It’s impossible to not compare this pregnancy with my pregnancy with W. However, nothing is the same.
With W I felt nauseous maybe 3 times total. I remember all 3 times being resolved by eating. I never upchucked once. I was casually tired with W but never really got to the ZOMG MUST NAP ASAP.
My skin, oh my skin!! Before I got pregnant with W it was awful. Seriously and tragically awful. About a week after my 3rd beta with W my skin transformed into smooth alabaster wonderfulness.
So let’s talk about the state of things with this pregnancy:
1. I have felt queasy for 7 weeks. 5 weeks ago the ralphing started. There is rarely much notice. It begins with a feeling. Sometimes I can talk the feeling into submission. When I can’t I start coughing. Once the coughing begins I have a nano second to find a receptacle.
I am helped by eating a tiny bit every hour. The B6/ unisom combo has also helped. I went from daily ralphing to about every other day. I think heartburn is contributing to some of this too.
2. I get smacked upside the head with The Tired. It is as if I have been drugged. The Tired drags me down to slow motion.
3. My skin is starting to get crappy. Just a few splotches here and there, but enough to let me know this is how it is going to be.
4. I was probably irritable when I was carrying W. But lately I go from zero to cartoonish blow ups. This is seriously not good as W is going through lots of boundary testing and the last thing either of us needs is for BOTH of us to be firecracking.
I stuck my toe in to some message boards with people due around the same time as me and then I got the fuck out of dodge. I walked into a thread of people showing off their “baby bumps” because DUDE! When you are having your 2nd (or beyond) child you totes show super early.
My reaction to looking at post after post of “bumps” was to chuckle.
With W I maybe kinda sorta looked like I was pregnant around 6 months – but it was certainly still in the “could be freetos” zone. Only around 8 months did things look obvious.
I seem to be carrying Tartan much lower than I carried W. And by lower I mean that I am carrying all in my ass. It doesn’t help that I have a rear full of bruises from daily progesterone shots (LAST ONE IS TOMORROW MORNING!!) so I am always aware of my hind region.
All of this aside, I am not complaining. Honestly. I would walk on my pinkies on hot nails in a cilantro field if I had to.
We will just call this an observational post.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Try having peppermint to smell handy when the Ralph urge comes. It helped me a lot. I had a mesh wallet and I dropped some altoids in there and when I needed it I inhaled.
10 weeks!! Hope you enjoy that last progesterone shot!
You are having a girl. You heard it here first
I hope you feel better soon!
Lol, laughing at that cilantro part. I hope the sick part goes away soon but I’m very happy for you.
Hey, we’re here and listening! Very smart to stay away from certain boards or folks primed to set you off like a firecracker. Good luck with your final shot and hope your touch feels better soon, Liz
I am sorry you are sick and tired. It is harder with the 2nd because with the first your focus was on OMG I am pregnant and with the 2nd your focus is OMG does this kid who is already here ever sit still.
Much Love and a little squee for making it to the last progesterone shot.
If the tired and the queasy are interfering with your life and parenting, then you may want to ask for meds. I know, I sound pushy, but honestly, this sounds a lot like the way I felt the first 11 weeks of my pregnancy, until I landed in the ER for dehydration and excessive vomiting. There were no over the counter remedies or old wives tricks that worked on my nausea. Z0fr@n (or the generic) were the only thing that helped. I also took Z@nt@c for my heartburn. If you do end up getting the script for the zofr@n, you might find this blog post helpful. http://1invermillion.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/let-your-fingers-do-the-walking/
Yay for the last ass injection!!
Yeah, I also read this and thought “Tartan’s a girl”. Heh. Then again, I hear that every pregnancy is different, and your third can be totally different from your first or second, so it’s really no predictor.
Love you.
Tartan is making his/her (probably her) presence known for sure!
I also thought..oooh she’s having a girl!
I kept a jar of peanut butter ON MY PERSON for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Even in bed. the little boost of protein kept the queasies at bay. And i probably at a spoonful at least hourly.
HA! I am actually being driven to eat my peanut butter spoonsful in a closet because that is one of 1,002.34 ‘smells’ that set off her nausea! I just do not understand
Did you have progesterone with G? I took it orally for the first 12 weeks and it knocked me on my ass with the tired, too. That went away when I stopped the supplements.
G?
W. Obvs.
Besides the obvious (being pregnant), isn’t Unisom a sleep aid? I’ve heard that it can be really helpful for nausea, but it would make sense that it would also make you tired.
I was *convinced* my 2nd (FET) was a girl because my pregnancy was so different than with my first (fresh IVF). Nope. Boy. You never know! That said, one of my best friends *knew* the gender of her babies every single time.
Lemon oil! Dab a little on a tissue and sniff it all day. This is coming from a lady who was nauseaus (god I can NEVER spell that word right) for almost 9 months straight. I heaved at least twice a day for months on end. It makes you crazy. Zofran helped a little, but is SUPER expensive. I have some left over if you are interested. Oh, yeah, and it’s a girl! ; )
I was sick and tired for all 9 months too. Never for a moment was I not grateful and happy to be pregnant but that didn’t stop me from occasionally curling up on the floor of the shower and wishing I could just sleep there for the next 7 months. Water with lemon juice or weak tea with lots of lemon helped (in that it helped whatever came up to taste lemon-y) and so did small, frequent meals. And the seasickness bands that you can wear on your wrists I have heard help too. Mostly I just took a lot, a lot of naps and kept a barf bag handy at all times.
I just happened by to see what was happening and came across this post. CONGRATULATIONS! The nausea sounds awful… but you know how the memory fades. I’m so happy for you!
It’s doesn’t sound like complaining, it’s honest. Not to mention I like hearing it because right now I am living vicariously through you.
My pregnancies could not have been more different.
But in the end, my RE was right in predicting I was having a boy due to lack of symptoms (yeah, she had a 50% chance of being right!)
Cilantro sucks. (Me too.)
I hope you feel better soon. Miss you!
It helped me to suck on sour candy. And ginger snaps.
)
For your face: 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 of baking soda. Add enough water (not much) to make a paste for your face. It will scrub off some of the excess buildup. It will make you look *glowing* even if you’re not feeling it.
I was nauseous all day and tossing my cookies multiple times a day both times. The only that helped was evicting the kids. If you suspect heartburn then zantac or prilosec will change your life. It reduced the actual puking for me. If you end up with zofran I also have a full bottle that is all yours. I hate to waste expensive drugs if someone could use them. I have lots of left over prilosec too.
I hope you start to feel better soon
just de-lurking here to introduce myself. i had an FET around the same time you did (10 weeks today) and i had my last progesterone shot last night. i am SO relieved the shots are over. i’m also feeling worse this pregnancy but i’m really hoping that it’s the extra hormones we’re on and that it will start tapering off now. a belated congrats on Tartan and i’m looking forward to reading along during our shared journey!
To the person who said you’re having a girl…. of course she is but not because of any of the symptoms or other old wives tales. She’s having a girl because who ever heard of a boy called Tartan? That would just be silly.
I puked for nine months non-stop. Ginger helped. So did the smell of citrus. I usually carried orange peels in the my pocket as well as ginger gum.
I bet your pockets smelled wonderful
Hope it subsides soon! I can SOOO relate to “With W I maybe kinda sorta looked like I was pregnant around 6 months – but it was certainly still in the “could be freetos” zone. Only around 8 months did things look obvious.” That was me with Adam and I cried because I thought I would never really look pregnant and people would never know! lololol!!!
HOORAY for PIO shots being almost over! Whatever you do, don’t lean back on your kitchen counters! OUCHIMAMMA! Well, you are considerably taller than I am, so that probably isn’t an issue!!
Keep at it Tartan! We love you!
Keep at the growing, that is, not making your Momma sick!!!
Great post! You make me laugh!!!!
Sounds like you might be carrying a girl. You basically described my first and second pregnancies. Boy then girl. Good luck! I couldn’t take the B6 but unisom definitely helped, so did whatever the doctor prescribed me.
It’s a girl and she’s high maintenance. Congratulations. Better start buying nail polish and glittery Converse now
Zofran was the only way I survived my first trimester without living over the toilet. The unisom / B6 thing didn’t cut it. And I did the coughing thing with my first. Sucks because you know it’s gonna happen and there is nothing you can do