A Rough Week

Some pregnant women positively glow! Believe me, I know. Just recently, four of my closest friends gave birth and I have five more close friends who are currently expecting the arrivals of their little bundles of joy. Other pregnant gals, who are not so lucky, don’t have that tell-tale rosy complexion to boast of. Some of us (like me) are positively green. As Kermit the Frog once eloquently put it “It’s not easy being green.” (Pregnancy also makes a woman very punchy, it appears. I am living proof. Not that I wasn’t a corn-dog to begin with…)

Week 9 (the completion of my 8th week – for those of you who are confused by the strange “pregnancy math” which counts pregnancy 2 weeks before conception – and my pregnancy counter which suggest that I’m as bad at math as you already suspect I am) was the roughest yet. Aside from coming down with the worst flu imaginable, I have been adverse to just about anything that resembles food and unable to digest what little food I could tolerate swallowing. It has been a trying time indeed! But I was thinking to myself today, as I trekked back from physical therapy (my first time leaving the house on my own in a week since I came down with the flu), that I can think of no better reason to be feeling this bad. It’s definitely worth it!

As if feeling bad was not enough, I have never looked so bad in my life. (This increases my belief that our baby is going to be a girl as I’ve heard the old wives tale many times that girls steal their mother’s beauty!). It's not that I've gained a lot of weight (the idea of which, amazingly doesn't scare me in the least, in spite of the fact that this is the thinnest I've ever been. Seeing my weight go up would make me feel better as at least then I'd know that the baby is getting all that it needs from the very little I've been able to digest.) It's not even that I lack a rosy glow or that I look more akin to an alligator than an apple. After going through 2 ½ large boxes of tissues in 2 ½ days, I can tell you that as cute as having a little baby bump may be, it is not cute to have half a nose. I am surprised I have one left at all! What remains is red and lined with deep scratches and dry peeling off skin. Not a pretty sight…

Constant nausea and the feeling that no amount of rest can ever fully satisfy my need to sleep has not given me great incentive to dress up or make myself presentable as I am usually inclined to do. On Friday night, Michael and I took Vanessa to get a bite to eat. I was dressed… comfortably (lol). I heard the waiter ask Michael how many kid’s menus he needed. I wasn’t in the best mood that night so I just shook my head, a little annoyed. (It’s not like this hasn’t happened before and well… I wasn’t wearing makeup or heels and I AM pretty short). Well, yesterday, we found ourselves far from home at lunch-time again and decided to go to Chili’s to get a quick bite. As I stood by Michael and Vanessa’s side I heard the waitress ask “kid’s menu?” Michael said yes. I assumed it was for Vanessa. You can imagine my reaction when I sat down to lunch next to Vanessa to find that we both had matching kid’s menus and crayons of assorted colors. My mood was a lot better so I laughed it off and took advantage of the opportunity to order a 5 dollar meal that I knew I was just going to waste anyway, just as I’ve wasted just about every other meal that’s been put in front of me these last few weeks. A little red hooded sweatshirt went a long way. It was a little inconvenient to find that I had not been entrusted with a butter knife but it certainly added some humor to my day. At least I don’t have a complex about getting old… :)

Being pregnant has really made me laugh at my preconceptions about what this experience would be like. I had always joked with Michael that I was looking forward to pregnancy as being the first time in my life I could eat whatever I wanted (not that I am one of those girls who perpetually diet or anything). But it was our joke. I never could have imagined that I would dread having to eat or feel sickened at the thought of my favorite meals. I’m Italian, afterall. I love food! It is upsetting to feel so averse to just about everything. I’m told that after the 3rd month I should start feeling better and be able to keep down more of what I eat and what our baby needs. In the meantime, the prenatal vitamins fill in the gaps created by the impending nausea and I do my best to eat as healthy as I can (when I can).

We have now entered month 3. Our second prenatal visit is in a little more than 2 weeks. I wonder if we’ll get to see our little baby again… Our baby, in case you were wondering, is now the size of a kumquat! Just yesterday, he or she was just a little grape!

We’ll keep you posted!