Never Again

Whoopsie!  I totally forgot to post about our road trip to Illinois.  It was pretty horrific, so honestly I think I was just trying to block it out for sanity reasons...

The drive TO Illinois wasn't anything extraordinary.  We left the area by 7, after a full day of work.  Ariel, Travis and I were supposed to share the driving responsibilities, but an hour into Ariel's first turn threw that out the window.  She got pulled over because the license plate lights were out on the truck (we had no idea).  She was mugged a while ago and has never gone back to get her license renewed.  I don't really understand why, but that's how it goes.  She's been using her Passport as a photo ID in the meantime.  When the cop pulled up her driver's license on his computer, it turned out her license was expired.  He was really nice and let her off with a warning, but that took her off the drivers list.  Less sleep for Nikki.  We stopped at the first truck stop we passed and bought replacement bulbs so we wouldn't get pulled over again.  The entire trip took us 17.5 hours.  Before kids, the trip took us 16 hours, so I didn't think that was so bad.

The drive back was a horrific nightmare that easily competes with the Hurricane Ike evacuation.  Here's a quick overview of the Ike drive: 4 humans, 3 dogs, 3 cats (One of which was mewling incessantly and peed all over herself.  After the Benedryl she drooled all over her cage as well.)  Two hours into our hungover ride back, all the luggage fell off the roof rack into traffic on the Interstate.  Imagine all the headache/nausea-ridden people chasing down suitcases before a semi ran over it.  Good times.

But this trip may have been worse.  I think it was because it lasted three times as long.  The drive back from Illinois took us 22 hours and here's why:  We left at 5 pm and I was the first to drive.  It was POURING rain, so we had covered the bed (with all our Christmas presents, luggage and Ariel's new moped) of the truck with a giant tarp.  The radar on weather.com showed a giant red rain cloud over our entire route.  We decided to change our path so our entire drive would not be in rain.  

Two hours into our trip (still in Illinois), all traffic was being directed off the Interstate.  All of it.  No cars going, no cars coming.  We stopped at a gas station for dinner and to see what was going on.  When we got out of the truck, we noticed the tarp had split in half and all our belongings were soaked.  No tarps for sale at the gas station.  Traffic was being redirected because there had been a hazmat semi accident/chemical spill TWO DAYS PRIOR and they were still cleaning it up.  I remember saying, "Starting this trip off with a bang."  There was no advance warning about what we were supposed to do.  How hard is it to get a road sign out there?  We were redirected onto some tiny two lane road without street lights.  Because it was so late, it was mostly 18-wheelers out on this winding, dark, wet road.  SO SCARY.  Three miles later, we were back on the Interstate headed to the nearest Walmart for a tarp (20 miles away).

It was 45 degrees out and we weren't up for spending the remainder of the trip soaking wet, so Travis picked up some rain ponchos when he got the new tarp.  My hands were numb by the time we got the tattered remains of the old tarp off and the new one on.  That stop took us an hour and a half.  Three hours later we stopped for gas and noticed the second tarp had tore in half as well.  We gave up on it at that point. 

Travis and I took turns driving 50-60 mph in the torrential down pour.  It finally let up when we got to Mississippi.  We made a stop for gas at some point.  Aiden had to use the restroom so I took the time to check Mila's diaper.  At some point unbeknownst to us, she had a complete poopy diaper blowout.  I couldn't believe none of us smelled it.  Maybe it was packed under her well enough we didn't notice?  Maybe we were all too stressed to notice anything aside from the task at hand?  Thankfully I had an extra set of clothes for both kids in the cab of the truck.  I threw Mila's clothes directly into the trash since I knew the stain would set before we made it home.  I didn't want to carry her through the gas station, so she got a bath by baby wipes in the parking lot.  Between cleaning her and her car seat I think I used half a pack of wipes.

Back on the road again... I think it was 7 am when we stopped for breakfast at a Waffle House.  The kids were both awake (Aiden didn't sleep much) and I wanted to give them a chance to stretch their legs.  We had a greasy breakfast, refueled the truck and got back on the road.  About an hour after breakfast, Aiden decided it wasn't sitting well with him and regurgitated the entire meal.  Thankfully he complained first so I had a bag handy, but some of it made it down his front despite our efforts.  Stop #352.  Wipe bath #2.  Hoping there were no more stops for clothing changes or our kids would drive the rest of the way naked.

That was it.  I think.  Travis, Mila and I were all on the tail-end of horrific colds during the drive.  Ariel was on the front-end of her's.  Aiden made it through it all without ever getting it.  We hadn't slept all week because Mila was teething, so she thought waking up between 4 and 5 every morning was necessary.   Needless to say, it was the worst drive of my life.  I was absolutely exhausted and thankful I had taken Monday off from work to unpack and do laundry.  I was hoping to take a nap that day, but of course I didn't.  I took a couple breaks to read though.  

I think, at this point in the kids' lives, the longest road trip we will tackle is 4 hours.  When they get older, perhaps we'll try it again.  I remember taking lots of road trips when I was a kid and I remember them fondly.  Though most of them were in an RV, so we had room to sprawl out.  No different than being stuck inside on a rainy day at home, really.

See why I was blocking it out?

14 Weeks

Good lord would you look at the size of my BELLY???

Seriously, it's gigantic.  Unreal.  PS - That's my tough face.  Feels tougher than it looks.

I was looking at photos from my pregnancy with Aiden and I think the shape of my belly is different.  It's more torpedo-like this time.  I know it's not a direct comparison because one is shirts and one is skins, but here is my photo at 16 weeks (two weeks further along than I am now) with Aiden:

Whenever people see me wearing a fitted shirt at work they say, "WOW.  You are going to be HUGE."  Did you see me last time?  If that wasn't huge, then what was it?  Gah.

I know I've already mentioned it, but the nausea is way worse this time.  It is affecting my diet. Nothing ever sounds good.  The only things that ever sound remotely edible are fresh things, like fruits, vegetables and salads.  Cheese and water crackers usually make the list.  Occasionally pasta is on there as well.  It sounds a LOT like my cravings last time.

Lately, I've only needed the Zofran (anti-nausea) every third day.  It used to be every other day, if not every day.  I have hope that it will disappear completely.  Please.

We tried to get Aiden to take a photo with me and the torpedo-belly, but he refused.  Instead, he hovered in the doorway begging to look at the camera.

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.