Monday, November 7, 2011

The Joys of Pregnancy

The main theme this pregnancy has been nausea.  It started at about a month and a half and has only gotten worse since then.  It started out similar to the nausea I had while pregnant with Aiden: when I got hungry, I felt like I was going to throw up.  The difference is last time I actually threw up.  This time I just WISH I could vomit.  I have the most intense nausea.  I can't really say it's the worst I've ever had because I've been seasick and that was, by far, the worst experience of my life.  This IS pretty bad though.  I get clammy and hot and my hands start to shake.  It's a miserable thing. 

It's bad enough that I asked my doctor for an anti-nausea medication.  She prescribed Zofran and it has been a life altering decision.  There are certain things I can do to lessen the nausea without the medication.  Sometimes it's just because I'm hungry, and if I eat, it goes away.  Sometimes it's just because I need to use the restroom.  And if I go, then I feel better.  But sometimes, I do ALL of that and it just gets worse.  So Zofran it is! 

The only problem with Zofran is whoever developed it did not take into consideration that the pill taker would be nauseous.  Let me explain.  The instructions on the prescription say, "Dissolve tablet on tongue."  It takes like bitter, bitter fruit.  The process of taking the medication is a task in itself.  If I wasn't completely confident that I am unable to vomit at this point, I would be worrying about it more as I wait for that god awful tablet to disappear.  Ugh, it's horrible.  And then the bitter flavor stays on my tongue for a good 20 minutes after.  BUT IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT.  Within 30 minutes of taking the tablet, I feel 90-100% better.

Now I can work, clean the house, do laundry, do the dishes and make dinner!  Wait a second.  Why did I ask for that medicine again?  Oh ya, before, I still had to do all those things, but I was miserable and cranky the entire time.  I felt bad for Travis and Aiden because when Mommy's not happy, nobody is happy.

So!  A list of a few things that make me feel like crap this time around:
  • Car wash - I lose of sense of whether we're moving or if my head just thinks we're moving.
  • Tap water - tastes like dirty coins.
  • Protein - the majority of the time, the thought of meat or eggs makes me gag.
  • Zofran - until it kicks in.
  • Hunger OR fullness
  • Smells - cologne/perfume, deodorant, most food cooking (meat and onions makes it worse)

My solutions:

  • Don't use the car wash.
  • Drink bottled water (I am officially enemy of the planet).
  • Bring a toothbrush to work so I can get that protein residue off my tongue.
  • Bring a toothbrush to work so I can get that bitter medicine residue off my tongue.
  • Control my eating.
  • I stopped wearing perfume and I'm using fragrance-free deodorant.  I may not be able to control what other people wear, but at least I can control myself!

My doctor did give me a tsk, tsk at my appointment last week.  I had lost four pounds since my visit a month prior.  In my defense, I had been on an eating binge the weekend before my first appointment.  I had spent the entire weekend in Illinois doing nothing but eat and sit.  So I was two pounds over my normal weight at that first visit.  Since then, I have been back to my normal eating habits, PLUS nausea.  So I'm sure I'm not eating as much as I should be.  So now I'm two pounds under my normal weight.

I have also had a big problem with losing my vision and getting vertigo when I sit up from laying down or when I go from squatting to sitting.  I had the squatting to sitting problem before I got pregnant, but now it's worse and I have it when I sit up.  I was wondering if it was low blood pressure, but it was within normal ranges at the doctor's office.  The doctor thinks I might be dehydrated.  She recommended adding one to two 12 oz bottles of water to my current three to four.  Like I don't already LIVE in the bathroom.  I went to the bathroom THREE times before I even left for work.  THREE!  The only reason I get out of bed in the morning is because my bladder is threatening to explode.  Funny how you forget about this stuff after you have the baby.

2 comments:

Sara's Satire said...

They say every pregnancy is different. I know my pregnancies were completely different. The nausea that you described brings me flashbacks to being pregnant with Landry. My doctor gave me Zofran as well, but I couldn't handle it...the taste drove me nuts. Brushing my teeth was so hard, it made me gag Ughhhh! I was really bad with smells when I was pregnant with Logan. but my nausea wan't very bad.
Good luck, hopefully the nausea will improve in the second trimester...I was told that it would get better around week 16...and my doctor was right, it did get much much better. It cam back towards the end, but nothing like it was for the first 4 months! LOL
Also when you describe it with the clammy and hot and the shaking...this is exactly how I feel (pregnant or not) when my blood sugar gets low. I hope it gets better for you!

Nikki said...

That's how I get with low blood sugar too! The only difference is I get the feeling of dizziness or nausea with it as well as the other symptoms. It happens even if I just ate. And if I didn't just eat, then I try eating. Sometimes that doesn't work either. SUCKS. I've also had recurring headaches. I am SO over this.

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