Baby, baby, baby

[Before any of you go screamin' at me...Jimmy posted the link for me on FB. No, I have not broken my lent. I even walked away from the screen so I wouldn't be tempted! Even though I SO want to know what's going on with everyone!]

These last 3+ weeks have been CRAP-OH-LA. That's right, I said crap-oh-la.

A few weeks back we had a good scare that I may be miscarrying, spent all night in the ER for them to poke me, prod me, scare me even more, and send me home with NO answers. My dr. kept insinuating that he thought my pregnancy was ectopic (which scared the living bejeebuz out of Jimmy) even after my ultrasound. So they sent me for blood work and more tests. We were on pins and needles for almost a week waiting for results.

Good news; baby is cookin' away. Bad news; I've been diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. BASICALLY a fancy medical terminology for incredibly severe morning sickness. I. Am. Miserable.

To date I have lost a total of 17 pounds, and trust me ladies; that may sound like a party, but it is NO fun. My energy is non-existant. For over a week, I was lucky if I made it out of bed some days. I wake up in the morning with the shakes because my blood sugar is so low, and then immediately greet my toilet with my dinner from the night before. EH.

I can eat hardly anything. Fruit is about the only constant thing that stays down. Some days I'll eat something (which, when I can eat something even relatively close to a meal, I jump for joy) and then the next day, even the thought of it makes me start to gag. & I swear, if I ever have to eat another saltine after this pregnancy, I will lose my damn head.

I shiver all the time because my body cant get warm, which is SUPER annoying because I absolutely HATE to be cold. & we won't even go into the constant excess saliva...I might barf just talking about it. AND, super awful headaches/migraines that are lasting (on average) 24 hrs. PFFFFF. Needless to say, I'm not doing so hot. & I am starting to lose my mind! Most days I am bed/couch ridden just trying to keep what little food I can eat, in my stomach. I have gotten to the point now where I don't even have the strength to pick Lukas up, and my heart is breaking.

My midwife told me that this occurs in about 2% of women, and can last anywhere from 17 to 40 weeks. Lord, I pray You give me the least amount possible! HOWEVER, there is one tid bit of exciting news from all this ick. The majority of women diagnosed with 'this', end up delivering a female baby. There is no KNOWN reason why it occurs, but the theory is that it may be brought on by the excess amounts of estrogen being produced by a female fetus (baby, baby, baby. I hate that terminology-fetus)

Luckily, I have been able to keep my levels up so far, and have avoided being hospitalized. I take my vitamins at night right before I hit the sack, and that way Im able to keep them down. I have been having trouble with dehydration, because it's hard to even keep down water...but Jimmy has really been helping me and we've been able to avoid that as well, so far. First they told me if I lost 15 lbs they would hospitalize me, but I kept my levels up. So now they are saying 20, and that they will not let me go past 20 lbs of weight loss without hospitalizing me even if my levels are up...so here's hopin.

& let me just take a minute to thank my husband. Who, the other day said to me 'gahhhhh! I would rather be at work! This is insanity!". Thank you, thank you. & they think we 'stay-at-home moms' don't have it rough.

Anyhoo, after he got the swing of things, he has really stepped up to the plate. He does the dishes, folds the laundry, sets out Lexi's clothes for her in the morning, comes home early from work so he can get up with the kids and I can stay in bed. He's even been preparing dinner before he leaves for work so all I have to do is hobble into the kitchen and serve it. In the morning when he comes home from work, before he climbs in bed, he washes and cuts me up a bunch of fruit, throws it in a bowl, wraps it, and puts it in the fridge for me with a little note that usually says 'just eat as much as you can babe, you're doing good'.

Seriously, I DO NOT know how I would have gotten through this past (almost) month without him. He will shoo me away if he thinks Im going to smell something that may put me into a puking spell, and keeps telling me that this is not going to last the whole pregnancy (because Lord knows, I WILL lose my head) The last two days I have been feeling better then I have in weeks. I actually took Lexi to school today and managed to wait until I was in the parking lot to up-chuck, (hey, at least I made it out of the house!)

Last week we had another ultrasound, and we got to see the little bean with his/her heart just beating away. I know this is my third, so I should be 'seasoned', but something about that never ceases to amaze me. Just weeks ago there was nothing there, and then some cells, and now...now there is a visible BABY with a beating HEART. A HEART. Gah, I can't wrap my head around it. It's so amazing. & to know that it's not just any baby, it's my baby, our baby. That no other two people in the entire existance of the human race could have made that same baby that is growing away inside me. Ah. I could go on and on...

Also, my due date has changed. I know, I know. 11/11 was SUCH a cool date. But, it is what it is. I have a constant 31 day cycle instead of 28 like most women. Therefore I ovulate later, therefore I concieve later, therefore (after ultrasounds and blood tests) my due date has moved to 11/16...we may really have a Turkey baby indeed! As this will be my first natural birth, I anticipate going 1-2 weeks past my due date and enduring a long labor. Though my midwife tells me to stop thinking so negatively, I just have a mommy-instinct...but hey, I'd LOVE nothing less then to be proved wrong ;)

Anyways, y'all. I just wanted to reach out and say 'Im alive!'....feeling like Im dead...but definitely still here, lol. I hope you all are well. My family is coming up to visit for Easter and Im very excited to see them (and to have my mom cook for me) hopefully my nausea has let up by then. My baby bug turned FOUR on the 23rd, and we gifted her with a giant trampoline....that her and Lukas have already put to good use.

Love always.