Growing Pains!

This pregnancy was SO different than my first. The day I turned six weeks, I PUKED my guts up! We had eaten Christmas dinner at Gaga's house the day before. It was SO good and I think I ate 3 plates! It ALL came up the next day, though! Christmas morning was awful, too! I don't think I ate anything all day but saltine crackers! From then until about 16 weeks, throwing up was a daily occurrence! Mostly in the mornings, but also at night, too! Thankfully I never vomited in front of my students at school! I threw up one time while they were at PE, and that was it thankfully! I would feel nauseous and would have to snack throughout the day to make me hold it in! The doctor prescribed me Zofran, and I would only take it if I felt like I couldn't stop throwing up....I think I ended up taking it maybe 4 times! It was a wonderful medicine and provided immediate relief! It is also prescribed to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to help control their vomiting, so it is some good stuff! The bad thing about the Zofran was that it made me constipated! So, the doctor told me to start taking stool softeners, and it ended up that I had to take them the whole nine months along with my prenatal vitamin every night before I went to bed. I also had to change my diet to make sure it included a lot of fiber. (I even drank a whole cup of prune juice while holding my nose! I threw up all night after I drank it! So, no more of that!) At my mid-pregnancy ultrasound, they confirmed it was indeed a girl! The doctor found a small cyst-like spot on the baby's kidney, so I would be rescheduled to come back for another ultrasound at 29 weeks to make sure everything was okay! It was, thankfully, but it was enough to have me worried! When I went to take the glucose test, I FAILED! By 14 points! So, I had to go back for the awful 3 hour test! The drink wasn't so bad, it was the fact that I couldn't eat! AND if I threw up, I would have to start over! I gagged several times, and swallowed my vomit in my mouth so that I would NOT have to do it again! I passed the 3 hour with flying colors, and I got a whole lot of papers graded in the meantime! I had to pee ALL the time, and many days after work, the inside of my legs would be so raw that I would have to come home and waddle around with vaseline on. I had never had that problem before! When I went for my 35/36 week check-up, I just KNEW I was going to be dilated because I had been hurting in my back pretty bad and having Braxton Hicks. I would lay at night with the heating pad on my back because it ached so bad! The doctor checked, and I was NOTHING! No sign of baby girl coming anytime soon! So, she scheduled me to come back in 2 weeks. A day before 38 weeks, and I was barely a centimeter! Dr. Johnston was going out of town, and I was so scared I was going to go into labor without her there. She assured me, however, that she would be back before I was ready to have this baby. When I went back at 39 weeks, 3 days, Dr. Nicholls checked me and I was 3 cm and 60% effaced! After talking it over, we decided to go ahead and induce. My options for Dr. Johnston were August 14 or 18th. My due date was the 16th, so if I waited until the 18th, I would be more likely to go into labor on my own which was fine with me, but Dr. Nicholls encouraged me to go ahead with the 14th, so that's what we did! By delivery, I ended up gaining around 50 pounds! 

20 weeks!

26 weeks!

36 weeks

38 Weeks

 

39 Weeks, 2 days

 39 weeks, 5 days! Before leaving for the hospital!

 

Foods I craved/loved:

• Cheerios- I ate them every morning before school.
• Chocolate chip muffins and poptarts- I ate them almost every day during the summer.
• Waffles- What I ate everyday the last month or so for breakfast.
• SWEET TEA! I had to have it everyday, especially during the summer! Willy T's was my favorite! I would go to the drive thru just to get tea!
• Willy T's Chicken fingers or chicken sandwich
• Anything with chocolate!!!!
• McDonalds pancakes
• Mexican
• Purple Grapes
• Chocolate chip or M&M cookies
• Cici's Pizza and cinnamon rolls
• Milk- I drank it by the gallons! With my chocolate of course!