As of today, I am 17 weeks pregnant (by the way, I’m pregnant!). Since I don’t get out much, nobody has told me this go around about how much they just loooooved being pregnant, daydream face and all. Being pregnant with Pixie was rough at times, but this… this is getting ridiculous. What with one thing after another, I don’t think I’ve been fine and healthy for more than 5 days at a stretch since I was 4 weeks pregnant (which, incidently, is when my morning sickness started, because I guess now we’re an overachiever).
So in the last 17 weeks, I have had:
A kidney stone. Let me repeat that: a [explative] kidney stone.* Nausea and vomiting that started at 4 weeks and was so bad I needed to be medicated, and finally decreased at 16 weeks to just the occasional up-chuck. A UTI. The flu.** Random spotting requiring “pelvic rest” and an extra ultrasound. Some sort of evil stomach bug or rotovirus. And now: Bronchitis.
Are. You. KIDDING me?!
I’m generally the type that does get sick easily, but even for me this is flat-out ridiculous. I was uncomfortable with Pixie, and I had (milder) nausea from 8 weeks to 18 weeks, and that March I got really, really sick. I was working with children at the time (aka walking little germ factories) and picked up something that came with extremely painful mouth sores and was most likely Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (common in children). Less than two weeks later I had a case of Strep. That’s all that really stands out besides the typical pregnancy symptoms of tiredness, nausea, discomfort, feeling like a beached whale, etc.
Oh, and guys? Please save the platitudes. I know it’ll “all be worth it in the end,” though I’m pretty sure most of these issues aren’t really related to being pregnant, except for the part where your immune system is compromised during pregnancy. Therefore, I can be as bitter as I want, right? And we’re not in any danger of me misplacing bitterness on the little bean.
One of the stand-out highlights of the last few weeks was actually the extra ultrasound I had. Little one was developed enough that I got a good look at his or her face, and my heart just melted. It wasn’t one of the fancy (expensive) 3D ultrasound pics or anything, but there was enough resolution there to see how much Baby #2’s face already looks so much like Pixie’s. It was a real trip.
*The kidney stone was before conception, but with the way you count weeks in pregnancy, it’s still within the timeframe. And being that it was the second most painful experience in my life, it’s staying on the darn list.
**Yes, I have since gotten my flu shot, as I do every year. It was recommended to me to wait until after the first trimester to get it, though.
I obviously can’t relate to a lot of your pain, but kidney stone? OUCH. If that’s what giving birth is like, I do not envy you ladies one bit. That pain is crippling.
Cho, the kidney stone was the *second* most painful experience, and giving birth was the FIRST. So, make of that what you will.
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