Thursday, May 25, 2006

a million thank yous!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Your messages were so sweet! They made me cry. But everything makes me cry these days. I cried on Sunday because the restaurant got my eggs wrong. Then I cried when the manager apologized. I also cried at work last week- in front of a senior associate. I can't wait until I am actually public at work, so that people will know that I'm not a freak, it's just the hormones. I also cry watching tv, in the car, walking on the street, and any time anyone does anything nice or not nice for me. It is slightly alarming, but I'm starting to get used to it.

Kathy R hit it on the nose with the due date.

Our Jewish baby is due on December 25th. I've been throwing around names like Baby Jesus, or Maria, or Holly, or Noel, but so far my Jewish in-laws haven't jumped on those options. I'm not sure why...

Between the bouts of nausea and vomiting under my desk at work, I walk around practically giddy with the news. We are so very happy and excited, it has been impossible to keep a secret. Josh has no patience and we regularly argue over who he can and cannot tell, with me holding onto the losing end of the battle.

The first few days after we'd found out, I could hardly believe it was true. I ran to the bathroom every 20 minutes, convinced that I was getting my period. But not long after, I was hit like a truck with the many symptoms. Nausea, migraines, acne, boobs like a stripper, bloating, constipation, hemorrhoids, sciatica, and vomiting. At this point, I am eating constantly to keep the nausea at bay, and the only thing I can keep down is chicken. That kind of throws off the whole vegetarian lifestyle I've been living since July, but substitutions won't cut it. Tofu, soy protein shakes, carbohydrates and vegetables are unacceptable. Meat is good. At this point, I'll do anything to keep myself from getting sick at work, so meat it is.

I have to admit, I think all of you held out on me. When I said I was thinking baby, I got nothing but positive reports. Where were the descriptions of the constipation? What about lying on the floor of your office crying and willing the nausea away? I thought you were my friends.

Regardless, I'm ecstatic beyond words. I'll take every symptom and be grateful for it. I'm just so stinking happy.

31 comments:

Phantom Scribbler said...

I sympathize on the chicken front. When I was pregnant with Baby Blue I craaaaaaaaved chicken and turkey. I didn't eat it, because someone (my sister, probably) warned me that I'd get really sick if I ate meat again after going without for so long. But I really, really wanted to eat it.

I hope the first-trimester symptoms let up soon!

Piece of Work said...

Aw, HL, if we told what hell it could be, you'd NEVER have done it! The only thing I could stomach for the first 20 weeks of Isaac's pregnancy was ice cream. Seriously, Breyers Vanilla ice cream. All day long. I'm not sure, but there may be a correlation between this and the fact that Isaac is now allergic to dairy. Sigh.
Anyway, hope you feel better soon! I'm really excited for you.

cookallaros said...

Oh, HL!!! I am so thrilled for you! What wonderful new. The arrival of our own little blob has kept me from reading, let alone commenting, on many blogs lately; but something you'd said earlier made me wonder if you might be expecting... Big, big congrats to you and Josh. Do the furkids know what's coming?!?

Anonymous said...

Two words for you: dried apricots. As effective as prunes, without being so icky. If you prefer sweet to tart, get the Mediterranean ones, because the California ones are very tart.

Oh, and ice water and popsicles made my tummy feel somewhat better, for whatever that's worth.

I know it sounds weird, but enjoy it all. It's so exciting!

mamatulip said...

I'm so happy for you! I'm sorry you're sick -- I was sick to the point of hospitalization with both Julia and Oliver -- but the sicker you are, the healthier that little baby is inside of you. :)

Mint really helps with nausea and so does Red Raspberry Leaf tea. Well...it helped me, anyway.

I hear you on the crying -- I wasn't so bad with Oliver but with Julia, I cried at the drop of a hat. Like, I'd see a leaf blowing in the wind and burst into tears. No, really.

halloweenlover said...

I'm laughing, because that is basically how it is. I cry at the drop of a hat, for no apparent reason!

Also, did water make anyone else sick? I'm having a hard time drinking it, and juice all day isn't going to cut it. Nighttime is the worst time of the day, and Josh thinks it might be because I am dehydrated, but water makes me ill!

Maribeth said...

My daughter was born Dec. 20th. She has never quite forgiven me. Lousy time of year for a kid to have a party! But she was my best Christmas present!

purple_kangaroo said...

Hey, maybe your baby will be born on my birthday (the 22nd).

Sorry about the morning sickness. It wasn't all that bad for me. And every one of my pregnancies was different.

Robin said...

I never had morning sickness....sorry. When I felt nauseous,I ate one cracker and the feeling passed.

I did have some food issues though. I constantly craved chives,root beer and bubble gum. After crying in a restaurant because they didn't have chives for my sour cream that I wanted to put on my potato skins,I learned to carry a shaker of chives wherever I went.

I also asked if the restaurant carried rootbeer before we were seated because I walked out of one restaurant after we were seated and Rich was embarrassed.

A Jewish baby born on Dec 25th....well,since Jesus was Jewish I guess it's appropriate,right?

My advice for a name is this: choose something that you love to say because you'll be saying it A LOT!!!!!

Phantom Scribbler said...

Yeah, I had the water-nauseau thing. Decaf tea and coffee with lots of milk kept me from dehydration in one pregnancy. Made me nauseous in the other one, though. Fun!

Liz Miller said...

I never got constipated or hemorroids and I always had the stripper boobs - they just got more so! But boy howdy, water made me nauseous. Try putting some sugar or lemon in the water or warming it up slightly. Peppermint tea and sleepy time tea both worked for me. Also, try candied ginger to help with the queasiness.

Poultry was the one thing I couldn't stomach my whole pregnancy.

This phase does pass.

nancy said...

OK so reading that made ME cry! (in a very good way)

Anonymous said...

Well, first babies can be late, so maybe you'll have a New Year's Eve baby! A party on his/her birthday every year!

Sorry about the pregnancy suckitude. I wanted to have one of those pregnancies where I could eat like Jabba the Hut, but sadly the smell of food made me sick to my stomach. I also drank a lot of juice. Try watering it down.

Congratulations, again! Can't wait to see Murray and Tango's little brother or sister.

ccw said...

Did you turn a blind eye to my blog when I wrote about the bad parts? I posted about constipation frequently. The bright side to being unabe to go to the bathroom is that Phantom will give you awards! LOL!

Hang in there, it should get better (for a while anyway) in a few weeks.

So that you can't say "we" didn't warn you: heartburn. It will come and it will be awful. Stock up on Tums now.

Unknown said...

This is very exciting! I'm happy to hear your wonderful news.

KLee said...

I think most of us glossed over the "bad" parts of pregnancy because one look at your beloved baby wipes all those bad memories out completely.

I know when I was pregnant with Offspring, I craved white foods -- rice, milk, vanilla ice cream, pina colada smoothies.... I don't know why. When I was feeling sick, I would drink ginger ale. Ginger is a natural nausea cure, and ginger ale will help both the nausea AND the dehyration.

As far as drinking all that water -- look for the water supplements. I bought about five boxes of this stuff that you add to water -- it's sugar-free, calorie-free, and it tastes great. It's called "Fullfill" (but I can't find it on the web -- I'll do a little searching for it....)I bought it at Wal-Mart in lots of flavors: Black Cherry, Lemonade, Mixed Berry, Strawberry Kiwi, and Grape. You might want to look into that, if your doc will allow you to have all that artificial sweetner.

mamatulip said...

I was so sick in the beginning of both of my pregnancies that anything liquid made me sick. I got by on tiny sips of flat gingerale and orange pop. Just drink what you can until this has passed...hang in!

Table4Five said...

I had to drink water at room temperature because I couldn't stand it cold-weird, huh? And oh my word the cravings I had for meat! I wanted hamburgers and shrimp and crab and fried clams all the time!

Yes to the crying, especially with the last baby. I would stand in the kitchen doing dishes and sobbing into the dishwater. The only good thing is that crying is a stress reliever and somewhat cathartic.

Second son's birthday is December 21-Christmas present and a tax deduction too!

Anonymous said...

No advice, just congratulations!

Rev Dr Mom said...

I missed the news until I caught it in the Wednesday whining, but congratulations again. And I second the suggestion about gingerale.

OneTiredEma said...

Congrats! And ditto to the suggestion to room temp water instead of cold...at least try to water down juice. I had insatiable juice cravings with #2; I drank "spritzers" (2/3 seltzer, 1/3 juice) all day long.

For the nausea, have you tried ginger "tea"? Grated raw ginger steeped (5-10 min) in boiling water. It takes some getting used to, but it always helps settle my stomach.

Joke said...

I'm a husband. All I know how to do is make food offerings to the mom-to-be and get the Hell out of the way and look apologetic.

-J.

Anonymous said...

Aww, I know the hormones are so frustrating, but it's touching that you're getting so choked up by everything. I am so happy for you!

KLee said...

Those water supplements that I was telling you about? They are made by Sturm Foods (www.sturmfoods.com) though their website doesn't show a picture of the "FulFill" box. Each little individual packet (there are 10 per box) goes in a 19.6 bottle of water, and is calorie-frre and carbohydrate-free, if you're still looking for another way to take in water. They're marketed as a "vitamin-enhanced fitness drink mix." Each serving has 10% of your daily allotment of vitamins b12, C, and E; and 25% of your B6, Niacin, and Pantothenic acid.

If you want to try them, but are having trouble with really sweet stuff, I suggest you dissolve a packet in about 25 - 30 ounces of water, as they are fairly sweet. Hope they help you, if you decide to try them! Give Baby a rub from all her Internet Aunties! :)

blackbird said...

Oh!
I am so happy to read your news!

try some ginger capsules from the health food store for your tummy...

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry to hear about all of your miserable symptoms, but am so happy for you for the reason behind them! Hopefully you will feel much better in the second trimester.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Darling, I am so sorry you have the trial by fire edition of pregnancy ... but, ummm, well, it is a rite of passage. If we told you the ugly truth would you be so willing to jump in with both feet? (Laughing so hard here.) I had the all day long edition of morning sickness that never went away and I had car sickness on top of it when we went anywhere that required a moving vehicle. I promise you this, it is worth every miserable second of it.

Try having some watermelon in the mid-morning and evening. It will help the sickness a little because it is as close to glucose as you can get. Also it will help keep you hydrated.

My Gracie was due on Christmas but I opted to be induced the week before so I wouldn't be in the hospital and would be home with my other child for the holiday.

Anonymous said...

can't wait to have lunch again so I can check out your jugs.

Oh, and I haven't read the commetns - so dont know if anyone pointed this out - but you know you are so totally Phoebe (from Friends), right? And all she could eat was meat so Joey went vegetarian to offset her consumption of the holy meat product.

Anonymous said...

sorry, I meant "your melons".

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

i just had to comment again cuz i'm so stinkin' excited for you. :)
i can totally understand about eating meat cuz i'm doing it myself (now that i'm pregnant) even tho i was a veggie for the past several months. i think your body knows what it needs and will let you know.
hope the nausea lets up soon. that part is no fun, but it's also nice to have the reassurance that things are on track w/ your wee one.

i had a really hard time drinking water while pg w/ Ava, but i warn you against drinking lots of juice. that is what i turned to and i gained more weight than i should have. doh. you might try tea or just putting lemon in your water. i found that flavoring it a bit helped a lot.

Jane Dark said...

Oh, congrats, Halloweenlover! I'd fallen behind on my reading while in Rome, but this is wonderful news.