Health Studies RULE!

I signed up to be in a gall bladder/pregnant lady health study. Here's why studies are cool:

1. You get extra health care coverage that others don't. Case in point: I get THREE ultrasounds when most people only get one. I'll get one in my first trimester, when usually the only one you get is at 20 weeks (5 months).

2. You don't have to pay for said coverage and sometimes, they pay you. For me, I'll have to get my blood drawn three times, and I'll get paid for two of them. Probably only ten bucks, but it's more than I had so... why not?

3. You might learn something. For example, maybe I'll learn if I have a future of gall stones or if my future is stone-free. (I do what I want) Tell me if you got that reference.

In all, I think I'm racking up pretty good. They ask a few questions, stick a few needles, but overall I get extra "baby" pictures that others don't get plus a little insight into the functions of the pregnant lady gall bladder. Who could ask for more?

So tomorrow I'll give them a call and make my appointment for the first ultra-sound. I can't wait to see my little peanut for the first time!

Trip the Life Barf-tastic

Okay, so flying during the eighth week is not recommended by this pregnant mom-to-be.

There isn't anything particularly unhealthy about it, but air travel is always more fun when people aren't watching you while you utilize the well-placed barf bag. It happened on two separate flights, on two separate days. The good news? I can get it all in the bag and not splash anyone or anything. The bad news? Since I'm not "showing" yet, people don't know whether I'm pregnant or drunk. And I saw enough head shaking to think most of them thought I was hammered.

Oh well! Trimester TWO should be better. Three more weeks to go until I get there, though.

Baby on Board: Flying at 8 Weeks

Tonight we board a Delta Airlines flight, the number of which I cannot remember, to head east. We're going "home" for Devlyn's birthday, to North Carolina, where nearly all of our friends and most of our family live.

I was excited about the prospect of doing this, especially before we discovered I was pregnant. We've had these tickets quite a while now. But now that things have, um, changed it makes everything kind of scary and strange. I don't like flying anyway, and I usually feel a twitter of yuck in my tummy when the plane takes off and when it lands. Now, however, I will be having baby twitters and motion twitters and it could lead to a disastrous use of the little baggie in the seat-back in front of me.

I'll let you know how it goes. And I'll try to stop using made-up words like "twitter" so much.

I'm a big fattie

For the first few weeks, one doesn't really feel "pregnant" so much as one feels simply "fat."

My clothes do not fit correctly, but not to the point where purchases must be made. I drink a ton of water, most of which I retain, so I feel bloated and unattractive. On top of all that, I am now working out with other pregnant women (part of the Army's program to increase wellness among its pregnant Soldiers) - most of whom have very obviously pregnant bellies (even the smaller ones).

But today, I felt pregnant for real. It was the first time I actually went to the toilet for the purpose of puking. Thankfully, I did not. I hate throwing up so much that I cannot comprehend the concept of bulimia. Voluntarily puking is like saying, "Purple trees taste like licorice....but only on Wednesdays." It just doesn't make sense to me.

I guess it's all starting to settle in. I looked for maternity clothes today at the mall. Let me tell you, it was a waste of time. The girls in the stores all said I should shop at Lane Bryant. Wow. Talk about a real pick-me-up after thinking all week that I was fat and that pregnancy is just fatness that is allowed by society. Yuck. So, I will probably wait until my pants must remain unbuttoned and/or unzipped for me to wear them comfortably. I have seen things somewhat like a tube top that you can put around your waist for the purpose of holding your pants up should you choose to wear them unbuttoned and unzipped. I guess that's for those really awesome jeans that make my butt look great. I should probably buy a pair first...

At any rate, the pregnancy is beginning to feel like one. Just in time for my embryo to stop looking like a "squirrel" and start becoming more tadpole or even baby gerbil-looking! Gestation is a beautiful thing...until it gives you indigestion.

Cheerios are almost magical

Nausea has set in. Day and night. No puking yet, but I feel it's only a matter of time.

Enter the Cheerios.

I have a box right by my bed, so I can munch on them right when I wake up, or if I wake up in the middle of the night. Or right before bed. Or when I just walk by...

Okay, so it's not THAT bad. But it does actually help. I learned that the majority of issues with nausea and morning sickness in general is drastic drops in blood sugar. Or drastic increases. So the point is to eat a little something all day. Thank goodness I'm already well-trained at that!

Eating for Two

I am delighted to know that I can eat for two. Although the second one is only about a half-inch long and looks (as my husband described) "like a squirrel." So I'm really only entitled to about 300 more calories per day than usual. I tend to do that by accident anyway, so I really shouldn't change my eating habits just yet.

Except for one very important thing: there is stuff that I like to eat that I cannot eat while pregnant. I guess I already knew it, but I sort of conveniently forgot. Now that I "remember" it really sucks.

I like bologna sandwiches. But according to a couple of online articles, lunch meat has a higher risk for e.coli and other forms of bacteria (which pregnant women are more susceptible to catching than other folks). Also, I cannot eat sushi and pretty much seafood in general should be taken with caution. Fish get stuff from the water that can be passed on to me and my baby. So, seafood is out (and I was thinking about crab legs earlier)! The really crazy paranoid one (which I probably won't obey) is that I shouldn't eat peanut butter and other types of food that are potentially allergenic in case my baby may be allergic to it in the future. Really? That's what the articles said.

I guess it's no different from being on a fad diet. Except if I don't follow this one with some strictness, I might kill or otherwise maim my unborn embryo (not a fetus yet). I still cannot resist the temptation, however, to use said embryo as an excuse for a second helping.

"The baby's hungry," I say before I munch away.

The day I knew

WARNING: Contents in this blog may be graphic and way too personal for the average reader. But if you're curious about how I knew that I was pregnant, here's how.

I knew what was up when my boobs started hurting (more than the little twinge before a period), and when I had to pee every five minutes regardless of the amount of water I'd had to drink, and the final clue was when my period was about 5 days late. I said to myself, "This is it." But I waited another 2 days to take the home pregnancy test.

And it was positive.

So, a few days later, to alleviate my husband's paranoia that it wasn't "real," I went to the clinic to have blood drawn for a serum test. One hour later, I was still pregnant but now had a due date: 9 January.

Our anniversary is 12 January so we'll have a new bundle just in time for our seven-year itch to begin!