Kellen's Birth Story

Welcome to the world, little man!

It all began with some minor contractions on Wednesday, August 6th.  I had hoped labor would progress then, but it did not - that tricky bastard.  But, around 5 am on the 7th, I woke to more contractions about 8-10 minutes apart and progressed with intensity and frequency within the next 2 hours.  So off we dropped Alexandra at day care and went on in to the hospital.  They admitted me and got me situated in a private room right away.  Thankfully, Jacob was able to stay with me the whole time.

I was able to walk and handle contractions for another 3-4 hours before I was in desperate need of pain control.  I thought I would have dilated much more at that point, but my stubborn cervix was holding fast at 3 cm and only effaced 60%.  It boggles my mind on how women go through child birth without pain control - especially if they progress slowly like I seem to do.  I got my epidural at that point - which hurt a lot more than it did the first time - (I don't think the anesthesiologist did a great job - it felt like she stabbed my spinal cord) - but I'll take momentary pain in favor of longer lasting pain relief any day.

My legs, especially the right, were SO NUMB and weird feeling… and I eventually lost all ability to use my legs. I now have a greater appreciation for people with spinal cord injuries.

Around the 2-3 pm mark, the intern who was with the midwife on duty checked my cervix and reported that I was 9 cm and nearly fully effaced!  I was ecstatic!  They instructed me to let them know when I felt more pressure in my rectum or the urge to push.  Two more hours came and went.  The intern checked me again.  No change.  :(  I can't remember at that point if I had pitocin or if they were just starting it - either way, I was bummed that I wasn't changing. I had stalled in progression - just like with Alexandra.  Another hour or two passed.  FINALLY the actual midwife checked my cervix and reported that I was really only 6 cm dilated. WHAAA???!!!  Man that was a hard pill to swallow.  I felt like we lost precious hours in the afternoon where they could have bumped up the dosage on the piton to help things along had they known I was stuck at 6 cm.  BUT, what was done was done.

They started me then on Pitocin and waited. And waited.  And waited.  I heard women in rooms on either side of mine screaming and pushing out their babies.  I watched the contraction monitor by my bedside and saw at least 3 other women come and go - all giving birth before my precious Kellen decided to make his way out.

Kellen's positioning was very uncomfortable. They had me laying on my left side, and as a result, his body drifted over to the left, with what felt like his feet jabbing up under my ribcage.  I had had enough of the discomfort after about 30-45 minutes and requested to change positions - like sit up and let gravity help out.  It was 11 pm at that point, 18 hours into labor, and when checked, I was finally fully dilated and very tired.  But it was TIME TO PUSH.

One of my fears came true.  I pushed and pushed, and instead of a baby - I gave them loads of poop. I KNEW that would happen cuz I missed my morning BM. Hahaha.  Then - once that was all out of the way - ahem - I could focus on getting that baby out!  Not much was happening with my pushes in the first 20 minutes.  Kellen was descending, but seemed to get stuck right at the opening of my pelvic floor. The midwife insisted on putting a mirror up so I could see what I was doing even though I really didn't want to see.  I got to see him crown, but ultimately I do better with mental imagery, and closed my eyes with each push (plus I felt I had to close them to prevent them popping out of my head from the increased pressure of bearing down).

Throughout the pushing process, Kellen's heart rate would dip into the 80s - apparently a very dangerous level.  I did not realize this at the time and so I was blind to the stress he was experiencing.  They just told me, with blank expressions, that I needed to breathe deeply because his heart rate was dipping slightly.  Eventually, at 11:57 pm on August 7th - just 3 minutes shy of his due date - Kellen Leo Slife entered the world at 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 20.75 inches long.

I could feel my body empty, and it was a glorious sensation.  I cried with relief that I was no longer pregnant, and that he seemed to be ok.  What we found, though, was a full knot in his umbilical cord.  Of course, we have no idea how long it's been there, but I felt extremely blessed that it did not lead to Kellen's demise.

Kellen has been an amazing baby thus far - not crying unless he's really hungry or if he's really cold during a changing.  He's sleeping well at night, waking like clockwork every 2.5 - 3 hours for a feeding.  I truly feel like God has answered my prayers.

Being a second-time mom is a lot less stressful - and enjoyable.  I am absolutely in love with my little gentleman.  Alexandra loves him too, giving him gentle kisses on his head, stroking his hair and cheeks, and exclaiming, "He's so cute!!" and "I want Kellen to sleep with me."

Thank you to my dad for coming down on that Friday afternoon and staying through Sunday afternoon - his help in watching Alexandra was so incredible.  Also, a huge thank you to Karen and Brent for staying Sunday and Monday and helping to watch both Alexandra and Kellen, as well as making dinner and just having a great visit overall. :)  Jacob was able to stay home Monday and Thursday (our day off from day care), and it's been as easy a transition to care for Kellen as I can possibly hope for.  Jacob will be leaving for 8 days starting this weekend, and thankfully my dad and stepmom will be coming down in shifts to help me handle 2 kids by myself.  I just don't know how people do this without help!  I am feeling so blessed to live where we do so I can actually ask for help.

And now, without further ado - pictures!!

This had better be the last post I make before the birth story

well, 39 weeks has come and gone. Arg. I have a feeling he's staying put for the long haul, and possibly longer. :( I get bigger every day and weaker which is depressing.  I just want to feel like my normal self again - able to do a friggin sit up without struggling, turn over in bed without intense pain, lay on my stomach!!

As promised, here are my disgusting pics of my crazy huge belly.

OMGEEEEEEE

I am SO ready to meet Kellen and get back to feeling normal again. This past week has been a lot less comfortable, starting on Monday afternoon when I somehow shifted my pelvis out of whack when lifting my leg into my pants.  This caused me to be completely unable to bear weight through one leg and I had to hobble around like an invalid.  The upside to having loose ligaments is that if you get shifted out of alignment, it's just as easy to get shifted back into alignment - it's just sort of impossible to know exactly how to do that!

Then night falls, and I'm physically tired, but mentally my mind has been scurrying around, and I've developed a sense of restlessness in my lower half.  For the past week I've relied on Benadryl to shut me off, but hate having to take something to put me to sleep.  Yesterday I was determined to fatigue my mind and body as much as possible so that I would fall right to sleep the minute my head hit the pillow. I was still awake at 12:30 am. My legs felt like they were buzzing and the only thing that helped was moving around - but that only relieved the sensation for a few seconds and they were back to buzzing again.  Cue 50 mg diphenhydramine.  I was out in 20 minutes.  I keep telling myself that this is my body preparing for labor.  Wishful thinking?

Yesterday was also an appointment at the midwives.  They finally checked my cervix - 1 cm dilated!! WOOHOOOO!!  (I'll take ANYTHING)  At this point in my first pregnancy, I was also 1 cm dilated and I had early labor 3 days later which didn't progress, and then my water broke 2 days after that.  So here's hoping that something major goes down in the next 4 days. :)  I'm up 32 pounds total - still 15-16 pounds less than what I gained with Alexandra, so I'm feeling accomplished.  My belly is HUGE.  Somehow, no stretch marks. YAY!!

I've been having mild cramping on and off - nothing serious or regular. And the Braxton-Hicks continue. Kellen is a busy little man in there - always shifting, squirming, and hiccuping. Sometimes now when he shifts it gives me a very sudden sharp pain in my lower abs - so that's nice. Jacob has noticed that I sigh a lot - like every time I move, hahaha. I feel like I'm 100 years old.

Today I set up an essential oil diffuser that my friend bought me and I will be trying a more natural method of relaxation tonight.  Here's hoping I can fall asleep (and stay asleep - thank you very much, bladder) without meds.

I also applied my very own nail wrap creation to my nails - call it wishful thinking, or maybe call it intuition - in hopes that Kellen makes his debut in the next 7-10 days.  Here's a pic:

I shall take one more belly pic in the next few days….and then I TRULY hope that my next post will be pics from the hospital with our little gent. :)

Pre-labor?

Well - I'm just about 37 weeks now and for the past couple days I've been having an increase in sacroiliac pain, having more trouble sleeping at night due to needing to pee EVERY FIVE MINUTES,  an increase in those Braxton-Hicks contraction, and also feeling nauseated again.  My new friend in town, Olivia (who just had her baby boy last night!), said she was nauseous the last week of her first pregnancy and had no idea that this could be a sign of labor.  It didn't occur to me that I could be experiencing the same thing until this morning.  I thought maybe it was a fluke - I was just tired or ate too much - but after a small breakfast and some coffee, I again felt like vomiting.

I don't think I'm going to go into full-blown labor for a while - like maybe another week to 2 weeks - but I'm happy to see the signs of my body preparing to excavate this being that's been held captive inside me for the past 37 weeks.

I got my toes done yesterday, so I will have pretty "It's A Boy!" toenails to look at when I am laid up in bed after delivery. :)  It took me almost an hour, what with needing to squish the living hell out of this fetus to reach my toes, but they look pretty cool!!

I guess I should get my hospital bag packed, the car seat out and cleaned, and have my dad on stand-by for a late night drive to Leesburg. :)  Getting excited!!!! 

Nesting

Tomorrow I am 36 weeks in!! ALMOST DONE!!  I have absolutely no abdominal strength anymore, which means my back is really feeling it now.  When I have energy, I have been trying to get things ready for the nightly feedings and sleeping arrangements for Kellen.  I finished the dresser last week and love it.  Unfortunately, I can't help lift it up the 2 flights of stairs, so it's still sitting in the entryway.

I've also moved a small chair and ottoman to the bedroom, as well as the decorative table we used to change Alexandra on, into the bedroom as well.  Now all I need is a soft lightbulb to put in the lamp and I'll be all set.

I am excited to meet Kellen and see how he is compared to Alexandra when she was an infant.  I am praying he likes sleep as much as I do! ;)

The dresser as I bought it off Craigslist. :)

Decoupaged and looking awesome, if I do say so myself!  I really wanted to stay away from the typical baby boy patterns and colors. I think this is nice and neutral, but not overly boring - and good for a boy for many years.  

34 weeks - ay carumba!

Well here we are - 34 weeks in. I swear I doubled in size in the past week.  I'm starting to get scared I'm going to sprout some nasty stretch marks because this baby is ALL IN FRONT.  He's doing his best to squish, headbutt, and nuzzle my bladder - which is super fun!  I'm pretty sure I pee myself a little each day because of those wonderful surprises.  Last night I thought he was going to push his leg out through my belly button - OW!  Been having many more Braxton-Hicks contractions too. YAY! I think that is a good sign because maybe that means I'll definitely deliver a little earlier than August 8.

I am starting to feel more run down - maybe it's the heat too - and also having a 2 year old. :-)  My dresser project for Kellen's room is coming along. I will be trying to finish that up over the next week or so while Jacob is away and when Alexandra is in day care.  Pics to follow!!  It's fun having something creative to focus on while I wait for this incubation to complete.

I try to remain positive though, that my energy levels will come back.  Of course I'm terrified that Kellen will never sleep and I'll be a walking zombie for the next 2 years.  If that happens, we are DEFINITELY not having any more kids.  F that.  ;)

In the coming month I will be attempting to ratchet down my Jamberry business, but I have a feeling that I'll actually be busier at that point than I am now.  I set up a workstation in the "office" downstairs just to get myself organized a bit more so my time spent working is efficient instead of how it is now - um, INefficient. :)

I haven't had any more heart palpitations since the last big one - of course, right?  My echocardiogram was completely normal. My EKG is completely normal. So, if I want to figure out this heart thing, I have to wear a monitor for a month to try and catch another one.  uuuuhhhhhhhh.  Just another "thing" I have to do.

So, here's some new pics - as you can see I look horrified and very tired.  How am I so exhausted?  Well I'm glad you asked!  I have a very rigorous exercise routine of 20-40 squats, 20 lunges, 30 minutes of gentle bike riding, and lots of pacing in between catching my breath.  Phew! What a drain on the system!!

eek, gads!  Please dear lord, let me deliver early.

<--- This is me seeing a "maybe" stretch mark on my side…*wimpers*

How low can you go?

Had another midwives appointment today - we're up to the every 2 weeks appointment schedule now. Yippie!! (that was sarcasm, people)

They did the normal measurement and listening to the heart rate. All sounds and looks normal.  I've gotten some leg swelling these days, though not too bad - yet!!  The baby has shifted into a head-down position - at least for today - and is sitting very low, apparently.

Tomorrow I'll be 31 weeks along (7 months and 1 week!). So far, my third trimester has been pretty smooth.  The midwife I saw today was awesome. She also said that if my first baby came early, chances are this one will too. That made my day!  Hopefully I only have 7-8 weeks left instead of 9. :)

I only gained 1 pound in the last 2 weeks, too - guess not eating chocolate bunnies and Cadbury Eggs every night means a slower weight gain. ;-P

We have done absolutely nothing to prepare for this kid, though.  No dresser, no clothes, no pacifiers, no blankets. Need to get going on those! haha.

Here are some new pics!  I feel so big!!

29 weeks

Hello people who read this!  So, I had my glucose screening yesterday which tests for gestational diabetes.  I had to fast for 8 hours prior to going, so I made sure to eat at 12:30 am because this kid does not like to be hungry!!  I was a little worried I was going to fail this test because I have been eating WAY too many carbs and simple sugars (thanks, Easter Bunny) and not able to exercise as frequently or as high an intensity I would like.  

At this particular midwives group I go to, they do a 2 hour test so that they can get as accurate a reading as possible.  They draw your blood at the beginning before you drink their glucose drink, then after an hour, and again at 2 hours.  After the 2nd blood draw I began to feel faint and a little nauseated.  They let me lie down, which helped a lot.  After the last blood draw, I got a juice box and peanut butter crackers and felt better immediately.

Today I got the news that my glucose levels were normal - except on the low side, particularly at the end of the test.  This may be why I feel lightheaded a lot of the time and fatigue so easily…AND crave carbs and sugar.  They also told me my iron was low and I need to start taking a supplement.  So, hopefully I can start feeling a bit more normal with taking iron and eating more often. :)

Oh, and I gained 7 pounds in 3 weeks.  This is what happens when I have to eat every 2-3 hours and am too tired to exercise.  I have gained a total of 26 pounds at this point and am starting to feel like I'm wearing a fat suit, but if my weight gain calms down a bit and just progresses normally, I'll be about where I was with Alexandra at the end of all this.  I'm also praying for an early delivery, cuz let's face it - I'm not a happy pregnant woman.  :)

Only 11 more weeks to go!! (hopefully less!!!)  

Comparison: 27 weeks (6 months and 1 week)

I have been thinking "Man, I'm ALWAYS hungry! This kid is sucking up all my calories!"  While I know that is not true, he definitely is growing faster now and I think is probably bigger than average.  I feel enormous, so I'm a little worried I'm going to get stretch marks this time around. I have to keep up the motivation to exercise - even though most of the time I feel too tired to do it. And now with Alexandra refusing to nap, I can't work out on the days she's home, unless Jacob is also there to help watch her for 45 minutes.  Walking is still bearable, so that's good. But overall I am feeling more and more out of shape since I don't really exercise as much as I did when I was pregnant with Alexandra and home all day doing school work.

It's a journey, isn't it?!

Bowling ball in my belly.

This is with Kellen ^^^

<--- This is with Alexandra.



I think overall I'm pretty even with growth, it's just more out in front with Kellen and I'm not gaining as much weight overall as I did with Alexandra.  However, with all the eating I'm doing, I'm sure I'll catch up sooner or later!! :)

Crazy - warning - this is a depressing post

I've finally reached 6 months and am starting to unravel.  For the past month I have experienced only the occasional mood swing - either laughing super hard until tears are streaming down my face, or crying uncontrollably over a very insignificant thing like spilling food on the floor.  Now, it's an every day challenge to overcome this feeling of …. well, I don't know what.

Yesterday I was extra tired because the night before Alexandra decided to get up every half hour from 1:30 am to 6:30 until we gave up and got up for the day.  Then she wouldn't nap.  I try to remain calm and follow through with my discipline. But after an hour and a half of repeatedly putting her back into bed for nap, I just had to leave. I had had enough. I went down to the basement to see if I could ride out my frustration on my bike. 5 minutes in, I was screaming into my hands while I knew Jacob was sleeping in our bed and A was doing God knows what.  I was shaking all over. Hyperventilating, even.   I knew if I saw my daughter I'd go ballistic, so I decided to wake Jacob and go for a walk.  I kept praying the endorphins from the exercise would kick in and I'd finally be able to shake the rage, the disappointment in myself, the feeling of never should I have ever become a mother - what was I thinking, and the sadness that I will have to wait another decade until I can do the things I really wanted to do in life like travel abroad with my husband.

I walked 2 miles.

I didn't feel better, but I had finished crying….for a while.

I still cannot kick this feeling that I am not meant to be a mother - I should be happier with the amazing family I have created.  And the weird thing is, I can honestly say I am happy with my family and I am glad we are expanding it.  So why am I crying?!  This is why I feel crazy.  Crazed - more accurately.  I feel possessed - like my normal brain is being held prisoner and my crazy grandmother is stepping in.  The other day I had a fight with Jacob and I had to walk away because I wanted to punch something.  And I did - the bedroom door. Hard. He didn't see it, thankfully.

Maybe it's because I'm not working. All I do is housework, run errands, watch A, and work my Jamberry business. And while those are all worthwhile, I feel unfulfilled and useless.

I really hope this does not continue after pregnancy and it's "normal" to feel totally out of control of your emotions.  I'd much rather be nauseated all day like I was with Alexandra than feel this way.  I don't want Jacob or A thinking it's their fault or I don't love them.  I love them very much. But I don't really want to go on Prozac to be able to convince them of that.

6 months!!

Hi everyone!  Here's a pic of the "bump" 6 months in. :) - correction - this was only 51/2 months! I'm jumping ahead of myself….uuhhhhgggg.  it was a harsh reality when I did the recalculations.

Hoping the rest of the pregnancy weight gain goes as slowly as the first 6 months!!

Happy Easter!!

Growing pains

Just as in the first pregnancy, I am now experiencing a perpetual groin pull on my right side. It started about 3 weeks ago when kicking the soccer ball with Alexandra (so nothing strenuous here, people) and has progressively gotten worse.  Ah the joys.  Rolling over has become painful unless done V.E.R.Y. slowly and while clenching my pelvic floor muscles as hard as possible.  I expect the pain to continue and spread to the left side in another month or so since that's what happened last time.  Walking is still tolerable, and actually seems to get a little better as I continue, and I am still able to ride my bike without pain.  This is a relief as those are my main outlets for cardio right now since I don't belong to a gym.  I tried a "booty barre" video yesterday - HOLY COW.  If you want to know just how weak your legs and butt are, I highly recommend it!! :)

You can definitely tell I'm pregnant now. I'm hitting 6 months on Friday (pics to follow)!! I cannot believe we'll have another baby in the house in 3 months. Oh. My. God.  Hoping that Alexandra doesn't go bat-shit crazy when he arrives.

Overall, though, I'm still feeling pretty good. I get fatigued easily, but that's probably due to me being so painfully out of shape in addition to being pregnant. :)  I am looking forward to the fall when I can start jogging with the little lad.  I might even sign up for a small race!  10k by November?  Probably unlikely. Hahaha.

Name That Baby

Well well well - we have decided on a NAME!! I am super stoked because this name came to me my first couple weeks of pregnancy while going in and out of sleep one night. It was as if God himself woke me up just so I could think of this name.  I've considered dozens of other names, but none really stuck. I had hoped Jacob would be on board with it, too, since I fell in love with it so early on.

Jacob doesn't really think about names until after we know the sex of the baby.  This makes logical sense. But he also doesn't think names are as important as the person the baby turns out to be.  The person makes the name, not the other way around.  This I also agree with, but I don't make decisions quickly, so I need time to mull things over.  It's like when I was 16 and thought I wanted a tattoo.  I had a design and hung it on my wall and told myself that if I still loved it in a year, I would get it.  I am glad I did that, because otherwise I'd have a tattoo of a Celtic knot in my mid back right now. 

So - here we go.  The name of our unborn son is:


KELLEN LEO SLIFE


Kellen is an Irish name (yay Irish!!) meaning : Mighty Warrior 
Leo is Jacob's grandfather's name.

We are so excited (ok - I'm THRILLED) about the name. I think it's pretty badass. :)  Hopefully he will be too. 

Other than that, I'm feeling pretty good. I hit 5 months on April 1st and should be heading back to the midwives in a week or two. I am also feeling lots of movement these days which is fun.  

More to come!

20 weeks!

As promised, here are my half-way bump pics.  :-)

1. Here I'm tightening my upper abs so you can see better where the actual bump is:

2. This is me relaxed.   Just looking thick.

3. And my sassy 3/4 shot.  Trying to work it out. ;)

The verdict is in!

Today was FINALLY my anatomy scan ultrasound.  As you have read, I had a sneaking suspicion that this babe would be a boy.  And I was RIGHT!  I was so happy and relieved, too, to discover that he had 10 fingers and 10 toes, everything looks healthy and intact and forming as it should.  No abnormalities detected! Phew.  

It may be the hormones, but as I was driving away from the appointment a wave of emotion came over me and I cried tears of happiness.  I am stoked to be having a boy, and also (this is more the reason, I think) so grateful he looks healthy.  I am always so nervous leading up to this point because there's really nothing else shown to you that tells you the baby is fine.  A deformed child can have a normal heart rate and move around, you know?  I also was wishing Jacob was able to be there to see him moving around. It is so cool.

So, as promised, here are some pictures of the little bugger.  Enjoy!

4 Months!

We made it to the 4 month mark - 18 weeks in.  I saw my new midwife yesterday and she did the usual measure and listen to the baby's heart rate. All seems well.  I have to now schedule my next ultrasound which hopefully will be in the next 2 weeks.  At that time we will FINALLY find out what the sex is - assuming the baby is cooperative and shows its goods.

Any bets on what it will be?

Any name suggestions?

Here's my first pic of the bump.  I look smaller than I am in this one, trust me - it's bad lighting and I'm sort of tightening my stomach.

A boring update. :)

This week I close out my 16th week. The nausea is finally gone - and has been since just before our big move out to VA, thank goodness. The only time I feel sick is if I eat too much throughout the day and am tired.  Over the past month I have been super busy packing, moving, and now unpacking, so I still am not exercising regularly. However, our new place has 2 large flights of stairs that I must go up and down at least 10-20 times per day.  I am starting to feel more pregnant that just in that awkward fat stage. Overall, I don't think I've gained more than 10 pounds!! This is great! (I think that mostly has to do with the fact that I'm eating normally and not all day long, like I had to with Alexandra.)

I have felt the bugger kick a few times, but it still is very infrequent that I feel any movement.  I am still trying to secure a new doctor out here, too. Hopefully I'll have another US soon so we can find out the sex. I haven't had any dreams this time, but my feeling is BOY. So I've been having some fun looking at boy names. :)

More to come - hopefully with US pics!!

Let the body analyzing begin!

So, just out of curiosity, I went to my first blog to see pictures of what I looked like around this time in my first pregnancy.  Man, it's a vast difference.  First of all, I was in really REALLY good shape to start with before Alexandra. This time - not so much. I was also able to exercise pretty well the whole first trimester with Alexandra. This time - I'm lucky if I got in 1-2 workouts a week due to my overwhelming nausea.  Ok, with that said, I look now like I looked like at 18 weeks back then. Wah-waaaaahhhhhh. :-/  

The good news is that the past two days have been substantially more tolerable and I'm hoping it's going to stay that way. And today (this is exciting, y'all) I had my first NORMAL BM in 7 weeks!! Hooray!  I also was able to eat a bowl of cereal and drink a latte for the first time in 7 weeks (milk has not been kind to me), but it still made me feel a little icky afterwards.  I don't want to get my hopes up that my second trimester will be kind to me…but I sort of have already. 

In two days I return for another check up. I'll hear the heartbeat and learn how much weight I've gained in the past month. I'm guessing I went from 137 to 145 at least.  

More to come…and yes, I'll post a picture or two soon. :)  Mostly I just look soft and flabby. No real baby bump yet.

Still preg-a-rito

There's really not much new to report except that today marks week 12 of this pregnancy and I am still rocking the nausea and constipation. Admittedly, it's gotten more tolerable - meaning I actually have maybe 1-2 days a week where I can almost forget I'm pregnant, at least for most of the day. However, by the end of the day, after eating 3 full meals and snacking in between, I'm usually laid out on the couch or in bed wishing for the sleep gods to take me away.  They told me last time that nausea stops around week 12-13 usually - and it didn't. But I'm seriously praying that this time it does.  

Unlike the first pregnancy, I have had no actual cravings. Instead, I really just want to eat all the foods you are not supposed to:  pizza, burgers, fried foods, soda…etc.  When I try to be good and eat vegetables, I always end up worse off.  It's a wonder that I haven't gained 20 pounds already!!  

With this impending move in the next few weeks, I truly hope my nausea subsides enough so I can pack without having to rest every hour to gobble down Buttermilk Ranch Pretzel Bits.  

Overall, though, I could have it MUCH worse. My friend, Lindsey, who is about 4 months along, is having excruciating pain from a fibroid cyst that's growing along with her baby.  So, I will count my blessings, for sure!!  

That's a first

So, with this pregnancy I have been blessed with even more nausea than the first.  Last Tuesday I came down with a head cold and proceeded to feel even worse from swallowing so much phlegm. Then, the vomiting started Wednesday and Thursday nights. Meanwhile, I've been taking Zofran to try to quell my nausea, but it does not seem to help. What is DOES do is constipate the living hell out of me. I think I was getting even more nauseated because the food in my body had backed up to my stomach, literally. In two weeks I think I pooped about as much as I would have in a normal 1 1/2 days. SO, I began to research different ways to empty myself out and get my GI tract pumping again.  I stopped taking Zofran. Then I gave myself an enema. Yep. That's right. That's how desperate I was. It was a first for me and I was scared, but oh my god I felt so much better after.  But there was still all the other poop left in my small and large intestines that needed some coaxing into the good old rectum. So that's when I started with my Smooth Move tea and taking PruneLax at night. By night two my guts were gurgling good and cramping with style. And BAM - the following morning I was cleaned out! My stomach looked normal again and I could eat without wanting to vomit. What an adventure. I'm still off the Zofran - I've traded more nausea for more bowel movements. Thank goodness I only have 2 more days of work, because I basically want to vomit on my patients all day long.

I don't think I've ever thought this much about poop.

Week 9 Ultrasound

Today marks week 9 of my pregnancy and this little parasite is slowly sucking the life from me. No, I'm happy to be having so much nausea and vomiting only because it gives me reassurance that everything is going well. And, today at my first ultrasound appointment, that was confirmed. Everything is looking as it should, and the little bean is snug as a bug in a rug.  I'm hoping to God that this continuous sense of impending barfing passes sooner rather than later, however.  Jacob is so patient and supportive as I lay on the couch and avoid moving as much as possible. He's the best husband ever.

I had a feeling about Alexandra that she was a girl, and I have a feeling this one is a boy. We shall see...