I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Hey Chile!
Let me see. Where do I start? Whew! It has been one heck of a bumpy ride. But! God is great! I want to share with you my First Trimester Blues. Chile listen, I was sick as a junk yard dog! You hear me! Now, please don’t take this lightly or as a joke, because I ain’t even tryna be funny. But I thought I was gonna die from sickness. Between two emergency room visits, several calls to the on call nurses, late nights, sick days all day, I just was miserably happy.
See, my daughter Naomi was easy breezy when I was pregnant with her. In the mornings I would have to take it a tad bit slow due to a slight case of nausea, but that was it. I did have heartburn with her for the last 6 to 8 weeks which sucked. But I just didn’t eat things that would trigger it and I didn’t eat late at night. So, when I got pregnant the second time around I was like oh this is whatever.
WRONG!
I know they say, all pregnancies are different, and boy they ain’t neva lied!! Chile, I lost so much weight in my first trimester I thought I would just blow on away. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I just did the best I could with my three year old daughter. With the help of amazing friends we got by. Big ups to you Tara! I love me some you girl!! Thank you! But all I really wanted was my husband. Who just so happened to be gone in a training opt for two whole months. The hardest two months of my first trimester at that. I could cry just thinking about it. Sigh. It was absolute torture! The fact that my daughter had to see me so sick broke my heart. But we held each other down. It was days she even took care of me. Kisses on the forehead, rubs on my back, sweet things she would constantly say to me. She is everything.
My diet consisted of nothing much at all. Toast, saltine crackers, and yogurt were automatic things to go to just to feed my baby honestly. Then I went through a phase where I just ate bowls of steamed broccoli. I couldn’t eat meat at all! Which wasn’t the absolute worse. I haven’t eaten pork or beef in 4 years, so. I don’t drink soda at all except ginger ale and that back fired on me too. Yes, that’s me. For all those who are like how you do you drink that? I mean the same way you pour anything else in a glass and drink it. However, I reckon I won’t be drinking soda of any kid now. I’m done with ginger ale. That made me sick too! Oh yeah, I’m neva eva eating spaghetti again in life! The thought of it makes me want to gag. Yuck!! That’s the first time I got sick. Right after having spaghetti for dinner. Ewww. Oh, and popsicles!! Popsicles were my jam. But that is pregnant or not. I would get two or three of them at a time and go in.
I would take old bottles of water during the day and freeze them preparing for the night. I would put them on the back of my neck and chest. It might sound crazy, but it was soothing for me. All I know is it works! You know when you’re nauseated and it’s like a heat wave comes over you. Ugh. The frozen bottle(s) definitely played a huge role in taming that. As time moved on and things got worse, I had to come up with some other remedies.
The first time I went to the E.R. I was dehydrated. Which that’s never happened before. Any one who knows me personally knows, I love me some water. I prefer water over any beverage. I squeeze a whole lemon in there with extra ice. Mmm, that’s right. However, I was so sick I didn’t want to eat or drink anything and so, that led to dehydration. My daughter took this picture of the trash cane. Which is ironic because the whole time I was laying in the bed I was starring at it. Hoping I wouldn’t have to use it.
This time was way worse than the first time to the E.R. I thought I wasn’t going to make it. If I exhaled I thought I would throw up. I still don’t know how I got my daughter and me dressed and ready to this day. I guess you really don’t know what you can do until you have no options but to do it. I took three grocery bags and put one inside thee another just in case I threw up on the way. Thank God I live on base and the hospital is literally right there. I can walk to the hospital. We’ll on a good day that is. It’s not far at all. Naomi called Papa and Mom on FaceTime and they stayed on the phone the entire time. Even with it being 1 o’clock in the morning on there time. (East coast.) It’s the little things Chile. I could tell they were worried. Especially with my husband being gone. That’s that military wife life for ya.
I walked in the emergency room with my baby by my side, tears running down my face, a frozen bottle of water on the side of my neck, with my head titled to the side. I handed the receptionist my military ID and they called me back immediately. They took me to a room way in the back being I was pregnant and had my daughter with me. Which I thought was very sweet. The nurse recognized me instantly from the first visit. I could tell he felt sorry for me. I was so weak I couldn’t even answer the protocol questions. He saw how sick I was and told me to hold on one second. He came back with this pen and asked me had I ever used one before. He had retrieved it from labor and delivery. I said, no. He told me to try it! Chile! He changed my life! It was a essential oils pen. And let me to you something, that thang works!! It has peppermint, spearmint, and lavender in it. Which is known to cure queasiness. I sniffed it and instantly started to feel a relief from nausea. I was still pretty nervous because my heart rate was up. So they wanted to check the baby. Thank God she was just fine. When I looked at the screen she was waving. She hadn’t actually grown fingers yet at that point. But it was still the most precious thang ever.
They gave me a IV and I felt like a champ during and afterwards! I started to feel so much better. Whew Chile that was a night for the books right there. I’ll neva eva forget. It was a Sunday. I actually had called the on call nurse first. I reckon after listening to me cry and hearing my symptoms she told me she wanted me to go to the emergency room. I must say, the E.R. on base is where it is at for me! They’re the absolute best. Patient, compassionate, and gentle, because I was a hot mess and looked a hot mess too. The nurse even gave me a extra essential oil to take home. And I’m so thankful he did, because I used them every time I felt nauseated late at night. That’s when I would get sick mostly, at night. What do the old folks say? In the wee hours of the night. I’m telling you, night time was the worse. I would doze off about 10 o’clock and wake up at midnight running to the bathroom. I was so over waking up sick like that that I would make myself stay up to about 1 o’clock in the morning. So, if I started feeling really sick I would already be up. If I wasn’t sick by then I had faith I would make it through the rest of the night. After being sick for weeks upon weeks I lived in fear of the night. I would start getting anxious as soon as the sun went down. If there was a night that I didn’t feel as sick to my stomach, I would have the worse headache. And sometimes that would make my stomach hurt. By the end of my first trimester Naomi and me had moved downstairs. I couldn’t sleep laying flat. I could only get comfortable and not feel the urge to throw up if I was sitting up. So, I slept in the recliner for about three weeks, with the pregnancy pillow my husband ordered and got sent to the house for me while he was still gone. I was finally comfy cozy. My daughter seemed to enjoy “camping out” downstairs. Desperate Housewives held me down a lot of my first trimester. Lynette, Gabby, Susan, and Bree are a dog on trip. I love that show!
I thought it was super duper sweet how my husband came home from sleeping on the ground and in a tent, to sleeping right beside me in the recliner. That’s a rule we have. As long as we’re in the house together we sleep together, no matter what. I felt so bad for him because he’s pretty long. So, I know he was very uncomfortable. But he stuck it out with me, no complaints. Like he always does. He always stayed in touch, he never missed a beat, not even from a far. He never makes me feel alone. I’m grateful for him.
It would be days I would be so sick. I would just breakdown and cry. But that only made me sicker. Chile!! I felt like I couldn’t catch a break! I really didn’t know if I was coming or going. The only thing about night fall that I looked forward to was a phone call from husband. The sound of his voice always made me feel just a little bit better. I’m just glad that my daughter would be sound asleep when the worse parts of me happened.
So yeah, these are the things that I had to have for sure all the time, especially before bed!!! Ya know, juuust in case I would wake up feeling sick.
- At least two frozen bottles of water.
- A cold cloth already applied to my forehead before falling asleep.
- My essential oils. One in hand (I slept with it in my hand.) and the other one on the night stand.
- Last but certainly not least! Trident peppermint chewing gum!
“Peppermint and spearmint gums are great ways to sooth your stomach when you’ve got morning sickness. Chewing gum creates more saliva, and saliva soothes the stomach naturally.”
If ya pregnant or not and ya stomach hurts, get you some chewing gum Chile!
So yeah, that’s what’s been happening with me. That’s why I’ve been so M.I.A. I wasn’t pressed on people, places, or things at the time. I had a priority to take care of my daughter as best I could, while trying to maintain alone. Only very few people knew I was pregnant. So, for those who didn’t know I was pregnant probably thought I was being a pure butt hole. But Chile, if you only knew…
I’m Just Saying….
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