And I thought I'd be better this time around keeping up with the blog, but I guess it's true what they say about pregnancies and keeping track as you have more. I just haven't kept up, although I am enjoying this pregnancy better now that I am over the nausea and have begun an exercise program.
So, let's look back at the first half of this pregnancy...
The first trimester was probably by far my worst out of the three in terms of nausea and exhaustion. I think I was probably much more grumpy this time around, too...mainly because of the nausea and exhaustion. Work was also much more stressful than my first two pregnancies, I think, and the hours were longer, although during my first trimester while I was active duty, I worked much longer days...
Anyhow, the first trimester passed without incident, thankfully, and although I spent more time in the bathroom than I would have liked, I am just thankful it passed. Things of note, however, is that during the first couple weeks after discovering I was pregnant, all I wanted to eat was steak. Not just red meat, but straight steak with steak sauce. Marinated meat made me more nauseous, so I ate lots of just regular beef seared during the first week or two after discovering I was pregnant. Perhaps I was a little iron deficient. Much like the two previous pregnancies, however, I never really had any cravings other than the red meat, and I was more ambivalent about what I wanted to eat than ever before. I did eat constantly, though, whether or not I could keep eating whatever I chose was another story, but I had to keep munching on something. I pretty much stayed out of the kitchen the first trimester due to the nausea, and only cooked when I had to for the kids.
Jeff has been so much help with the girls this whole time. Letting me nap for hours on the weekend, putting the girls down when I pass out after getting home from work, cooking, doing laundry, dealing with my hormonal outbursts and insecurities...
Speaking of hormonal outbursts...this job I have now requires a lot of patience and friendliness on my part because of the international relationships that I need to maintain and the senior leaders I come in contact with regularly at meetings. Well, with the surging of hormones and my constant discomfort with the nausea in my first trimester, I noticed that I get very irritated and frustrated during my meetings...and apparently in my writing as well. As I draft up letters to be sent from one office to another, occasionally I get a little more emotionally invested in the work and tidbits of "rosa rage" kicks in and my boss comes chuckling holding the letter and asks if I'm doing okay. I seem to have become much more aggressive and directive at the office, which actually has made for much more efficient meetings, although I'm not sure everyone leaves as "happy" or as "appeased" as most of my meetings used to go...at least it cuts out a lot of the political back-rubbing and explaining and re-explaining (and re-explaining and re-explaining) why things have to be done a certain way or why the answer is "still" no. I am enjoying the efficiency, personally...now that my hormones have settled down a bit and I am a bit more stable (at least at work), I am trying to maintain my "more aggressive persona" and it seems to be working, for the most part. I am keeping the "rosa rage" out of the papers, though...
Another first trimester symptom (that contributed to the excessive nausea this time around, I'm certain) was my bloodhound nose. I smelled anything and everything, and boy, was it not a pleasant experience when working in an office full of men (sorry, men). I had to go to one meeting with the big boss and it was hot in the room already and the entire room smelled like old corn chips...Fritos...I lasted about the first 10 minutes before I had to excuse myself and step out for fresh air before coming back in so I wouldn't hurl on the table. After that meeting, I started carrying around a plastic bag...just in case. Luckily, I never had to use the bags. I did huff a lot of Altoid mints, though...the strong peppermint smell actually helped quell the nausea much better than actually sucking on them. (They actually tasted awful to me...like sucking on gasoline drops or something...bizarre).
Although the nausea lingered this pregnancy longer than I wanted it to (around 16 weeks), now that it has passed, my energy has picked up and as I mentioned, my moods seem to have evened out for the most part. I actually don't pass out right when I get home from work and I have made dinner a few nights.
As I transitioned into the second trimester, I started having a lot of insecurities about my ballooning body, breakouts on my face, general personality...etc...so after much discussion with Jeff, I decided to do the on-ramp for Crossfit at our local gym by our house and do it throughout this pregnancy. I had been running about six miles a week through the first trimester (about 3 miles twice a week), but it just wasn't helping me in my moods as much as working out with others could...and as good as swimming felt once I was in the pool, getting myself in the pool took so much motivation, I'd frequently just skip it, even if I had all the stuff with me to swim at lunch! So, I on-ramped and finally got certified on 31 October! I am reading up on the safety of Crossfit-ing as a pregnant woman through the crossfitmom website (http://crossfitmom.com) and am scaling and focusing on technique as much as possible now. It's giving me tons of energy that I didn't have before (although I'm sure it also has to do with the fact that I'm well into my second trimester now), and my mood is so much better every day. My body and belly continues to balloon, as I expect, but I feel fitter and healthier for this pregnancy than my two previous ones, so the outlook is good that I won't make my doc fall out of her chair from my weight gain...I hope. ;)
OK, so I think I've covered most everything that has been happening to ME this pregnancy, but let me close with a note about my little one growing within...
As of our 17-week ultrasound check-up, the baby is going to be our princess number 3! I got to feel her fluttering inside for the first time in mid-October while I was in a meeting, although I failed to write down the date. And, this morning, I felt her hiccuping in my belly for the first time! :) I'm not sure why hiccups seem to be such a significant milestone in my pregnancies, but I seem to take note of it because it's such a funny sensation for me...it makes me smile. :)
In more medical aspects, all the tests have come back clean and she's growing on par with her estimated due date of 16 March, so I'm hoping I have a late late February or early March baby. Here's to hoping!
Next doc appointment is on 12 November, and that one is the full ultrasound with all measurements and such, so I'll see you then, Little One. In the meantime, keep kicking and fluttering in there!
