what else can we add to it. So now I have sugar meds to add to my thyroid meds.... I will be glad to not be pregnant anymore, to cuddle with my babe, to know if I'm baking a girl or a boy, and to no longer have to poke my fingers and take sugar meds! :-)
ReplyDeletewow. your experience so far has not been great :(
ReplyDeleteI have to say there is very little that I have hated (and I am 3 days behind you).
Hate:
1. That I gained 10lbs immediately... I remember grabbing the gut I have never had and saying that I had better be pregnant.
2. That I can not for the life of me sleep through the night if I can fall asleep at all, especially when I used to sleep through anything.
Love:
1. That my husband can't stop touching or talking to my belly... cutest damn thing ever.
2. Eating even healthier than before seems to be easy.
3. How excited my family is. My mom and grandma couldn't be happier.
4. Other than 1 or 2 days I haven't felt sick
5. We just found out yesterday what we are having and my feeling was right :)
btw.. I made this to announce to my friends http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCU_6wb06Xs :)
ReplyDelete