Half-Way

Monday marked my twentieth-week of pregnancy.

This was my first thought: “Yes, I’m half way there!”

This was my second thought: “That’s all? Hmmm….it seems like I should be farther along than that. Did I do the math right?”

But, yes, the math was done correctly, and despite already feeling like I’ve been pregnant forever, I’m only half-way there.

For documentation purposes and so my son will know how much suffering I endured to bring him into the world, this is what it’s been like so far:

FIRST TRIMESTER: Very Hard!

Gagging – Thankfully I never ‘got sick’ (aka vomited, but I hate that word). However, I gagged at the smell of most foods, when I walked into the grocery store, with every diaper change, and at most food commercials. There were many times I had to abandon Sadie’s diaper change to get fresh air before I could finish the job. A credit to her: she was rather patient with my strange behavior and gagging rituals.

Hungry – but, never able to eat. Every other day I would beg Ben to bring me a take-out meal from a restaurant, but other than that heavenly meal the only foods I could gag down were saltines and cereal. It was a very expensive first-trimester 🙂 Interesting fact: I did finally get down to my original pre-pregnancy weight but not until I was pregnant with the second; I actually 5 lbs. during that first trimester. Which leads me to my next complaint:

Tired & Weak – Literally, I had to sit down in the middle of my showers to rest because I was so exhausted. I slept 12 – 14 hours each day, but it never felt like enough. The smallest task took enormous effort and a rather lengthy mental pep-talk to achieve. Many days the only times I pealed myself off the sofa was to feed Sadie and put her down for a nap.

Constantly Dizzy – It was so appropriate that I passed out on the day I found out I was pregnant because the entire first trimester was like that. Every time I went from a sitting to standing position I would black-out, and if I stood for too long I could start to feel the blood draining from my head after 10 minutes and knew my time was limited if I didn’t find a seat quickly. That’s an awful feeling.

Cautious – There were three ‘incidences’ where I thought I had miscarried. It was very worrisome! I was hesitant to announce the pregnancy because I was worried (even up until 14 weeks) that I wasn’t going to make it. But, we would go to the doctor’s each time it happened and they would show us the little beating heart on the Doppler and kept telling us ‘everything looks good’. What a happy relief!

SECOND TRIMESTER: Lovely!

Thankfully, I’m feeling extremely healthy now. Almost too good! I still notice I need more sleep and I do occasionally gag during some traumatic diaper changes, but almost all other discomforts have subsided 🙂 Sadie and I are going on our daily walks again, my passionate love of food has returned, my head no longer spins during altitude changes, and I’m much more productive. Hopefully, the good feelings will continue!!

I will admit though, despite all the complaining, the discomfort is definitely worth the end result!