In the beginning

Let's just get this out of the way and, hopefully, never discuss it again. I had the first trimester from hell. It may have been the worst 12 weeks of my life, but it actually started very pleasantly.

Right around Christmas time, I decided that hopin' and wishin' just weren't getting me pregnant and we needed some scientific planning. My doctor gave me some down and dirty advice and we were off! Now, I've always had this fear that, because I love kids so much, there would be this huge cosmic joke and I wouldn't be able to have any of my own. Seriously, I worried about this! We knew Brad could reproduce, but my abilities were a mystery.

SO, the morning of Wednesday, January 16th I woke up just feeling different. I decided it was time to pee on a stick. A normal ritual in our household is for me to be on the toilet, while Brad does something else in the bathroom. This particular morning, it was Brad in the shower, Amanda on the pot. Brad was making fun of me for wanting to pee on a stick saying it was too early and I was wasting a perfectly good pee stick. He then went on to give me some thrilling information he had learned about the Mason's in a show he had DVR'd the night before. I stopped him mid-factoid by thrusting the plus sign-boasting stick into his shower. Silence. We were both in shock. That lasted about 16 seconds.

Ok, now Brad and I had always said that when we got pregnant we'd wait the twelve weeks before telling anyone. I'm proud to say we managed to wait about three minutes. I immediately called a left an URGENT message for Mom to call me as Brad hurriedly got dressed so we could run over to his Mom's. My mom called me back almost immediately and I asked her "Have you decided what you want your grand kids to call you?" She was thrilled. Duh. My dad got called on the way to Rene's. His response was the typical low-key, "Well, that's just great. Just great." Exactly what I would expect. We found Rene sitting on her back porch, drinking coffee, and watching the dogs poop. Brad simply handed her the stick. Too bad it was still a little drippy. She didn't mind. She just wanted to know how long she had to wait. From there, word spread throughout the family and friends. I, of course, sent a mass email as I am wont to do. Love to communicate, hate to make phone calls.

So that's how it all began. Happy, happy day! I was four weeks pregnant and on cloud nine, possible even ten. If I'd just waited another 48 hours or so, I wouldn't have needed to pee on a stick to know. That's when the Morning Sickness hit.

There are no words to describe the horror that was my fight with food those first twelve weeks. I ended up losing fifteen pounds before all was said and done, and have just now managed to gain it back! I'm telling you, I would have been a hell of a bulimic. At one point, I dropped nine pounds in four days. Brad would come home from work and find me laying on the bathroom floor because I was just too tired to run from the couch or the bed to the bathroom one more time. In hind sight, Brad was pretty funny during all of this. At one point, he attempted to help by handing my a paper towel as I yakked violently. I'm not sure where he was going with it, but he was trying to help. Mostly, he just stayed out of my way, which was a good call. He obediently ran to the grocery store when I thought I had identified something that might stay down. I was usually wrong.
I'd like to list, for the record, all of the things that didn't work.
*Sea bands (those wrist band thingies)
*Ginger, ginger ale, ginger supplements, ginger snaps
*Gatorade
*Saltines
*Taking my vitamins at night
*B12 supplements
*Unisom
*Not eating meals and drinking at the same time

I want to list "vigorous prayer", but it may have led me to my final solution: Zofram. Known to me as my miracle pill. Too bad I didn't get it until week 11! It's a drug used to help chemotherapy patients with nausea and it's been a Godsend! I don't have to take it all the time now like I did at first, but I still need it every couple of days. I may just be one of those lucky moms who is sick the entire way through. Lucky, lucky, lucky...

Tomorrow I will be officially halfway through my pregnancy, and the memories of those first weeks are completely overshadowed by my excitement about what is to come. In 72 hours, we will know if we've got a boy or a girl (or kitten or puppy as Brad puts it). Bottom line: morning sickness SUCKED and was completely worth it.

More later, and thanks for voting is my girl v. boy poll. My dad pointed out that the outcome of the poll may not actually have any bearing on the sex of the child. He may be right......