Pregnancy Chatter: 13 weeks

I hope you all enjoyed Ben's last post as much as I did. He's such a funny guy and I really love him so much.

On that note, I hit 13 weeks this week (yes, I am counting every week). Woo hoo! I'm almost out of the first trimester. One night shift this week I had a coworker Doppler the baby's heart beat just to reassure myself that there is a reason I'm still feeling sick (the experience of having your baby die and make you vomit every day after for 6 weeks makes you desire some reassurance in the next pregnancy). It was strong and regular at 145. What a relief.

And more good news: I'm starting to feel a little better. Still nauseated at times but my energy is coming back. There's no longer a perpetual pile of dirty dishes in our sink now. And my bedside no longer looks like this:

Granted this was taken when I was pregnant in DC, but the idea is the same. Please note the box of flavorless cereal, water bottle, juice bottle, puking bowl, crackers, scriptures, and computer. Also the untidy bed. When morning sickness hits, I feel proud if I only shower and make the bed each day.

But now I exercise (wow!) and cook (incredible!) and clean the house (amazing!). Okay maybe not so phenomenal but I'm relieved that I'm starting to feel like myself again. When you're pregnant and morning sick, that's about all you can ask for.

IKEA catalog/catalogue, pregnancy, and the things Athena says when she's high

(Please have your personal copy of the latest IKEA catalog nearby or you will not enjoy this blog post)

I’m sitting here debating what the most efficient use of my time should be in this moment. You see, I’m developing a blog post in my little mind, yet Athena’s IKEA catalog just came today. The debate is this: do I cut carefully cut the cover off the catalogue (I’m not sure how to spell catalog, so I’ll utilize both versions sequentially, besides, it’s such a nice catalog/catalogue, it’s worth mentioning twice) and replace the contents of the catalog/catalogue with something entertaining, say, a heap of papers from my sophomore year of high school, or should I simply go through with a Sharpie and make ridiculous comments throughout the entire magazine, OR should I write a blog post? So many tantalizing choices… I think I’m going to save the hassle of finding scissors and old papers from high school. I’ll write a blog post while I make snide remarks and draw pictures throughout the IKEA catalog/catalogue!

Some day I’ll write a blog post about IKEA, Sweden and the endless desire women have to decorate and how this is the cause of global warming. Today is not that day. No, today there are more important issues of national merit that need addressing. Like, say, why did Athena call me no fewer than six times in less than two hours? I will try to explain, but this particular topic may end up on the new IKEA shelf that surely will be the dire result of our new catalog/catalogue. (I found the perfect shelf for my future topic depository… see page 259 of the latest catalogue/catalog. I chose the green one. Why don't you pick out your favorite too? In the meantime, I’m feeling a little light-headed from the Sharpie. I never knew IKEA could be so much fun for so cheap. I didn't even have to stop and buy any Swedish meatballs! I drew several figures sitting in the chairs on pages 64 and 69. They seem like comfortable chairs, or, at least the people I drew seem comfortable). I digress. On Tuesday, I was planning to meet with Athena during her break at work. We’d established a ballpark time of when we’d get together. Pregnancy and ballparks don’t mix. Athena called me 6 times to confirm, reconfirm, and rereconfirm when and how I was coming. Pregnancy does strange things to a woman. But then again, so does morphine. You see, the last time we did this whole pregnancy thing, it ended it a bit of a mess. As an analogy, let’s say the unattended candles on page 286 of our fine catalog/catalogue were to catch the fine flowers next to them on fire. This would be a mess like unto the last time we went through this pregnancy bit.

Speaking of flowers, let’s go to the hospital where we find Athena in a state of delirium the morning after her miscarriage. She’s coherent, yet still missing the finer points of her usual intellect. Enter me... with a beautiful bouquet of red roses and a big smile. Athena: “Wow! Who are those from?” Ouch. I laughed about it, but I learned a good lesson: buy more flowers for your wife more often or just say someone else sent the flowers and pretend to be the delivery boy.

Back to the morphine. Let’s go to the Sunday evening when we rushed to hospital because Athena was bleeding like a… like a… no analogy here… she was just bleeding. They swept her off to surgery and dropped me off in the waiting room with a mediocre sandwich and a stack of magazines. I paced around the waiting room for what seemed like hours while Athena went to the operating room for an emergency D&C. Finally, after what really was hours, I went prowling around the deserted hospital in search of my wife. I found a nurse who kindly directed me to where Athena was coming to after surgery. What followed then was several hours of morphine induced remarks that will forever cause our posterity to double over in laughter. So, cozy up in an easy chair (the one on page 67 of our catalog/catalogue looks comfy), put your Swedish meatballs on that particle board coffee table from IKEA and enjoy what I’ve titled, “The things Athena says when she’s on drugs:”

• (in the OR right after the surgery) All you ever think about is food and Honda.
• This is such a drug trip.
• (I was feeding her ice) One for me, two for you
• Man, this catheter is a trippy feeling. I feel like I could pee all over this room right now, but I know I can’t.
• (To the nurse… 6 times) What was your name again?
• Do you know how good this ice is?
• Nurse: How are you doing? Athena: I’ve got a balloon in me, so I guess I’m doing fine.
• Wow! I’m tripped out. I’m never, ever doing drugs.
• To the nurse: Jorge do you speak Spanish? I speak Spanish. Yo puedo hablar español por la anesthesia (I can speak Spanish because of the anesthesia).
• (after the blood transfusion) Somebody else’s blood runs through my veins now. Am I still a DeBry? Who knows.
• Can I have some more drink? What Jorge brought me was wonderful, but I finished it.
• (To the nurse) Did you spike my Sprite?
• Tell Landon it’s too bad there isn’t a nurse name Betsy—I’d get more views than him on YouTube. (watch this for high quality entertainment)
• This catheter thing is great isn’t it?
• The pain isn’t terrible, but it’s just bothersome. Do you have some anti-botherment medicine?
• Wow what good blood pressure! I get to go home! Good job body.

She had me rolling. I don’t know if reading this captures the spirit in which the statements were said, but she was so funny! I wouldn’t wish a miscarriage upon anyone, but if you’re there anyway, make sure to write down the funny things that happen. Well, I’m blogged out for the day. I will wrap this up with one mystical question that may turn into a future blog post: why in the world is there a printed ruler on the spine of the IKEA catalogue/catalog? I’m just going to leave that on my new particle board shelf and walk away, gently humming ABBA songs to myself.

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!