Mama PlaygroundA Blog for Moms

“I forgot how terrible nausea feels”…”I forgot how painful contractions are”…Nature has wisely washed some details of my first pregnancy away. My mind has been sort of cleansed, and is left with a warm glow memory about a relatively pleasant first pregnancy. But now that nausea has showed up an my door once again I FORGOT how yucky it is. It is better this way. It is better that the population is capable of making more than one child. If mom’s remembered (truly felt and remembered) the details then most couples would have only one child. This would mean that for every two people there was only one progeny, and the population halved until it dwindled. And so we forget.
I forgot that nausea creeps up on you any time of day. And now there is the added bonus of wishing I was capable of a mommy time out when I am watching my daughter and want to indulge in a moment of rest on the couch in the fetal position. But alas, she has needs and ENERGY. Nausea creeps up at inconvenient moments and nags at my productivity and positive outlook. Grrr.
So I looked through some old pictures of my last pregnancy last night. Yikes! I FORGOT! How enormous I get. How tiring it could be and the yucky sleeping on your side requirement that lasts an eternity. I FORGOT about all of the edema, the swelling of feet/hands/face and the resulting look of cankles. I forgot about pregnancy pimples, cravings, the need for a nap, etc.
And yet, I gladly take it all on if peanut2 is ok in there. But baby2 is lucky! There would be no baby2s if women were allowed full access to depth and breadth of memory when it comes to their last pregnancy.

Theoretically sure. My stomach says yes please. I love the bubbles, they feel great on my tummy during nausea. Burping is one of the great pleasures of pregnancy, if you ask me. The little bit of caffeine boost is a nice little bonus as well. The sweet, come on! Mmmm.
In reality though, any product that is recommended for cleaning battery acid off of your engine should not be circulating to the precious new life growing within. I would never voluntarily let my daughter drink the heavy duty cleaning products used for cleaning engines. Coca Cola is recommended for just such a use. Apparently there is nothing like it for cleaning out your drains as well. So why would I want it circulating through my veins and in to the tender little tadpole trying to get life started. My baby is depending on me for a good start to this life.
Meanwhile, I just finished a root beer and it is the only thing that made my stomach and head feel better all day long! “Ahhh” was immediately followed up with guilt. Technically us preggos are allowed 2-3 cans of soda per day. I still don’t feel good about it…

So out of nowhere today my husband looked at me and did a double take. Not the “wow Baby Mama – looking good!” kind of double take either. It was more like I had grown a third eye. She studied my face and asked if I realized that I am getting freckles. Overnight it appears that I gained freckles. Pregnancy is so funny!
I wonder what else will unexpectedly change about my appearance. I have heard of women who have straight hair getting curly hair during pregnancy, and curly hair turning straight. I haven’t seen it per se, but I believe it. Especially now. Freckles are an unexpected addition to my complexion. I wonder if they are permanent. Maybe they will be here forever and I will look at them fondly because they will remind me of our second child.

We are not talking about the “gee I could go for a snack” kind of hunger. We are talking about the “I will bite your face off if you get in the way” kind of hunger. The Jekyl and Hyde characters may very well have been the two personas a pregnancy woman (hungry and not hungry). I am just barely pregnant compared to others who are actually toting around a half dozen pounds worth of moving, breathing human being. Still though, my little tadpole knows what he wants.

I am learning to be wary of internal alarms. A general “yeah, I could use a little bite of something” is a very short distance from the state of near desperation that follows. I used to have hours of patience where I could use reserve energy and feel just fine. My energy would dwindle, and I would think about a coming meal. If stuck without food for a bit I may even get a bit grumpy or get a bit of headache. But it took hours! This is so much different. Instead of dwindling energy I find an insane Medusa beast rising up to speak where I don’t want to. She is not meager and tired, she is angry and starving! Nausea sets in almost before hunger does. Dizziness and panic are soon to follow. Exhaustion, sure, but it is replaced by the all-encompassing need to find sustenance for the sake of our survival.

I imagine it is that at that moment the majority of the circulating glucose has been routed to the vital needs of the growing baby. The placenta is a smart and efficient organ that the baby and I have created together. The placenta is a silent pact that we made to make it clear that the baby is the first priority. The placenta takes what it needs and my body is not used to being second fiddle to resources. Speaking of which, I need a meatball sandwich ASAP!

Perhaps “acne” is a bit dramatic, but I suddenly have an enormous Rudolph-sized pimple on my chin. According to the gender predicting wives tales this means I am carrying a girl baby. I find that to be utterly ridiculous. I have a whole mess of new hormones in a tornado flurry within me right now, and my face has a temporarily pubescent look to it. Baby gender is irrelevant. Besides, I Googled it and at least Dr. Phil agrees with me.

http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/288

Hopefully this is a very temporary state. I don’t remember this issue with my last pregnancy…
According to my (admittedly small amount of) research on the subject, acne is a first trimester issue. Soon my estrogen levels will swoop in like a caped crusader and save me from my misery. There will be a whole mess of other problems to deal with in the 2nd and 3rd trimester, but not acne!

This is the time to scream it from the rooftops (very quietly so that only I can hear). At first we thought that we would wait the full 12 weeks. I waited about one day. My mom was the first one to hear the news. It felt so great to tell someone! Then my brother was next…well, that was one week ago and at this point about 4/5 of our universe is aware of the little peanut. I can’t say I regret telling, because it feels great to have the weight of that knowledge off of my chest. I am just not much of a secret keeper (when it comes to MY own secrets that is), but something of this enormity??!! No way.
Now I just have to patiently mark the days off of the calendar until our first appointment to hear the magic thuds of the baby’s heartbeats. I think I really will shout it from the rooftops at that point. Once we see the cardiac activity our chances of miscarriage go down to 10%. Sigh. I have added to the pressure of the situation by having so many people know about it now though. Intermittent nausea, some bloating and even a ~1lb weight gain all tell me everything is ok. It is just awkward to have everyone know. Maybe they will throw some helpful prayers up and keep baby2 healthy. I have lost the dramatic effect of a large surprise announcement, but now we have a whole team of loved ones rooting for us and that feels nice at this point.

At this point I can definitely not justify saying that I am “showing”. Instead I have that fun look of general bulge above the belt line. Somehow though, it sort of makes me proud. In the mysterious and sometimes scary first 12 weeks, it is nice to have a little sign that things are progressing normally. My adorable little pooch is all I have to cradle and hold now, so bloat away!

With my first child (it sounds strange to say that – as though I am somehow a seasoned mommy type) I was this belly size at about 11 weeks, and really showing at 18 weeks. I am only 6 weeks right now. Looking through pictures of my first pregnancy today was quite the reality check. My body is about to really go through IT. I accept the challenge though, and will begin the ritual of belly rubbing that seems to calm us preggos through all of the coming events. Bring on the bloats!