As you all have noticed, there were several weeks spent without photos or weekly updates. Part of that was due to "morning" sickness and the other due to the fact that I couldn't remember my e-mail/password for the blog. I'm going to attempt to fill in those weeks now! Here we go.....
I like to refer to the 5 or so weeks in my first trimester as "the lost weeks." The period of time that people sometimes warn you about, but you can never fully appreciate until you've lived it.
It started almost the very day that I hit 6 weeks of pregnancy and didn't let up until week 13-14. At first I just felt bad, but soon I could barely do anything without waves of nausea and vomiting hitting me. Steven would come home to find me in the same place on the couch with trash can by my side, crackers, and water. Some days I managed to eat more than others. Most days I forced myself to eat only to lose it later. I felt like I had been riding the orbiter (that ride at the Coosa Valley Fair that spins like crazy) at least 10 times in a row... The worst kind of motion sickness.
During this time I was enrolled in two online courses, which was very hard considering that looking/scrolling on the computer made me feel absolutely horrible. I muddled through and prayed for the strength to get assignments done on time. Luckily I had a very understanding teacher who worked with me through some assignment deadlines and I came out with 2 A's.
Car rides... A nightmare.
Around the 4th of July I'd had enough. After having such a bad day that I almost ended up in the hospital, I thankfully got ahold of some very helpful medicine from the Women's Clinic on base. It didn't always work, but it allowed me to sleep and keep food down.
There was something wonderful that happened in the midst of all of the suffering... On week 8 Steven and I got our first glimpse of our little miracle.
My first ultra sound was nothing like I had expected. I thought it would look like a blob or some weird distorted image, but we were both amazed to see a little person on the screen! Little arms and legs as tiny as can be, and a heart beat fluttering at 182 beats per minute. It was the coolest, most beautiful thing I had ever seen! The nurse even commented on how clear and good our picture was. It was like our little one wanted us to assure us that everything was fine.
And then he/she wiggled :) Just a little shimmy that happened so quickly we might have missed it if we blinked, but it was all that I needed to see to know that our little bit was strong.
I had been so worried about how Baby Blair was doing while I was having such a hard time keeping food down. (Although I managed to keep my vitamins down 99% of the time) I couldn't help but worry.
The doctor reassured me that my sickness meant that the baby was VERY healthy, and he even checked several times to make sure I wasn't having twins! This little encouragement helped me get through the next few weeks that I had left to deal with it.
Everything checked out. My blood work came back perfect, with one little hiccup. We found out that I am A- and Steven is A+. This just means that I will have to have a special shot at 28 weeks to help my body accept the baby if our blood were to somehow mix, just in case he/she is + like daddy. Once our little peanut is born they will check the blood type and determine if I need another shot or not.
So, that is what I have been up to over the past 7-8 weeks! Steven has been a real trooper. Taking care of everything and letting me waste away on the couch… Pushing food my way every chance he got.
Now, I'm feeling better every day and only taking my nausea medicine when I have to be in the car.
Looking forward to updating the blog and getting you all up to speed :)
