Pregnancy and Newborn Books: What got you through?

Lately pregnancy occupies nearly all my thoughts. That's probably because everything I do has to revolve around my pregnancy somehow (i.e. what I eat, what I carry in my purse, where I go and for how long, etc.). That's why I'm starting to get big into pregnancy books. My current read is What to Expect When You're Expecting. I was so pleased when I got it at DI for just $2 (along with What to Expect in the First Year ). The great thing about this day and age is you can get on Amazon and get almost any book used for less that $10.

Then last week I went to lunch with a good friend who just had a baby. She recommended The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Nursing Mother's Problem Solver. That's why I'd like to know, what are some of your recommendations? Obviously no book will make me the perfect parent right away, but I figure it doesn't hurt to read a little beforehand. All I know is if I can increase my knowledge by 1% in the next six months, I'll be more ready to be pregnant and a mom than I was three months ago.

A Morning Sickness Memory

With this pregnancy, I've been battling morning sickness pretty consistently since week four. However there's a miracle drug that I've been prescribed this pregnancy called Zofran. It has kept me going and more importantly keeps me from throwing up at inopportune moments, such as on my patients while at work. I know this to be a potential problem, since I once almost cleared a DC subway train at rush hour. Having said that, I'd like to resurrect a memory from the days of my last pregnancy when I had decided to battle morning sickness without medicine, on my own.

While in DC, Ben and I planned a fun weekend off for our anniversary. We awoke early one morning to go to Williamsburg. We were so excited because for the first time we would be riding an Amtrak train as well as getting out of downtown DC for a bit. Below is an email I sent to my family the day of the fateful incident.

Hello everyone, This past week in my pregnancy I've thrown up a few times at night. However this morning we had to get up early (5:30) to be at Union Station (the train station) at 7am. I ate breakfast but we were rushing around all morning and I didn't feel well. We took the subway at rush hour and as we were approaching our transfer station I started to feel very sick. I told Ben, "When we get off this train I have to find a garbage can". Well the train didn't stop quite soon enough and before I knew it I had thrown up in my hand. I won't be disgustingly descriptive, but let me just say that it isn't an easy task to keep vomit in a cupped hand. Anyway, at that point the train had stopped and a bunch of people were standing in front of me, crowding to get off. I was standing behind two very well dressing business people. I wanted to scream, "Get out of my way!" but I knew I couldn't open my mouth or I'd be paying the dry cleaning bill for the $2,000 Armani suit of the guy in front of me. Finally the door opened to the metro train and I ran out.

There are no garbage cans on the bottom floor of the metro, so I ran under a staircase to a barred off area and let it all out. For those of you who don't know, Ben can't stand the smell of vomit or to see anyone throw up... so he kindly offered to go find the station manager to get someone to clean it up. So thoughtful :) So I stood there by myself with all our bags making a spectacle of myself. The funny thing is, yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and every DC pub was packed so I'm sure there weren't just a few people who thought I was a hungover drinking amateur. Oh well :) But there were a few women who came over and offered me wipes and tissues. When I told them I was pregnant they were both sympathetic and said something like "been there done that". Even the women who were in the station manager box asked Ben if he knew the gender of our baby after he told them I was downstairs throwing up. I later reflected on my mother's advice: "You always need to carry a plastic bag". It was the good advice I didn't take. For the record, it was my first time ever throwing up in public.

I later snapped a picture of where I threw up. If you know DC, it may
interest you to know it was at Metro Center, off the red line.

After having repeated this story, I must say that I am feeling much better about this pregnancy. Yes I am sick, but I have yet to throw up in my hand during rush hour on the Subway in one of the busiest cities in the US. Or on one of my patients for that matter. So far, I think I can call this morning sickness experience a success.

A Second Bun in the Oven

You are officially viewing the picture I sent to Ben on his second day in Honduras. Yes, while he was away I happily stumbled upon this surprise. Too bad for us that he didn't have reliable internet access and we weren't able to talk until two days after. With hormones a-racing it was a little bit of an adventure with him gone, but I survived. And thankfully, so did he.

And thanks to our survival, we're both here now to make an official announcement that we are pregnant again! All my coworkers have known for weeks (aren't they always the first to know?) so I thought it was about time to announce it to the internet world and our blogging family.

Today I had my first appointment with the doctor and we made sure there was a heartbeat. If you'll remember, on the first pregnancy I never got to hear a heartbeat, so you can imagine what music it was to my ears to hear the beautiful "thump, thump, thump". Yes, this 10 week old kumquat in my belly has a strong heart that's racing along. Not that it means we're out of the forest for miscarriage, but the doctor said my chances are greatly reduced if there's a strong heartbeat at 10 weeks.

And I will say that now there seems to be more purpose to the morning sickness I've had since week 4. More to come on that. Ben's been threatening to write a post about all the crazy things I've said and done during pregnancy. It's been said that pregnancy sometimes makes you the worst version of yourself, but that's all we'll say about that for now.

Otherwise, we just keep hoping and praying that everything will go well. The Lord has spoken peace to our minds about this pregnancy, so we'll just move forward with faith. And when I get tired of being morning sick, I can just remember that wonderful "thump, thump, thump". Really, there's nothing quite like it.

While the husband's away...

This morning Ben woke me up at 6:45am to kiss me goodbye and pray with him before he left for work. Amazingly I haven't been able to sleep since. Kind of funny since I was going to bed at 6 am yesterday after a full night at work. Sometimes I don't understand my body.

And as I lay in bed trying with all my might to fall back asleep I had an impulsive idea. I suddenly decided I wanted to change our blog. Redecorate. So I did. I wonder how long it will take Ben to notice.

A Summer of Weddings

This summer we've had so many friends and family members get married. Most recently it was my good friend Annie. Annie and I have been friends since the 9th grade when we took Ancient History together and she knew me as "the girl who loved to use her agenda". After that we formed a bond and have been friends ever since. I was so happy to get to go to her sealing last week and see how happy she looked. Congrats to Annie and Eric!

Montana Take 2

We had a chance to go to Cooke City one last time this year. This time we were accompanied by my family: 28 children under the age of 15 and 11 adults. Aside from the chaos, it was a really wonderful experience and great to be with my family.

We shot another movie with all the kids- about cowboys, indians, and
miners of course. My mom provided the amazing costumes.

3 cute indians

The "older" indian crowd

Ben getting a shot of the Indians running to battle

We took a 4-wheeler ride and visited the old mining towns

After our "hike" to Leckie Falls

It doesn't matter where we go; Ben and I have a great time together.

Sweet Summer Saturdays

We had an especially fun Saturday a few weeks ago and although I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, I still wanted to document what a great day it was.

We spent the morning with Jane helping to do jobs around the house. I organized the tool bench while Ben de-caulked the shower. After a few hours of working and lunch, we inflated Jane's rafts and went down the Weber River. We did it last year too and it was just as fun. Since the water was a little cold and Ben would be paddling, I had to give my ceremonial lecture that "it is not funny to tip the raft". Poor Ben :) But whether or not my lecture was effective, we did not tip and had a great time on the way down.

Later that night we met up with Ben's grandparents in Sandy for dinner and the Real Salt Lake game. It was our first time in Rio Tinto Stadium and we were very impressed. We cheered loudly and even though Real lost, we enjoyed getting together with Kent and Nyla.

The stadium and players

Kent, Nyla, Me, Ben and some guys in the back who wanted to get in on the action :)

Ben and I after I pulled him from "soccer mode" so we could get a picture