Pregnancy Update

I had good intentions of being more on top of blogging this pregnancy but I am not sure how it is already August. :) I am 19 weeks at this point and almost halfway done. I am told that this is the most comfortable time of pregnancy in the second trimester for a lot of people. I'm not sure that is totally true for everyone though.

I can honestly say I didn't think I would be battling morning sickness this far along. It started about 6 weeks when I went to the doctor and weighed 128 pounds. Since then I have tried everything I have ever heard mentioned or can think of. (Phenergan, B6 and Unisom, Zofran, crackers in the morning, eating small meals every 2 hours, not drinking until 1/2 hour after meals, preggy pops, changing vitamins, natural oils, peppermint, avoiding heavy foods, sleep, protein shakes, protein/granola bars, milkshakes, etc.) At 17 weeks I dropped to my lowest weight at 115 pounds. Later that week at my appointment they ended up keeping me there that day for IV fluids and Zofran. The doctor seemed pretty worried so they took blood and urine samples to send for testing just to see if anything significant showed up. I had to come back again last week for a check up. The doctor seemed somewhat relieved that I was more hydrated and had actually gained 1.5 pounds. (I know that seems stupid to be excited about 1.5 pounds but I was relieved as well.)

He also said I probably have hyperemesis gravidum which in simple terms means excessive morning sickness. (surprise, surprise). Apparently there is a genetic component to it which makes sense now knowing both my grandmas had pretty bad morning sickness and one lost over 30 pounds during a pregnancy. I have a couple of nursing friends that had it as well and needed hospitalization with long term IV fluids and tube feedings to gain weight. With my last appointment I was afraid we were at that point, but he said I just needed to keep gaining weight and they would monitor me closely over the next few weeks. (no pressure, right?)

I did find a couple of articles about Hyperemesis that were pretty helpful though. One of them had some funny cartoons and stories which interestingly enough doesn't help with the medical aspect of things but makes me feel a little better. Here is my favorite one for this week.

Actually, I just LOVE vomiting!

Some women are lucky; they don’t get morning sickness. There are some that have a little less luck; they get some morning sickness. Then there are the rest of us, the women with weeks of nonstop vomiting.

All that nonstop vomiting has a name: Hyperemesis. I have a feeling that hyperemesis is Latin for “Poor woman that vomits everything in sight.”

Since hyperemesis isn’t that well known, most people tend to ask questions such as “have you tried crackers?” or “I hear that ginger works.”

For many women, the only thing that works is having an 8-pound baby shoot out of her.

I know that people are trying to be helpful, but it is really hard not to go postal on someone offering “advice,” especially if you spent the night before in the emergency room, getting IV fluids for dehydration.

I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to say “Crackers? Really? That’s all it takes? Eating a few stinking crackers? I’ve been vomiting for five months straight and all I needed to do was eat a stinking cracker?”

We also took some "belly shots" this weekend while Skyler was home. Although I don't look very big it makes me feel better seeing something when I look at the pictures.

I do appreciate all the prayers in our behalf these last couple of weeks and I know it has helped. Hopefully in a couple of months I'll have a full size little one to show for my efforts over the last couple of weeks. :)