Friday, February 19, 2010

I'm Allowed....

...to rant a little like I did last week. I feel like I've been put into the washer on the high spin cycle. Not only do we have little 'peepers' running all over right now:








But this little chica also has a fat preggers belly :

And this guy has two girlfriends expecting:









But wait...that's not all that has me in a tizzy. This gal also is starting to bust out of her cloths...oh wait, that's me starting to look like a milk cow (with short hair because I cut it all off - but ignore that. It IS growing back):Lots and lots of mixed feeling concerning this. If you happen to glance at the timer at the top of how long I've been married, you will realize why I left that up there...so y'all can get an idea on the timing of this one. Namely I've been married about 11 weeks. Guess what? I've been pregnant just shy of 11 weeks. Nice eh? So this is me at 13 weeks.

I've also been sick, frustrated with the lack of support I have here, and all those feeling concerning my step-daughter? Now compound them with the normal fears of a first pregnancy - namely if I'm having such a hard time getting it together with her, what in the world is going to happen when another little one comes along?

I know, the advice I'm going to get is just wait - it will all work itself out. I hate to say it though - but that doesn't help right now. I'm terrified of this whole thing.

Yes, we are excited. Don't get me wrong. I don't look at this as a curse or anything, it's just that I wasn't prepared mentally for this and it really didn't seem real until I heard the heartbeat at 8 weeks, and even then it wasn't until I had an ultrasound, and my cloths stopped fitting that reality dawned on me.

Yes - it took awhile to wrap my mind around it. But what I really want right now is to stop being sick. That is what is overwhelming my life and coloring my interpretations of all that is going on around me. It isn't letting up and I would like a little bit of my life back so I can deal with everything else.

What were the best things you had while pregnant? For nausea, insomnia, clothing, etc...

13 comments:

AJ said...

Woohoo!!!! Congrats again!

And if it makes you feel any better, being scared/worried is normal. It just means you care. A lot. It's your maternal instinct. Welcome to mommy guilt/freak outs!

For nausea, keep your belly full, don't let yourself get hungry...things like yogurt, cheerios, bananas helped me. But, I never really had terrible morning sickness. You *should* be done with it shortly after the first trimester is over, but everyone and every pregnancy is different.

And on clothes, by #3, I finally learned to stop fighting it. Don't cram yourself into clothes that are too snug, b/c then you're just even more uncomfortable all day. Which is why I was in maternity clothes by 7 wks with J:)

Keep us updated and filled in, I'm so excited for you!!

h said...

oooh...i knew it! :) Congrats!

rae rae said...

YAY! Congrats! :-) You are a good secret keeper (unlike myself :-))

Foods: Echo AJ- don't let yourself get hungry. Don't go into the fridge unless forced to. Comfort foods helped me, and I've heard that anything ginger can help (they even make ginger suckers to help the tummy). Hope you start feeling better soon.

As far as clothes, I LOVE maxi dresses, loose dresses with boots, and yoga pants :-) Pants are so overrated.

Stephie said...

So excited for you!!! I would say you can't compare your relationship with your step daughter to the one you are going to have with this baby. You get to make decisions with this one, not deal with the decisions that have already been made.
I always had candy to suck on for the nausea, lots of jolly ranchers and life savers.
I didn't have insomnia until later on, like the 3rd trimester.
I loved Old Navy maternity clothes, they are cheap and comfy and have lots of options on-line and free shipping!

Laura said...

Congrats! Congrats! I'll agree with Old Navy for maternity clothes, still working on the insomnia portion, haven't found anything that helps that yet.

JJ said...

Congratulations to you and Nate!!! No wonder you are feeling overwhelmed - you've had a ton of changes in the past year, and even good change brings stress. Instead of telling you not to worry or feel overwhelmed(because you are going to anyway!) I'll say that the fact that you try so hard with your step-daughter shows that you are going to be the best kind of mom - someone involved and invested in raising them both the best that you can. You are going to be a great mom :)
And though I'm not a mom, I've heard those Bella Bands are great for once you can't button your jeans.

Erika said...

Most of the good stuff has already been covered by the other ladies.

Congrats!

I have a step-daughter and Alex and I love them both... but it's COMPLETELY different. Just follow your heart and your gut. It's the toughest job on earth, but you'll do well.

Melatonin always helps me with insomnia and anxiety. Just make sure that if it ever gets too overwhelming that you look for a therapist and/or get some help. Raising Alex in MN without help from family is hard. I got so overwhelmed that I got post-partum depression. It was awful. The best thing I ever did was go to therapy for it.

big hugs,
E

Caroline said...

Congrats!

Just to add to what Erika said, I don't think I would take melatonin-b/c there isn't much out there on melatonin and pregnancy, and it's a hormone-so that means it can effect a lot of systems and such. (Of course the article is on high levels of melatonin)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melatonin/NS_patient-melatonin/DSECTION=safety

Kara said...

Congratulations, Danielle!! I am so excited for you all. You are already a great mom and this little one is very blessed to have you :)

I am probably the worse person to ask about pregnancies. I had a very complicated twin pregnancy and then with my singleton, I had terrible morning sickness (even worse than the twins). It lasted until 18 weeks or so and I had to start on anti-nausea meds to help. One thing that I noticed was my prenatal vitamin played a part in how sick I felt. I tried several different kinds with C until I found one that didn't make me super sick. Sometimes changing the time of day when you take it helps as well. Also, definitely snack on things like AJ suggested. Crackers or any type of carbs helped me :)

As for clothes, again, I popped out their with the twins by 8-weeks. I learned if anything was too tight on my belly, then it would contribute to the morning sickness. I did use a bella band which was wonderful and made it so I could help hold up my pants.

Do you plan on finding out the sex?

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

I was wondering if I had missed the announcement or something? But I guess this post is it huh? LOL

Congrats!!

Just because you are struggling with issues with the step-daughter, don't think that it will be the same with your own! As much effort as you have put into making your step-daughter's life better...having your own kid is going to be a piece of cake. Cause he/she will never know a divided family, have headgames played or be used as a lever.

I was horribly sick when I was pregnant. It wasn't morning sickness, rather afternoon sickness. I was so miserable. And I was soooo tired. I think I lived on Lipton's Chicken Noodle soup, saltine crackers and tomato juice for the first 4 months of my pregnancy. I took the multi-vitamins prescribed by the doctor and they tried to give me Iron supplements. I didn't last long on those because they made me horribly constipated.

But by the end of month 4, I was over the miserable part and everything went pretty much back to normal.

I kept wearing my jeans for as long as possible. It wasn't that I gained a bunch of weight, it was just that I didn't like the pressure on my tummy. So I used a rubber band and wore long shirts. It helped a bunch.

YGS said...

Congrats! What exciting news! :)
I was sick for 19 weeks...throwing up every hour. I liked the preggo pops. You can find them at amazon. I also gave up the prenatal vitamin and switched to a regular vitamin and just made sure I got enough folic acid in my diet...
Good luck and let me know if you want to talk! Being sick was really hard and I didn't begin to enjoy my pregnancy until I stopped throwing up!

Diana said...

YAY!! Congratulations :) I'm so happy for you!!

What worked for me was drinking A LOT of water and snacking all day.

As for the clothes...who cares. You can't fight the fact that your belly will be expanding so you might as well feel comfy.

The Wades said...

A baby!!! What great news. Believe me, I know how miserable feeling naseous all the time feels! I wish I had some good advice on that. Really, all the comments here sound right on. I have no doubt you'll be a great mama to the new baby just like you're being w/ your stepdaughter. Look how you are with your animals--great!

I'm so sick of his family and I don't even know them. Why are they so mean? Sorry about that. Keep on loving your man! Before you know it, you'll be holding that precious baby. I did it four times. On all four, I vowed to never get pregnant again because of how sick I felt. They just are worth it.

I can't wait until things start being more fun for you. Hugs. Big hugs! If you want my advice on the best book ever that helps your baby sleep through the night by 2 months, let me know. It worked on all four of mine, my sis-in-law's four, my bf's two, my other friend's three. . . you get the idea. It's awesome!