(I think this might just be pregnancy blog the next few months. Just a head's up.)
Ok, I'm here! Any week that I'm well enough to get a blog post out is a week where lots of tears of gratitude are being shed. The nausea is definitely ramping up. It's worse than it was last week. Now I'm maxed out on unisom, benadryl, and meclizine. Believe it or not that's not enough nausea meds to keep me functional (HG suuucks) so I spent a lot of the week on Phenergan too. But that makes me feel super weird and it's still not masking the nausea enough, so this week I'm going to trade it out and try Reglan instead. I'm trying REALLY hard to stay away from Zofran this pregnancy. I had to be on it for most of my last pregnancy, and let's just say the side effects are NOT pretty. However, there were 3 or 4 times this last week when I couldn't get the seconds-from-throwing-up feeling to go away, and I was grateful to have Zofran on hand in those moments. But again, the side effects were not pretty. Really hoping Reglan will be my magic drug to keep me off the Zofran. You should see my pill box. It's enormous.
To the average pregnant woman, that long list of medicines probably seems excessive and terrifying. It's definitely a lot. But also, things are still going SO SO SO indescribably much better than last pregnancy (because of the meds). Luckily, the meds I'm on are very safe in pregnancy. I can't help but feel grateful most of the time. Last pregnancy I wasn't able to keep enough food down to gain so much as a pound until I was over halfway through my pregnancy. I don't think that's going to be an issue this time. I haven't thrown up once yet, and forcing down some protein every 1-2 hours is as essential as meds for keeping my nausea managed. Another difference from my last pregnancy is that last time, I think I felt most sick in the mornings and evenings/night. Honestly there was no break from the debilitating nausea last time, but mornings and evenings were especially dangerous, and I ended up in bed by 7:30 most nights. This time around I feel mostly ok in the mornings and evenings. It's the afternoons that are the worst. The great thing about that time is it coincides with Jack's preschool, so I should be able to nap most of the afternoon hours away now that Jack's back in preschool. Hallelujah.
In conclusion, we're doing ok up here! It's no picnic, but with my last pregnancy to compare this one to, I feel really grateful. Grateful that I get a few hours most days where I feel pretty much normal. Grateful that there are times when I genuinely enjoy eating a meal! (didn't happen once last time) Grateful I'm able to function and play with Jack still. Again, there's still plenty of time for things to get worse, but I feel pretty certain that it will never get as bad as last time as long as I keep up with my protocol. Thank youuuuuuu modern medicine. And thank you to my dear sweet husband who is happy to talk and research meds with me all day. You the real MVP. (MVP #2. I still get to be MVP #1 since I'm giving up my health all year to grow this bebe!)