I have a new religion and it is Zofran! Okay, perhaps not religion, but I really do appreciate it. I have now had four days in a row nausea free - and I'm starting to feel ready for the happiness that has to hit me at some point. Right?
Sadly, the rest of my life still seems to be overshadowing the happy feelings I'm waiting for - Alexandra has been under the weather for the past week and last night spiked a high fever. Her flu test today came back negative, but with such a high rate of false negatives, we're treating it like the flu still. Between what feels like her constant illness and my preoccupation with both finding a job as well as school, half the time, I forget I'm pregnant.
Let me just point out that the last time I did this, I didn't have an Alexandra in my life yet. It seemed like everything revolved around the pregnancy. This time, not so much. I've read repeatedly that this is normal. After all, imagine if she was just a toddler or preschooler and I was running around after her - I'd never remember the little sweetpea growing inside.
So where do we stand today? I'm about to embark on the last week of the first trimester. On Thursday, I get to go spend some quality time with my doctor's office - and this time *gasp* I may even get to meet the doctor himself. I've really liked the nurse and LPN I've met with so far - don't get me wrong - but it'd be nice if when I told people my OB is Dr. Walker, I actually knew who the guy is. :)
I'm hoping Alex will kick this most recent flare up and be back to school on Monday. I'm also hoping my morning sickness and post nasal drip will lighten up soon so I don't have to be on so many pills each day. Finally, as I'm looking at week 11, I'm hoping for an ultrasound at this appointment - and so pictures to follow.
For now, Alexandra and I are drinking lots of liquids (water for her, OJ for me) and resting up over the weekend.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Oops - I think I killed a rabbit...
I'm sure this post won't come as a surprise to most of you - even facebook's target ads have figured me out. However, since I've yet to make the announcement "official," I suppose I might as well now.
I'm finishing up month two of Kylie's pregnancy, take 2.
Realizations I've come to this time around:
1) I'm not entirely sure motherhood is worth the morning sickness. In nine weeks, I've lost almost 20 pounds - translation: I can't eat or drink without it revisiting me soon after. This has led to Kylie not eating much at all other than citrus. If I continue losing at this rate and continue being sick as long as I was when I was pregnant with Alex, I will lose around fifty pounds the first half of this pregnancy. Hell of a diet.
2) I'm in no way enamored with other pregnant women or babies. I'm pretty sure I was cooing over babies when I was pregnant with Alex - now babies trigger yet another bout of nausea.
3) Alexandra is going to be nine years old when this one is born. That also means that I'm going to be nine years older this go around. This may be a significant contributing factor to my lack of enthusiasm over babies.
4) I haven't changed a diaper in years. I guess I'm going to have to break my streak.
5) All this training I've spent to make Alex self sufficient so that I can sleep in on the weekend will be for naught. Damn.
6) I'm going to have issues with babyproofing and scrapbooking supplies.
Of course, I'm finding myself constantly preoccupied with baby names and stroller types - and I will begrudgingly admit that I grinned quite a bit when I heard the heartbeat on the first ultrasound. So, for now I will shrug my shoulders and attempt to remember the good parts of being pregnant.
The answers, by the way, to the requisite questions - I'm too nauseous to be excited, thanks; I don't know what it is yet, but yes, I will find out (I can't stand secrets or surprises); the due date is May 10 (first day of finals next semester - yeah, that'll be an adventure!).
I'm finishing up month two of Kylie's pregnancy, take 2.
Realizations I've come to this time around:
1) I'm not entirely sure motherhood is worth the morning sickness. In nine weeks, I've lost almost 20 pounds - translation: I can't eat or drink without it revisiting me soon after. This has led to Kylie not eating much at all other than citrus. If I continue losing at this rate and continue being sick as long as I was when I was pregnant with Alex, I will lose around fifty pounds the first half of this pregnancy. Hell of a diet.
2) I'm in no way enamored with other pregnant women or babies. I'm pretty sure I was cooing over babies when I was pregnant with Alex - now babies trigger yet another bout of nausea.
3) Alexandra is going to be nine years old when this one is born. That also means that I'm going to be nine years older this go around. This may be a significant contributing factor to my lack of enthusiasm over babies.
4) I haven't changed a diaper in years. I guess I'm going to have to break my streak.
5) All this training I've spent to make Alex self sufficient so that I can sleep in on the weekend will be for naught. Damn.
6) I'm going to have issues with babyproofing and scrapbooking supplies.
Of course, I'm finding myself constantly preoccupied with baby names and stroller types - and I will begrudgingly admit that I grinned quite a bit when I heard the heartbeat on the first ultrasound. So, for now I will shrug my shoulders and attempt to remember the good parts of being pregnant.
The answers, by the way, to the requisite questions - I'm too nauseous to be excited, thanks; I don't know what it is yet, but yes, I will find out (I can't stand secrets or surprises); the due date is May 10 (first day of finals next semester - yeah, that'll be an adventure!).
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Chaise
As I look ahead towards moving from southern Illinois, I'm taking stock f my possessions, of what I want to keep and what I will purge. Of all my belongings, there are relatively few that I adamantly hold on to. One of them - the biggest of all - is the chaise lounge. It's seen better days, to be sure - and at this point is in desperate need of re-upholstery - but it is one of my most valued possessions.
I can remember, as a child, visiting my grandmother's house and getting to spend the week sleeping on the chaise lounge in her living room. Perhaps part of the lure of sleeping there was not having to navigate the tremendously steep staircase that led to the guest bedrooms upstairs. Perhaps the lure was also in part to the fact that there was a television in that room - a television I could watch after everyone else was in bed. I can remember arguing that it was the most comfortable place in the house to sleep.
Years later, after my grandmother had passed away, I went up to check on the house - which my father and uncles were in the process of trying to sell furnished. While up there, I discovered that no one had laid claim to the chaise lounge - that it was to be included in the "furnishings." When I returned at the end of that weekend, it was with the chaise lounge in tow. I couldn't, after all, let it go with the house. It was the most comfortable place to sleep.
I let a friend borrow it for a couple of years, getting it back around the time I was pregnant with Alexandra, I think. The chaise then lived at my parents' house - staying there when I moved to Meriden and still there when I moved back in with my father after my mother's death. I can remember napping there during those exhausting first months of my pregnancy with Alex. After she was born, it was also my preferred resting place. The heat wave that hit Connecticut soon after she was born kept both of us in the living room at night, to avoid the stifling heat upstairs, her in a travel bassinet and me on the chaise lounge.
When we moved to Illinois, the chaise came with us. Often it has acted as the dumping spot for our bags and coats when we walked in the door. But whenever Alex or I have been sick or feeling out of sorts, the chaise has been cleared and we have gravitated towards it.
Last year, when we moved outside of Carbondale, I attempted to divide the large living room into sections - half of it with couches and television, a corner with books and a desk, and another, quieter, corner that was my idealized reading area. The chaise was placed in the last area, the quiet corner. After all, it was too far away from the television to be a good viewing seat. It was tucked away, comfy and cozy - a perfect reading spot.
There are no books near the chaise - but there is a Kylie curled up on it, with her laptop, while The Sound of Music plays on the television and Alex plays on the floor in front of her. Perhaps it's the autumn; perhaps it's the fact that I'm tired; perhaps I've finally come to the end of my rope with the morning sickness.
When I feel homesick, when I want to go back in time, I still curl up on the chaise. I may be an adult now - and it may not be the most comfortable place n the house to sleep. I may have to fight Alexandra for chaise time now. Still, the chaise is home - and I think that wherever it is, I will be home. There's just something comforting about it.
I can remember, as a child, visiting my grandmother's house and getting to spend the week sleeping on the chaise lounge in her living room. Perhaps part of the lure of sleeping there was not having to navigate the tremendously steep staircase that led to the guest bedrooms upstairs. Perhaps the lure was also in part to the fact that there was a television in that room - a television I could watch after everyone else was in bed. I can remember arguing that it was the most comfortable place in the house to sleep.
Years later, after my grandmother had passed away, I went up to check on the house - which my father and uncles were in the process of trying to sell furnished. While up there, I discovered that no one had laid claim to the chaise lounge - that it was to be included in the "furnishings." When I returned at the end of that weekend, it was with the chaise lounge in tow. I couldn't, after all, let it go with the house. It was the most comfortable place to sleep.
I let a friend borrow it for a couple of years, getting it back around the time I was pregnant with Alexandra, I think. The chaise then lived at my parents' house - staying there when I moved to Meriden and still there when I moved back in with my father after my mother's death. I can remember napping there during those exhausting first months of my pregnancy with Alex. After she was born, it was also my preferred resting place. The heat wave that hit Connecticut soon after she was born kept both of us in the living room at night, to avoid the stifling heat upstairs, her in a travel bassinet and me on the chaise lounge.
When we moved to Illinois, the chaise came with us. Often it has acted as the dumping spot for our bags and coats when we walked in the door. But whenever Alex or I have been sick or feeling out of sorts, the chaise has been cleared and we have gravitated towards it.
Last year, when we moved outside of Carbondale, I attempted to divide the large living room into sections - half of it with couches and television, a corner with books and a desk, and another, quieter, corner that was my idealized reading area. The chaise was placed in the last area, the quiet corner. After all, it was too far away from the television to be a good viewing seat. It was tucked away, comfy and cozy - a perfect reading spot.
There are no books near the chaise - but there is a Kylie curled up on it, with her laptop, while The Sound of Music plays on the television and Alex plays on the floor in front of her. Perhaps it's the autumn; perhaps it's the fact that I'm tired; perhaps I've finally come to the end of my rope with the morning sickness.
When I feel homesick, when I want to go back in time, I still curl up on the chaise. I may be an adult now - and it may not be the most comfortable place n the house to sleep. I may have to fight Alexandra for chaise time now. Still, the chaise is home - and I think that wherever it is, I will be home. There's just something comforting about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
