It Ain't Pretty

At 13 weeks, I am still feeling nauseated pretty much all of the time. I've tried eating before bed, eating immediately in the morning, eating more protein, taking B6 vitamins...none of it seems to be making a dent. The one thing thing that seems to help is Unisom. Yep, that's right, the OTC sleeping pill. Before you draw your breath in shock, my doctor told me to take it. Apparently it's ok for pregnant gals. Apparently in Canada, they combine it with a B6 vitamin just for pregnant gals. Let me tell you, it's magical. I was totally in the world of nasty on Wednesday, and I took 1/2 a pill and slept through the night and awoke Thursday morning all fresh and peachy, ready to work, grocery shop, feel like a normal person. I haven't felt like that in weeks.

Of course, I am so nervous about taking any drugs at all, I decided Thursday night not to take one, lest I become addicted or add undue chemicals to my body, or worst of all, inadvertently discover the new Thalidomide. So yesterday was back to grody land for me, which was ok b/c I didn't have to work.

The day went by in a typically nauseous, overly exhausted fashion until last night, when, perhaps due to the enormous lead of Tampa Bay over the Red Sox, I suddenly started power hurling as I sat on the couch. Luckily I had placed a small trash can next to the couch last week for just such emergencies.

When I went to the bathroom to clean up, I noticed that I had broken blood vessels around both eyes and in my neck, due to the force of the hurl. I looked like I'd lost a bar fight. And today, I still look that way. I really hope no one I've run into today (the furnace guy, the taco stand girl) worry that my life is in danger.

So, for those of you that think carrying a child makes you glow, thickens and shines your hair, and makes you ecstatic to be creating life, I'm here to tell you, there's more to the story. It's an amazing process, and seeing a little human bean floating around in your womb on an ultrasound screen will bring tears to your eyes, but it's also a lot of work, it can be rugged on your body and your mind. It's kind of like the worst day of PMS stretched over months, combined with a constantly angry stomach, and lots of people (sometimes seemingly incongruously) being really, really happy for you.