My boys. My life.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Pregnancy Journey - First Trimester

I have been bad about blogging but want to try starting again.

As you likely know by now, we are expecting #3. We are due July 28 and very excited about this next addition to our family. I am relieved, thankful and humbled to feel as good as I do this pregnancy. With Bryce's, I was pretty sick in the evenings, often throwing up. Had one or two spells where I needed medical intervention because I kept getting sick. Ethan's pregnancy was a different story. I didn't know if I'd ever want to be pregnant again after his. I was extremely sick at like 4.5 weeks! I had to go to the ER because I kept getting sick (like a dozen times in 2-3 hours). I was getting very dehydrated and my stomach was just too sick to settle down. It was awful. I threw up at least once every day, multiple times if we had to drive anywhere because of how motion sick I was. It was a very long pregnancy, where I didn't feel like I had a 2nd trimester. I went straight from being sick from the minute I woke up til the minute I went to bed... this lasted several months... to being big and uncomfortable. He was 9 lbs 2 oz at birth and a couple months before he was born I was in a decent amount of pain carrying him. Looking back, I think he was growing at a faster rate than what my skin could stretch. I was joyful at the miracle growing inside me, but there wasn't much I enjoyed about his pregnancy. I was thrilled when I delivered him, and rather relieved. I felt better giving birth and recovering than what I did during his pregnancy.

When we found out about this pregnancy, we were in the midst of battling some stomach bugs in our house. I thought I had caught something from a recent bout one of our kids had, but then I realized I was feeling mostly alright during the day but worse in the evening. Hmm.... I'd seen this before. I had Tim pick up pizza that night since I didn't feel like cooking and pizza didn't sound good when he arrived with it. I also had him pick up a home pregnancy test, just in case. I tested right away, figuring if my recent evening woes were from pregnancy, my HCG levels would be high enough to read a positive result even though it was evening and not first thing in the morning like many tests recommend. He picked up an indisputable test that gave a digital reading. When it showed up "Pregnant" a few moments later, I just kinda laughed as I showed the test to Tim. Obviously we were excited, it just kinda threw us off. It's not that this pregnancy was a surprise/accident, just unexpected. It had taken over a year to get pregnant with Bryce and 4-5 months to get pregnant with Ethan. This was the first month. So that's why we were thrown off. Happily thrown off.

My evening sickness quickly got worse. And no, I do not believe it had anything to do with the positive result. Morning sickness (or evening, or all day) is not in the head. It is a real, true symptom as many of you know. At that point we calculated that we were around 7 weeks along. I thought, ok - further along than being sick with Ethan so insanely early on. But I could still have a rough road ahead. That Sunday at church, the pastor mentioned the tear-off tab and reminded us if we had a concern to submit a prayer request. I thought to myself, "It couldn't hurt." I thought even though I was so sick with Ethan, God is bigger than this. I don't have to be that sick again - He could help me through it. I asked for prayers for health and strength in the coming month or two, when my sickness would be at its worst. I am thrilled to admit, I haven't thrown up since and overall feel better. Thank you, God. I felt insantly humbled by His goodness. Of all the things going on in the world, He cared enough to take away this concern for me. Wow!

Sometimes I think God just wants us to humble ourselves and acknowledge His control over everything in life. Easier said than done, I know. And I know often times we pray things that seemingly go unanswered. I don't have answers for those circumstances. I know life is tough and often unfair. All I can think about those situations is that God sees the big picture and we don't. However, in some cases, I think when we admit His control in life and just ask for something, He wants to give us our desires. He wants to answer our prayers. I'm thankful and relieved He answered this one anyway. With two little boys and many more responsibilities and a busier schedule than either of their pregnancies, I am thankful my road was paved a little smoother for this pregnancy.

We have an ultrasound Monday afternoon and I will share that update then. I'm at a little over 11 weeks and only feel queasy for 2-3 hours in the evening. Much more manageable for me, especially since that's when Tim is home to help with the kids. There are so many aspects of this pregnancy that are different from Bryce and Ethan's. And even though I'm far more tired, it's a happy, peaceful tired. I've got it pretty good!

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