9 Weeks

The cherry tree in front of our house I wait for to blossom every spring

Today was the best day for the past couple of weeks because I woke up feeling somewhat normal. While newly pregnant, I boasted to my midwife that I never got sick in my first two pregnancies so I didn't need her teaching about managing nausea. I should not have said that because last 2 weeks were a payback, miserable & humbling. I wasn't necessarily nauseous, but how can I describe feeling bloated & gassy, starving & unable to eat at the same time? I wasn't throwing up but getting a whiff of an open garbage can or changing a poopy diaper were suddenly intolerable. The only time I felt mild relief was if I was stuffed with food, which was uncomfortable in itself. Eating sour foods also made me feel better so I made multiple store trips to stock up on kombucha tea, oranges, strawberries, frozen sour cherries, mangoes, kimchi, & lemons.
To top it off, my constant & unrelenting queasiness were combined with overwhelming fatigue. I felt like I was moving in a slow motion, my mind being foggy & unable to process any information besides the next meal & nap times. I would sleep for 8-9 hours every night; wake up; toilet, dress & feed breakfast to the kids & then be utterly exhausteed. I took a 2-3-hour nap on my days off, which usually were Saturdays, Sundays & Mondays. If I was priding myself in being able to exercise at least every other day in my early pregnancy, my desire to do anything but only essential daily tasks was wiped off. I lost all my ambition to pick up any nursing overtime hours at the hospital (money just stopped being that important). I would literally drag myself through the day dreaming of closing the blinds, snuggling under a warm comforter & sleeping, sleeping, & more sleeping. It seemed that laying still & closing my eyes were the only things that made my queasiness stop. A difficult task to accomplish with 2 toddlers! I was pretty cranky, with all of my usual motherly patience gone out of the window. Almost overnight, I stopped being tolerant of Gerritt's little idiosyncrasies. There was a more frequent use of naughty chair for him, more tears & even a never-event of spanking. :-(
But... hooray, a significant relief in symptoms today! Like a light switch turned off overnight. My queasiness is still present, but in milder form. I am a sweet, patient Mommy again. I went to work at the hospital & was able to tolerate a crazy shift with 6 patients, 3 discharges & 1 post-op. I've recently read that by 9 weeks the placenta is well developed & takes over most of the hormone production in pregnancy, so maybe that's the reason for improvement in my condition?


Sophia enjoying the piano player at the Bellevue Square Mall


Posing for Mommy

Sophia's sleeping habits are gradually getting better. She now sleeps through the night on most days of the week (finally!) & when she wakes up occasionally she goes back to sleep right away. She likes to sleep with her BPA-free sippy cup filled with water, but it is a small price to pay for a full night's rest. We haven't banned the formula forever yet, so Sophia gets a warm bottle before her naps & bedtime. We then brush her teeth & put her to sleep. She gets to be almost hysterical every time she sees her "milky", so we are doing the bottle-weaning slowly.
After sleeping in his new Ikea bunk bed (with him on the top & me on the bottom) for 1 whole week, Gerritt declared he didn't like it anymore & wanted to sleep next to me in the "big bed" again. It was "uncomfortable" mattress at first, then his pillow wasn't right. Then, "But I love you, Mommy, & want to sleep next to you!" I tried explaining to him that we wouldn't be able to sleep in the same bed once the baby came, but he responded, "But Mommy, the baby is not here yet!" He then announced that he'd sleep with me anyways. So, we are back to sleeping in our master bedroom. Maybe this attachment parenting is not what it's cracked up to be since I am starting to really miss my husband. My husband even calls the attachment parenting "husband detachment." :-)
Gerritt's favorite books for the past few weeks included It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr (he wanted to read it over & over again), Here Comes the Big, Mean Dust Bunny! by Jan Thomas (this one always created the most laughs) & 10 Little Hermit Crabs by Lee Fox & Shane Mcg (a good book for learning counting). Gerritt's favorite word now is "Why?," so I can't simply read books & be done in 15 minutes, but have to explain the meaning behind the words & pictures.