Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Busy Days: Pregnancy, Morning Sickness and a Memorial Service

We've had a busy couple of days and, which have been added to by that first trimester pregnancy sleepiness that seems to hit several times a day. I dreamily look back on my pregnancy with Sadie and remember the long naps I was able to take. Back in those days I was a sports writer for our local news paper, which meant, apart from attending games, I had a very flexible schedule (that usually involved writing at the last minute on Sunday night to meet my deadline). I slept late. I took a lot of naps. And I wondered how mom's who already had kids dealt with the tiredness.

Now I know. They ignore it. A couple of times I've laid down in the middle of Sadie's play area when I've felt really sleepy and closed my eyes. Sadie takes these little, almost naps, as a personal challenge. She decides that Mommy will be the horse and she will be the rider and she jumps on my back and starts bouncing up and down (Let me say that she is not a small little girl... Yesterday she stepped on and off the scale in the bathroom twice and held still. The same weight came up twice. Sadie is weighing in at not quite seventeen months old, at 39 lbs. She's a string bean, but she's very, very tall. Taking after Daddy it seems). Or she comes around and stands directly above my head and stares down at me. I usually get a "danger" feeling when this happens and open my eyes just in time (her balance isn't great yet). It's funny how she can be playing on her own for a half hour, but if I lay down her Mommy sensor goes off and she needs me!

So the answer to my question, what do Mommies do about the first trimester tiredness when they already have one? They ignore it and keep going! I also focus on the fact that bedtime really isn't too far away (after nap time I only have seven hours until I can climb into bed!).

I am doing much better with the morning sickness this time around. When I was pregnant with Sadie I really think that I inadvertently made it much, much worse than it had to be. You see, I found out that I was pregnant with Sadie the night before we left for a pilgrimage to Israel. The flight over and Israeli airline's security checks would have been stressful enough without the morning sickness and then we were off and running with a tour group that had breakfast at 6am and lunch at 2pm with no time for snacks in between. I was hardly able to force myself to eat during most of the trip and stumbled around grouchily.

This time I've learned that if I eat every two hours on the dot I'll only be sick for about fifteen minutes in the morning (instead of all day and all night). So far it's working. I start the day with a couple ginger cookies just to settle my stomach. Within half an hour I'm usually hungry enough to eat breakfast and I feel well enough to do it. If I forget to eat in the next two hours I'll start to feel the sickness coming back, so we've stocked up on snacks and it's working amazingly well. I'm not sure if eating super frequently would have made the nausea better last time around, but it definitely would have been worth a try for anyone dealing with it. Morning sickness is not fun! I feel so grateful this time that I'm able to control it (so far) for the most part!

Right now we're traveling down the state to carry out my grandmother's last wishes. She passed away last summer, after a long battle with Alzheimer's, and the whole family is coming together to celebrate her life on what would have been her 89th birthday on Thursday. She grew up on the ranch that is now Point Lobos State Park and loved the area. I'm so glad that she got to know Sadie. She would always light up when Sadie came into the room. Sadie was named after her grandmother and we think that she may have recognized the name, since she was so clear on the names from her youth.

... Now the true test of my morning sickness cure will be the four hour boat ride that is part of the service.

It's time to get a little bit of sleep before we hop back in the car in the morning and keep driving. Less than two hours until we get to the coast.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to come down with morning sickness and then have to go through all the hassles of traveling and airport security.
    It is good that Sadie got a chance to spend some time with her namesake before she died. My daughter has two namesakes (well, 3 if you count Susan in the Bible) and she has yet to meet either of them.
    Enjoy your vacation and hope the boatride is not too rough for you in your condition!

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  2. The eating thing is supposed to help a lot with morning sickness. I got it really bad both times, but this last time was a little better... Hope yours continues to improve!

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  3. Hi Maria-
    Thanks! I did learn that the boat ride was probably not the best idea, but I'd also definitely do it again. There were 9 foot swells for most of the three hour ride and while I had the excuse of morning sickness I definitely wasn't the only one getting sick! It was very bumpy!

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  4. Hi Mama Kalila-
    Thanks! I started worrying this weekend that it was going to be like last time, but I think it was because we were so busy I was forgetting to eat as often. It definitely seems to be a factor with me. I'm just always for forgetful (and it seems worse when I'm pregnant!)!

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