Sunday, February 12, 2012

6 times?!? What are we thinking?

Are you all ready for this....we are expecting our 6th child in August. Hooray! Okay, really I'm not excited yet. Every time we decide to get pregnant again, I think maybe just maybe I will be blessed and not be sick. Okay that has happened twice and both times it ended up in a miscarriage. Or if I do get sick maybe just maybe I can handle it better. I can be tougher and fight the sickeness. But it gets worse with each pregnancy and this one is no different.
Let's start at 5 weeks...my sister announces to all that she is pregnant. She is due a month before me. I'm only 5 weeks along, I don't intend to tell others but due to circumstances it comes out. I'm not sick and so I'm worried (I recently had a miscarriage). My sister tells me that she is on this medication and it will help me so I don't have a miscarriage. I go to my doctor. They don't see a baby yet and only see a sac so I am prescibed this medication which is a progestrone. It helps with the lining of the placenta. This is meds is from the devil. I thought I was going to die! I had major headaches, probably borderline migranes. As soon as I felt it coming on I would have to lie down or I would start throwing up. Have you ever had a headache and throwing up. Not fun, not fun at all. I guess since I couldn't get sick on my own, they were going to make me be sick. I could only last a week on the medication (suppose to be taken until I was 12 weeks along). It debiliatated me. I thought Why am I bringing another child into this world when I can't even take care of my other 5 children.

6 weeks...went to the doctor and saw the heartbeat. Yippie. Not out of the woods yet but I didn't have to take the medication anymore. Not sure if it helped. But I was sure that I was pregnant because here came the morning sickness.
Let me explain to all you wonderful women who do not have morning sickness. First of all, I hope you have a lot of children. You are truly blessed. Second, it should be renamed as ALL DAY LONG sickness. The best way to explain it is being car sick, all day, and you are throwing up which helps for a little while, but then it returns. Now throwing up being pregnant is not the same as when you have the stomach flu or a bug. It's not a churning in the stomach. It's "I don't feel good, run to the bathroom, and then resume your previous activity (which was probably laying on the couch anyway) for the whole day." The hardest part of throwing up is deciding what to throw up. I should write a book because after 6 pregnancies, I am an expert. For example, mashed potatoes are not bad to throw up (or water for that fact) but orange juice or chili is a bear to throw up. It burns! The other problem with throwing up is I don't want to have that food again so I have to have a variety of food. And sometimes even the thought might trigger a gag reflex.

Week 7-12...Still sick, sick, sick. Will this ever end? Why do I have to suffer so? I go into the doctor weekly to check my progress. The heart beat looks and sounds good but I started spotting a little so I have to take it easy. Take it easy?!?...do they know I am a mom? No exercise, lifting, etc. So now they want me to be miserable and get fat. (Side note...word got out in my ward that I was on bed rest and meals were going to come in. I should have milked it but I couldn't and turned them down). I am also put on the "cancer pill" (Zofran). It is suppose to help with the nausea. Maybe it helped because I would have good days but they were few and far between. Lost 3 pounds!! That is probably the only good news. I know it's not normal for a pregnant lady to lose weight but it is for me. I am throwing up everything so all the baby has is my own weight to nibble at. Nibble away.

Week 10-11...My sister convinced me to try out for a dance number at Scera (for another post). During her cancer treatment (which I have heard is similar to morning sickness), she said that being distracted was the best thing. It is true. The more I thought about it, the more miserable I was.

Week 12-13...thought I was on the tail end. For most people, morning sickness only lasts until 12 weeks. Of course, not for me. I have to suffer much longer.

Week 14...probably the worst week so far. Part of it was I was mentally prepared to be done with my morning sickness and frustrated that I was not . On top of it, I got a cold. Pregnant + cold=disaster. And I never threw up so much in one week. I couldn't keep anything down. I couldn't even finish eating my food before I would run into the bathroom. So it wasn't like digested food, it was full on chunks. I asked for a priesthood blessing. Part of me wanted it to be all over but I knew deep down inside it was not going to happen so I was needing the blessing so I could handle it better. I needed more strength from Him.

I'm sure you are wondering how I got everything done while I have been so sick. Well I didn't. My husband did everything. Cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids, chauffeur, everything, and worked at his full time job. He has been amazing. So grateful for a husband who works at home!! I couldn't have done it without him. Also it helps to have older kids who understand why you can't cook or clean. They tend to help out a little bit more.

Week 15-16...I am getting better. Still sick but usually just at night. I end up just going to bed. Lost 1 more pound. It makes throwing up worth it. :)

So that has been my life for the last 4 months. Even though it may not sound like it but I am grateful to be pregnant and really happy to have another child. I know that this too will pass.
My little baby bump. 4 months pregnant

1 comment:

mjnetty said...

You made me cry just reading this! I'm so sorry you have to be so sick. Pregnancy sucks. Bottom line. But good for you having more kids!