Killer Heartburn!

ATTACK OF THE KILLER HEARTBURN! Oh my goodness it was bad today! I have to remember to eat, because she'll remind me. I think that's why she gets me up at 9 am each morning, in spite of how late I might have stayed up the previous night. She also makes sure I'm drinking enough water, otherwise she'll send her acid bombs my way too.
But this morning was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E! I skipped out on breakfast at the house so that Chris and I could get it together. But by the time we left the house and were on the way to McDonalds... I thought my throat would never recover! I thought I was going to vomit it was so bad. I think heartburn has been the worst pain so far of the pregnancy.
I mean, most of the time, I'm used to it. It's almost a constant some days. And I pop Tums (which are completely safe) like they're candy (which is apparently completely safe for Tums because they're providing calcium). But this morning that didn't even help. I think it was because I was dehydrated a little and on an empty stomache.
I mean, at night it's hard to avoide because my pre-natal vitamin gives me heartburn sometimes, and if I lay down too soon after eating... that does it too. But today. It hurt soooo much! I was snappy and practically yelling at Chris. But I could barely talk because I didn't want to open my mouth. I could feel the acid in the back of my mouth. The rest of the day I kept spitting to get rid of the mucos that was pooling back there.
So, LBG, I get the point: Eat breakfast weither I feel like it or not, and drink plenty of refreshing liquids.

Kicks a Miss

Little baby girl (LBG) worried me today... and last night. It's all good, but I just wanted to document it for myself.
Alright, so last night I ate waaaayy too much, which I didn't think was too much because it was a pretty average sized sinner, but then the desert was a bit big and probably put me over. A ton of sugary goodness, that after I ate it was almost instantly regretting having it all to myself. Oh, glutony, what a cruel cruel thing.
Anyway, My stomach was feeling super-dooper tight, and was visibly so too because Chris was concerned when he saw it. I went and tried to relieve it by relaxing in the tub for a bit, but that only worked slightly. So then I decided to get up and walk around a bit, you know exercise it off maybe. So I went out and picked up the doggie doo (at 9:30pm). That didn't work either.
That's when I started to notice that I ahdn't felt her move. I mean, I had noticed it at first, but just thought she couldn't because of everything I ate. I went and laid down for a little bit, and still couldn't get her going. Finally I just gave in to my superior worring skills and called the "baby hotline."
The "Baby Hotline" is a special thing I signed up for free of charge with BCBS. They have 24 hour nurses on call for any worries or questions I might have. I asked her what I should do, and she said to drink a lot of water, then go lay on my left side and count her movement. She should move 5-10 times in one hour. Well, she did, but it was barely. So I still worried and didn't get a lot of sleep because I coudln't feel her when I normally could (rolling over, getting up to go pee, etc). So when I got up at 3am and couldn't feel her any more I lay worrying. I woke Chris up and borrowed his iPhone so I could play her music. I played a number of songs, but only got 1 kick... and that worried me a lot because they were songs she usually went crazy on! I voiced my concern, but then went back to sleep because she had kicked.
When I got up this morning for work I was so exhausted. She didn't kick me at all like she normally does early on. So again, I was worried, but figured it was because we were both exhausted. Went to work and she laid low the whole time. When I got home I ate and drank some juice (something the nurse had reccomended last night, but I didn't have any)(the juice is good because of the sugar), then I went and laid down again. Nothing. No movement. LBG was scaring the crap out of me now!
Let's recap: Last night my stomach was feeling super dooper tight, add to that her lack of movement. Then since then I'd started to get cramps that felt like really bad menstrul cramps.
So I decided I'd call my nurse here locally and see if I needed to go in or what. She gave me the same advice "drink lots of liquids, preferably juice, lay down on my left side and count the kicks." There were some mild differences: "I mean, a ton of liquids; like those 42-oz big gulps," and for the kicks "there should be 6-10 per hour," she also added "to maybe have something sugary to eat." So I did. I followed the instructions as best I could. I only had one more juice box, so I didn't drink that. But I did have a miniature Hershey bar from our trick-or-treat stash and two full tall glasses of ice-cold water (I'd read that they respond a bit more if it's really cold). Then I went and laid down. She started kicking right away. I got to six before half an hour. She was doing just fine, she even gave me some weird little movements that are still hard to describe (but I'll try: it's like she adjusted her position, and sat on it).
To conclude, yes, she scared me, but everything's alright. She's up and moving as I type. My stomach hurts off and on, but I'm trying to take it easy and eat a little at a time. Maybe I'm dehydrated?

Heartburn and ankles

So the update is I've had some major heartburn the last few days. It doesn't help that I've had to skip out on my daily dose of cold calcium (aka ice cream) because of the sinus drainage caused the soar throat I had for about a week and a half. The soar throat is gone, but I haven't tempted fate too much, because it still makes me cough a little. So heartburn is flairing up. But is apparently a major symptom of pregnancy that doesn't really go away. Pooh.
Anyway, on to the ankle thing: My ankle has been swollen since almost day one (you know, I've talked about it. Just my right ankle). Yesterday, after Sarah Morris (now Honeycutt)'s wedding my ankle was a major pain in the butt. And just a notice, I did not wear heals, so it wasn't that. I wore really comfortable shoes. Anyway, when I woke up this morning it was throbbing so badly! I don't know what I've done. It wasn't throbbing as much as it was busting at the seams, but it didn't look a bit swollen, it just felt that way. It was so bad I couldn't get back to sleep. I had to get up and walk around a bit to get it to calm down. I don't know what or why it is this way. Yes, I've elevated it, it just makes it hurt worse sometimes. Now that I've been on it a while it's ok, throbbing just a little, but completely ignorably. So I'm going to try and attempt a nap and see what happens from there.

Lopsided

Last night was a weird night for me in general. I couldn't get to sleep, my stomach felt so tight! I don't know if I ate too much and couldn't get rid of it, or if it was the baby. Anyway, I finally just went outside with a flashlight and started picking up the dog poo (yes, 10 o'clock at night). But while doing that I noticed that my stomach was lopsided. Now, I've gotten the feeling that it was before, especially when I just get up from sleeping or I'm about to lay down and have to pick a side. But so far it's always just been a feeling. But I think being extra full/tight, last night I was actually able to see it! It was freaky, to say the least. my right side was way bigger than my left, and I was sure it was the baby, but didn't want to push it over or anything like that. The more I think about it the more I realize that that has been the heavier, or "less light" (because I notice the lighter side more when it's the feeling), side more often than not. So, baby's a righty. I think I evened it out durring the night, because by the time I woke up, I couldn't tell anymore. I wonder why they like that side more? Just a general question for the universe.
And this is just general information I thought I should share as my dogs try to catch flies in the last of the summer heat. It's not something people tell you will happen, so it really took me by surprise.
I saw in a movie once where they had to turn the baby around because it was upside-down, and they did it just by pushing it around with their hands. The mother was well into her 8th month, so I don't know if this is really possible or just movie magic. But wouldn't that hurt the baby? I mean, I'm sure that's how they used to do it, but the baby is still developing, does it dent them or something?
Anyway, enough for today. Just thought I'd share that little tid-bit with you.

Urgh... Stomache Stuff

I'm fine. It's just that whole "I feel fine as long as I'm eating or sleeping" thing... my body won't let me sleep for more than twenty minutes at a time, and my stomach doesn't want me to eat anything else. Nothing looks good right now and I feel I've stuffed myself full most of the afternoon/evening even though I know I haven't.
I never realized the definition of nauseous was "that ickey feeling, and not actually throwing up." Because now that I know that that's what it means, then yes, yes I am nauseous all day most days. I just have little-to-no urge to actually puke.
Sorry for the graphics. Just a bit unsure what to do at this point.
Advice is always welcome at this point. It's a weird stomache feeling, but I know it can't be as bad as some of the women out there who can't leave the bathroom due to it. My feelings go out to you past, present, and future mothers who endure that. I can only imagine how bad this gets, because I don't want to get that bad. I hate puking.

Day 1, for now: The News

!!! I'M PREGNANT!!!

I'm so excited! Scared, confused (not really confused, but that word always seems to fit in somewhere), and a whole bunch of other things... anxious? Yeah, I'd put that one in there, too.

How do I know? I did the EPeeingT test (yes, I know that's not what it's called)... twice. The first one I took had a faint second line, which means "yes, you're pregnant." But because it was faint, I wasn't sure. So I went out and bought another one, the digital read out. It was proof positive. I was so excited. I didn't know what to do. The news was bursting at the seams to get out, and I still had the Memorial Day BBQ to get to. I stayed as quiet as I could with my extended family on the way. Finally, after a bit of food, Chris called. I told him and we both got really excited. But I had to keep it down because I was at the Memorial Day get together. I'm glad I got to tell someone that day, but the excitement was still there. How much longer do I have to wait to tell everyone?! (apparently as long as it took you to get to this site, because by now I've told you).
This was also the day that Clayton got burnt really badly. So this kind of news slipped quickly to the back of my mind. The "here and now" is more important. Besides, Chris and I had talked a while back, when we first talked about a family, that we didn't want to tell everyone right away.


My suspicions: Well, the most obvious was that "hmmm, no period?" phase. But I think the one that showed up even before then was my break-outs. I was never one to have bad acne problems, so when my face suddenly looked like the moon I started to worry. When it gets close to my period I usually have one or two bad spots, but this was ridiculous! And nothing was taking care of it.
That and cravings. Yeah, the real crazy cravings don't happen for a while (thank goodness), but before I took the test I had stocked up the fridge on all sorts of foods. Mainly ice-creams. The doc says that this is because early on women get vitamin cravings to get their body prepared. I was apparently in desperate need of calcium and iron.