Pregnancy Round 2 {7 & 8 Weeks}

Blood work!

Who doesn't love getting their blood drawn and peeing in cups?

Oh that's right, me.  BUT, I know it's really important for my midwife to know what's going on in my body. So, we can prevent any issues from arising in the future.  A big component of midwifery based care is prevention. She doesn't wait until I have high blood pressure to address the issue, we prevent the blood pressure from getting high, that sort of thing.  I will start going in for official prenatal appointments with Husband starting at 8 or 9 weeks.  The other thing about midwifery care, at least with my midwife, is that she's always available. I can just show up and drink tea with her on a Thursday if she's not at a birth.  It's not an official prenatal but if I have a question or something doesn't feel right I could bring it up then.  It's really the most convenient thing ever!

As far as official weekly breakdowns go, Week 7 was a decent week.  We returned from our vacation and I was on my own during most of the days.  I felt okay, like good enough to do laundry and make some snacks for both Sonja and I but I did stay horizontal for most of the week.  And I used her favorite and only movie, Happy Feet, on my computer more often than I'd like.  But Thursday was rough, I started getting a head ache and nauseous during an evening art class I teach.  That night I felt awful and Friday morning I finally was able to vomit.  Which sounds terrible but in the moment is such a relief.  I think it was a migraine mixed with morning sickness and since I couldn't take anything besides Tylenol I had to live with it for the next two days.  I finally felt "good" again Saturday, until we went to the farmer's market and I practically overheated.  No more outside events for me until September!

As far as cravings go, I have had way more this time than with Sonja.  Last time I just wanted to stay away from salad and eggs.  This time I want specific meals and have less aversions to foods. I actually really enjoy salads this time around.  Maybe because it's so hot that they're refreshing or since I stopped drinking orange juice, I'm in serious need of folic acid.  I've also had this weird phenomenon that once I eat my craved item, I NEVER want to eat that specific meal again.  Like, I had fried rice last week and nothing sounds worse to me than that.  Also, I got a pizza that I LOVE with tons of garlic and spinach from Spinato's.  Nope.  Can't do that again for a while either.

Week 8 started on Sunday or at least that's how I've been counting.  I felt good enough to go grocery shopping and do laundry.  But I was still getting uncomfortable in any other position besides lying down.  Thankfully, my sweet friend Katie came over on Monday with her son and hung out with Sonja and I while I laid in a nice reclined position half sleeping for most of the play date. Wednesday, I headed to my naturopathic doctor for a candida shot and more anti-candida treatments, since the thrush is back again. Sonja has no symptoms, thank god or goddess, but it's making nursing during pregnancy excruciatingly painful. After the shot symptoms did start to clear up, I even noticed my tongue looked less white {indicating it was in my mouth. yuck!}  I'm also back on the diet for at least 2 weeks and then probably limited sugar if any and no dried fruit, fresh fruit juice or yeast containing breads.  She explained that during pregnancy the spike in estrogen feeds the sugars to the cells and therefore feeds the candida.  Yeast is a really common symptom in pregnancy and most women present vaginally.  I, however, seem to be lucky enough to get it systemically.  I honestly would have postponed this pregnancy or not gotten pregnant again if I had known this was a complication, because it is so invasive, and overwhelming and treatment during pregnancy is very limited with lots of risks.  The only "safe" treatment is the one I'm doing with my naturopathic doctor, and it takes a huge commitment to eat like this.  NO SUGAR, NO BREAD, those are really difficult to cut out.

I've got a theory on morning sickness now, and it's something like this.  I'd actually forget I'm pregnant if I didn't get these waves of discomfort.  I think it's my body's way of reminding me to rest, reminding me to be careful about what I'm eating and to genetly remind me that in 8 more months I'm going to have to give birth, which is quite a bit more uncomfortable.  So, this is like a warm up before a big race or something...

Hey! I finally have a baby bump!

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