Unexpected Perk
I needed to mail my last package and several Christmas letters. Last night I stopped by a post office after work and the line was out the wazoo. I decided not to wait because I didn't think I'd get near the front of the line before they closed. So I went to one of the automatic machines to buy stamps for my letters, and they were all sold out. Typical for the season, but still a little crazy.
Today I went to the campus post office. All of the students are gone, as are many of the faculty, so the line was exactly one person long. I mailed my package within a couple of minutes and bought a book of winter-themed stamps. They hadn't sold out! It's nice to get little perks like those, especially when you aren't expecting them.
I am almost completely done with Christmas tasks. We made our last batch of stocking stuff soap and all we need to do is wrap those. Then we should be D-U-N. Then I can relax and read and drink hot cocoa and enjoy a week off of work. Several things to look forward to.
Wednesday
Monday
Well, I wasn't expecting that
From pretty much all I've heard and read, the first trimester is supposed to be a bear. Morning sickness, exhaustion, etc. Mine was a breeze. No morning sickness at all, the only thing that upset my stomach was coffee. I took more naps than usual but that was it. Some days I forgot I was pregnant. The second trimester is supposed to be when morning sickness subsides, when your energy returns; it's the positive time of pregnancy for many women.
For me, not so much. I spent the first week of my second trimester sick as a dog with a cold. Sick as in bed for four days, lost five pounds sick. Second week I spent recovering from the cold, still exhausted but not coughing so much. Third week, I felt better but still not 100%. Then I got a stomach virus.
This past weekend started out great. Nate and I did some shopping, went out a couple of times, and were just having a really nice time together. Saturday night I was watching a movie and noticed my stomach hurt. I took some Mylanta before I went to bed. I spent the next few hours tossing and turning because my stomach ache was getting progressively worse. It hurt to move. I hobbled to the couch a couple of times (hobbling because it hurt to stand up straight and stretch my stomach) because sitting up seemed to hurt less than lying down.
Around 5-6 a.m., after no sleep at all, I threw up. I started drinking liquids. Everything I drank, I threw up. I waited until 9 a.m. and called the answering service for my OB. I got the doctor on call, whom I haven't met in person yet but soon will, and after hearing my symptoms he said he thought this was not pregnancy related, but some kind of bug. "There are a lot of things going around right now." He said he would prescribe anti-nausea medication and offered me a choice: suppositories or a pill that would dissolve under my tongue. After puking everything I had ingested into my body for the previous three or four hours, I had no desire to stick something up my butt (not that I generally have this desire). I chose the pills.
I tried to rest. After not sleeping all night, my cough and congestion had returned. Oh, joy. The pharmacy didn't open until 10 a.m. so I waited while Nate went for the perscription. He got back, I took the pill, and slept until 2 or so. After I woke up and ate some soup, Nate told me that the anti-nausea medication I had is what they sometimes prescribe for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Three pills cost $80.01, after my insurance paid for $50. So those three little pills really cost $130. Sorry, $130.01. All I could think was: like people with cancer don't have enough problems, they are totally screwing them with the drug prices. But they have to get them, right? So they charge as much as the market will bear, I suppose. Made me wonder how much the suppositories were.
I'm waiting to see if my second trimester will improve. I have no idea if my energy is better now because I've been sick pretty much all of this month. I hope things get better. I'm afraid of what I could catch next.
From pretty much all I've heard and read, the first trimester is supposed to be a bear. Morning sickness, exhaustion, etc. Mine was a breeze. No morning sickness at all, the only thing that upset my stomach was coffee. I took more naps than usual but that was it. Some days I forgot I was pregnant. The second trimester is supposed to be when morning sickness subsides, when your energy returns; it's the positive time of pregnancy for many women.
For me, not so much. I spent the first week of my second trimester sick as a dog with a cold. Sick as in bed for four days, lost five pounds sick. Second week I spent recovering from the cold, still exhausted but not coughing so much. Third week, I felt better but still not 100%. Then I got a stomach virus.
This past weekend started out great. Nate and I did some shopping, went out a couple of times, and were just having a really nice time together. Saturday night I was watching a movie and noticed my stomach hurt. I took some Mylanta before I went to bed. I spent the next few hours tossing and turning because my stomach ache was getting progressively worse. It hurt to move. I hobbled to the couch a couple of times (hobbling because it hurt to stand up straight and stretch my stomach) because sitting up seemed to hurt less than lying down.
Around 5-6 a.m., after no sleep at all, I threw up. I started drinking liquids. Everything I drank, I threw up. I waited until 9 a.m. and called the answering service for my OB. I got the doctor on call, whom I haven't met in person yet but soon will, and after hearing my symptoms he said he thought this was not pregnancy related, but some kind of bug. "There are a lot of things going around right now." He said he would prescribe anti-nausea medication and offered me a choice: suppositories or a pill that would dissolve under my tongue. After puking everything I had ingested into my body for the previous three or four hours, I had no desire to stick something up my butt (not that I generally have this desire). I chose the pills.
I tried to rest. After not sleeping all night, my cough and congestion had returned. Oh, joy. The pharmacy didn't open until 10 a.m. so I waited while Nate went for the perscription. He got back, I took the pill, and slept until 2 or so. After I woke up and ate some soup, Nate told me that the anti-nausea medication I had is what they sometimes prescribe for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Three pills cost $80.01, after my insurance paid for $50. So those three little pills really cost $130. Sorry, $130.01. All I could think was: like people with cancer don't have enough problems, they are totally screwing them with the drug prices. But they have to get them, right? So they charge as much as the market will bear, I suppose. Made me wonder how much the suppositories were.
I'm waiting to see if my second trimester will improve. I have no idea if my energy is better now because I've been sick pretty much all of this month. I hope things get better. I'm afraid of what I could catch next.
Friday
More Theater of the Absurd
"A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company's work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico."
...
"Golden State Fence's attorney, Richard Hirsch, admits his client broke the law. But he says the case proves that construction companies need a guest-worker program."
You can listen to the story on NPR.
(Thanks to Nate for the link.)
"A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company's work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico."
...
"Golden State Fence's attorney, Richard Hirsch, admits his client broke the law. But he says the case proves that construction companies need a guest-worker program."
You can listen to the story on NPR.
(Thanks to Nate for the link.)
Thursday
Unrelated Items
The topics I’m going to mention have nothing to do with each other, so don’t try to figure out the link between them. Think of them as unrelated jetsam floating around in my teeny brain (apparently, your brain shrinks while you’re pregnant).
1. This past summer, Nate and I were at a nearby gas station in the Casa Linda Plaza. We were getting gas or air for the tires, I don’t remember which. Nate was taking care of business and I think I was just standing outside, keeping him company and chatting. There was a long line of cars waiting for the light to change at Garland and Buckner. While all the cars were stopped, we noticed a woman get out of a truck. She began running through the traffic toward the gas station. She was wearing a pink tank top, black capris, and flip-flops. As she ran, her pants (they had an elastic waist) began to fall and I saw her thong. She hiked them back up. As she got closer, I could hear that she was making these funny hitching, hiccupping noises. At first I thought she was breathing funny from the heat and the running, then I thought she was laughing. Nate and I were both watching her and we both realized at roughly the same time that she was afraid. After she got to the gas station, she began to walk toward the store portion, but kept looking over her shoulder. She was still making those odd noises. What we concluded was that either she had a fight in the truck with the guy she’d been with, or he’d threatened her or something, and she took off running when she got the chance. We debated going to see if she was all right, but we the truck screeched away when the light changed, the woman was inside talking to the clerk, and she seemed OK. Just one of those odd big-city moments, I suppose. For some reason, that scene has stuck with me since then.
2. This morning, Nate was walking the dogs and I was drying off after my shower. I heard the phone ringing and picked up as the answering machine was beginning to record. (I know. How ’80s, an answering machine. Anyway …) It was one of our Visa cards, calling to confirm some recent transactions. Since we have been using that card primarily to buy our Xmas presents this year, (with the plan to send one big check to them at the end), I assumed it was our various charges they were checking on. Nate and I went to listen to the message again and it wasn’t there. Weird. Lost in the nether world of answering machines, I guess. But when Nate talked to the customer service person, he discovered that in addition to our gifts, someone tried to pay for two different hotel rooms (one in Florida) and charged a nice trip to Macy’s. We have no idea how they got the number, and when he asked the person what she thought, if it was possibly through some of the online purchases we’d made, she said they could have gotten it “one of a million ways.” Comforting.
3. Two of my friends gave birth to baby girls last week, one in Austin and one in Dallas. I’m having lunch with one of them today (the Dallas friend, obviously). Another of my friends is due in February in Chicago. The cool thing about all this is I am getting great tips and advice from all these ladies who have walked the gauntlet before me.
4. Some of Nate's photos. Included: his new Element, the wall he just finished, and our Xmas soap stocking stuffers.
The topics I’m going to mention have nothing to do with each other, so don’t try to figure out the link between them. Think of them as unrelated jetsam floating around in my teeny brain (apparently, your brain shrinks while you’re pregnant).
1. This past summer, Nate and I were at a nearby gas station in the Casa Linda Plaza. We were getting gas or air for the tires, I don’t remember which. Nate was taking care of business and I think I was just standing outside, keeping him company and chatting. There was a long line of cars waiting for the light to change at Garland and Buckner. While all the cars were stopped, we noticed a woman get out of a truck. She began running through the traffic toward the gas station. She was wearing a pink tank top, black capris, and flip-flops. As she ran, her pants (they had an elastic waist) began to fall and I saw her thong. She hiked them back up. As she got closer, I could hear that she was making these funny hitching, hiccupping noises. At first I thought she was breathing funny from the heat and the running, then I thought she was laughing. Nate and I were both watching her and we both realized at roughly the same time that she was afraid. After she got to the gas station, she began to walk toward the store portion, but kept looking over her shoulder. She was still making those odd noises. What we concluded was that either she had a fight in the truck with the guy she’d been with, or he’d threatened her or something, and she took off running when she got the chance. We debated going to see if she was all right, but we the truck screeched away when the light changed, the woman was inside talking to the clerk, and she seemed OK. Just one of those odd big-city moments, I suppose. For some reason, that scene has stuck with me since then.
2. This morning, Nate was walking the dogs and I was drying off after my shower. I heard the phone ringing and picked up as the answering machine was beginning to record. (I know. How ’80s, an answering machine. Anyway …) It was one of our Visa cards, calling to confirm some recent transactions. Since we have been using that card primarily to buy our Xmas presents this year, (with the plan to send one big check to them at the end), I assumed it was our various charges they were checking on. Nate and I went to listen to the message again and it wasn’t there. Weird. Lost in the nether world of answering machines, I guess. But when Nate talked to the customer service person, he discovered that in addition to our gifts, someone tried to pay for two different hotel rooms (one in Florida) and charged a nice trip to Macy’s. We have no idea how they got the number, and when he asked the person what she thought, if it was possibly through some of the online purchases we’d made, she said they could have gotten it “one of a million ways.” Comforting.
3. Two of my friends gave birth to baby girls last week, one in Austin and one in Dallas. I’m having lunch with one of them today (the Dallas friend, obviously). Another of my friends is due in February in Chicago. The cool thing about all this is I am getting great tips and advice from all these ladies who have walked the gauntlet before me.
4. Some of Nate's photos. Included: his new Element, the wall he just finished, and our Xmas soap stocking stuffers.
Tuesday
Interesting
1. "A three-year undercover investigation by the National Fair Housing Alliance found that real estate agents steered whites away from integrated neighborhoods and steered blacks toward predominantly black neighborhoods."
2. "Candidates named Emily O'Brien or Neil McCarthy were much more likely to get calls back from potential employers than applicants named Tamika Williams and Jamal Jackson, even though they had the same credentials, according to a study by the University of Chicago."
Both from CNN.
3. "Lionel Richie remembers when the Commodores "decided to give ourselves Mercedes for Christmas. I walked into a Montgomery, Ala., dealership in blue jeans and T-shirt and said, 'I'd like to buy seven Mercedes.' Looking at me, the guy asked, 'Son, can you get me some proof?' So I had him call the president of Bank of America in Los Angeles. He hung up, and I went from 'Son' to "Mr. Richie, right this way, please.' "
[What stood out to me was the "son."] From the always reliable Page Six.
4. "... also a sign of our times among 20 and 30 somethings is the testimonial of the Border Patrol agent who said she and her family crossed over illegally. She considers herself and her siblings all model citizens contributing productively to this country. She believes by working to capture would-be immigrants at the Border she may be saving a life. Or at least that is how she justifies her chosen job. She does not say what she would have felt to be caught, uh, excuse me, 'rescued' and returned to Mexico, instead of successfully dodging the Border Patrol to one day being able to apply for residency and I imagine now, citizenship. The Theatre of the Absurd, like I said."
The December 12 entry on Ana Castillo's blog.
Not much to add to any of these items. I found them all interesting, especially in combination with odd comments I've overhead in public places recently. Just seems like a lot of racial confusion going on lately.
1. "A three-year undercover investigation by the National Fair Housing Alliance found that real estate agents steered whites away from integrated neighborhoods and steered blacks toward predominantly black neighborhoods."
2. "Candidates named Emily O'Brien or Neil McCarthy were much more likely to get calls back from potential employers than applicants named Tamika Williams and Jamal Jackson, even though they had the same credentials, according to a study by the University of Chicago."
Both from CNN.
3. "Lionel Richie remembers when the Commodores "decided to give ourselves Mercedes for Christmas. I walked into a Montgomery, Ala., dealership in blue jeans and T-shirt and said, 'I'd like to buy seven Mercedes.' Looking at me, the guy asked, 'Son, can you get me some proof?' So I had him call the president of Bank of America in Los Angeles. He hung up, and I went from 'Son' to "Mr. Richie, right this way, please.' "
[What stood out to me was the "son."] From the always reliable Page Six.
4. "... also a sign of our times among 20 and 30 somethings is the testimonial of the Border Patrol agent who said she and her family crossed over illegally. She considers herself and her siblings all model citizens contributing productively to this country. She believes by working to capture would-be immigrants at the Border she may be saving a life. Or at least that is how she justifies her chosen job. She does not say what she would have felt to be caught, uh, excuse me, 'rescued' and returned to Mexico, instead of successfully dodging the Border Patrol to one day being able to apply for residency and I imagine now, citizenship. The Theatre of the Absurd, like I said."
The December 12 entry on Ana Castillo's blog.
Not much to add to any of these items. I found them all interesting, especially in combination with odd comments I've overhead in public places recently. Just seems like a lot of racial confusion going on lately.
Monday
Some Odd or Amusing Things (a List)
1. My belly is now fuzzy. I think I’ve forgotten to mention that my former barely perceptible peach fuzz is now longer, darker, and visible to the naked eye. Hormones, I guess?
2. In a related note, the line that stretches from my navel to my pubic area (called the linea negra, I believe) suddenly got darker one day. Now it’s lighter again. Very odd. I assume it will get darker again with time.
3. I did an experiment last night. I couldn’t sleep so I tried to find the baby. I would find an area on my stomach where it felt harder. When I pressed on it, I would feel a strong sense of pressure (this sensitive spot moved and the rest of my stomach felt “normal”). So I would find the baby, press, the baby would move away, I would find the hard spot again, press, move again, press. For some reason this seemed hilarious to me at the time and I laughed loud enough to wake up the dogs (did I mention it was about 1 a.m.?).
4. Roscoe our cat sleeps with us only during the winter. During the summer he likes to do his own thing. Nate has woken up on the very edge of his side of the bed, looked behind me, and found Roscoe sprawled out with his four legs pressing against my back so he can maintain his territory. I lie in the middle, resented on both sides.
5. I am making soap as stocking stuffers this year. Last night Nate helped me. He came us with some crazy combinations and his “pinches” of color powder (what you add to make the soaps different shades) were like half the container. Pretty funny, but he got me to try some things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.
6. I went to a poetry reading last night that I very much enjoyed and met some nice people. The emcee of the event said he’d been living in Dallas for 23 years and only six or seven years ago began to feel at home. That gave me some hope because I still feel like a tourist after living here two and half years.
7. I drank my first glass of wine on Friday night. I’ve heard conflicting things about alcohol. Don’t drink any; an occasional glass is fine; you never know, so why take a chance; etc. It took me at least an hour to finish my glass. It was lovely. Then the next day I felt horribly guilty and worried I was doing long-lasting damage. I have pregnant friends who largely disregard the list of things you’re supposed to avoid (sushi, soft, non-pasteurized cheese, deli meat, sausage, etc.) and others who are very careful to follow all the rules. I’m in between. I follow the suggestions about 95% of the time, indulge in that goat-cheese and spinach omelet or that one glass of wine because it sounds so good at the time, and then feel guilty afterward. I may need to rethink my strategy.
1. My belly is now fuzzy. I think I’ve forgotten to mention that my former barely perceptible peach fuzz is now longer, darker, and visible to the naked eye. Hormones, I guess?
2. In a related note, the line that stretches from my navel to my pubic area (called the linea negra, I believe) suddenly got darker one day. Now it’s lighter again. Very odd. I assume it will get darker again with time.
3. I did an experiment last night. I couldn’t sleep so I tried to find the baby. I would find an area on my stomach where it felt harder. When I pressed on it, I would feel a strong sense of pressure (this sensitive spot moved and the rest of my stomach felt “normal”). So I would find the baby, press, the baby would move away, I would find the hard spot again, press, move again, press. For some reason this seemed hilarious to me at the time and I laughed loud enough to wake up the dogs (did I mention it was about 1 a.m.?).
4. Roscoe our cat sleeps with us only during the winter. During the summer he likes to do his own thing. Nate has woken up on the very edge of his side of the bed, looked behind me, and found Roscoe sprawled out with his four legs pressing against my back so he can maintain his territory. I lie in the middle, resented on both sides.
5. I am making soap as stocking stuffers this year. Last night Nate helped me. He came us with some crazy combinations and his “pinches” of color powder (what you add to make the soaps different shades) were like half the container. Pretty funny, but he got me to try some things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.
6. I went to a poetry reading last night that I very much enjoyed and met some nice people. The emcee of the event said he’d been living in Dallas for 23 years and only six or seven years ago began to feel at home. That gave me some hope because I still feel like a tourist after living here two and half years.
7. I drank my first glass of wine on Friday night. I’ve heard conflicting things about alcohol. Don’t drink any; an occasional glass is fine; you never know, so why take a chance; etc. It took me at least an hour to finish my glass. It was lovely. Then the next day I felt horribly guilty and worried I was doing long-lasting damage. I have pregnant friends who largely disregard the list of things you’re supposed to avoid (sushi, soft, non-pasteurized cheese, deli meat, sausage, etc.) and others who are very careful to follow all the rules. I’m in between. I follow the suggestions about 95% of the time, indulge in that goat-cheese and spinach omelet or that one glass of wine because it sounds so good at the time, and then feel guilty afterward. I may need to rethink my strategy.
Friday
Showing (Maybe?)
Last night Nate and I were in the kitchen getting ready for dinner. I was leaning against a counter talking to him and he said, “You’re showing. I can see your belly.” I was wearing a pretty loose shirt, but I think he’s right. It’s funny because when I’ve normally put on a few pounds, I get generally wide all over. I mean, my whole belly, hips, butt, thighs, arms, etc. Right now it’s just my stomach (perhaps that will change with time) sticking out in front.
I am going to a holiday party, so I was trying to figure out what to wear. I tried on a few different outfits and had to retire several pairs of pants. My body is definitely changing. The legs and butt still fit fine (again, another detail that may change with time) but I couldn’t button the waist on several things. Also I noticed I can no longer wear some shirts. I have the unintentional flesh flashing between some critical buttons, if you know what I mean.
So far pregnancy has been interesting. Things are happening that are simply beyond my control. For someone who thinks too much most of the time, having a process that happens wholly in the body, without my input or effort, has been a different experience.
The last couple of nights I’ve suspected I felt the baby moving. My doc and most people would say it’s too early, it was my imagination or gas or digestion or something, but I really do think it’s the baby. It’s happened at night when I’m resting and relaxed, and I feel these odd, fluttering movements. The same area of my stomach where those feelings are coming from also seems harder than everywhere else, like maybe there’s a little munchkin doing the mambo in there. So I don’t know for sure, but it seems like ze baby to moi.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about the baby’s gender. Nate wanted to find out and I didn’t. I’ve mentioned before that Nate is a planner (he wants to know how we should decorate the nursery, what clothes to buy, and someone is making us a baby quilt), but I am not. It’s not so much the surprise factor, I mean, it’s going to be a girl or a boy, right? How much of a surprise can there be really? My attitude is that it’s more a matter of waiting for the proper time. There’s no need to rush things that have their own way and method of unfolding. The snow falls when it falls. The cake is done when it’s done. You find out what you’re having when you have it. I understand that many people don’t agree (including my husband), and I’ve decided to compromise in this particular case because I’ve had dreams about the baby and feel like I know what flavor the munchkin is anyway. I could be wrong. I guess we’ll know in a couple of weeks, if the baby cooperates. My sister and I have a bet going. I’ll let you know who’s taking home the moolah.
Last night Nate and I were in the kitchen getting ready for dinner. I was leaning against a counter talking to him and he said, “You’re showing. I can see your belly.” I was wearing a pretty loose shirt, but I think he’s right. It’s funny because when I’ve normally put on a few pounds, I get generally wide all over. I mean, my whole belly, hips, butt, thighs, arms, etc. Right now it’s just my stomach (perhaps that will change with time) sticking out in front.
I am going to a holiday party, so I was trying to figure out what to wear. I tried on a few different outfits and had to retire several pairs of pants. My body is definitely changing. The legs and butt still fit fine (again, another detail that may change with time) but I couldn’t button the waist on several things. Also I noticed I can no longer wear some shirts. I have the unintentional flesh flashing between some critical buttons, if you know what I mean.
So far pregnancy has been interesting. Things are happening that are simply beyond my control. For someone who thinks too much most of the time, having a process that happens wholly in the body, without my input or effort, has been a different experience.
The last couple of nights I’ve suspected I felt the baby moving. My doc and most people would say it’s too early, it was my imagination or gas or digestion or something, but I really do think it’s the baby. It’s happened at night when I’m resting and relaxed, and I feel these odd, fluttering movements. The same area of my stomach where those feelings are coming from also seems harder than everywhere else, like maybe there’s a little munchkin doing the mambo in there. So I don’t know for sure, but it seems like ze baby to moi.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about the baby’s gender. Nate wanted to find out and I didn’t. I’ve mentioned before that Nate is a planner (he wants to know how we should decorate the nursery, what clothes to buy, and someone is making us a baby quilt), but I am not. It’s not so much the surprise factor, I mean, it’s going to be a girl or a boy, right? How much of a surprise can there be really? My attitude is that it’s more a matter of waiting for the proper time. There’s no need to rush things that have their own way and method of unfolding. The snow falls when it falls. The cake is done when it’s done. You find out what you’re having when you have it. I understand that many people don’t agree (including my husband), and I’ve decided to compromise in this particular case because I’ve had dreams about the baby and feel like I know what flavor the munchkin is anyway. I could be wrong. I guess we’ll know in a couple of weeks, if the baby cooperates. My sister and I have a bet going. I’ll let you know who’s taking home the moolah.
Tuesday
Recovering
I haven’t written in awhile because I got very sick over Thanksgiving. There’s some sort of vicious bird-flu virus going around. I know a lot of people have been sick and this thing stays with you for quite a while (when I went to see him, my doc said he’d been sick for three weeks). I missed four days of work last week. When I finally left my house on Friday, I felt like I’d been underwater, underground, or like I’d been hibernating. The pregnancy probably complicated matters in the sense that I couldn’t take very strong medicine and my immunity is probably lower. All I did was sleep. I couldn’t taste things very well so I didn’t eat much and lost weight, but have regained it all in the last few days so no worries there.
At the beginning of my incubation, I was eating whatever I wanted. I’m now trying to go back to my decent-ish eating habits. It’s not hard for me to eat well, usually, but I think I had that “I’m pregnant” entitlement feeling, like I should be able to eat whatever I wanted. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I would prefer not to get as big as a house. Also, my doc thinks I should try to limit myself to gaining 20-25 pounds. Before I got pregnant, I had some elevated liver enzyme readings, which is a common sign of “fatty liver.” I think this is probably a problem in the West, where we eat too much refined, fatty food, don’t get enough exercise, have high obesity rates, etc. So after the elevated reading, I started working out again and eating better. I eventually lost 18 pounds, which was good, and my liver readings went down. Even though I haven’t gained too much weight so far (six pounds at 15 weeks) I think I need to start paying attention to the quality of my diet because of the liver thing. Apparently, fatty liver can also be a complication of pregnancy.
Anyway, I’ll try not to focus too much on pregnancy and weight talk, since it bores even me sometimes, but it is what’s on my mind a lot lately. The other thing on my mind is queries, queries, queries. I haven’t sent out too many lately since I was sick as a dog, but I have gotten a couple of requests for the full manuscript, which has been an ego boost. Especially one that I received just as I was coming down with my cold. We were looking at our mail after our Thanksgiving trip and I recognized my own SASE. “It’s a rejection,” I told Nate, but when I opened the letter it was a request to send the entire novel. So things are moving along. Wish me luck.
I haven’t written in awhile because I got very sick over Thanksgiving. There’s some sort of vicious bird-flu virus going around. I know a lot of people have been sick and this thing stays with you for quite a while (when I went to see him, my doc said he’d been sick for three weeks). I missed four days of work last week. When I finally left my house on Friday, I felt like I’d been underwater, underground, or like I’d been hibernating. The pregnancy probably complicated matters in the sense that I couldn’t take very strong medicine and my immunity is probably lower. All I did was sleep. I couldn’t taste things very well so I didn’t eat much and lost weight, but have regained it all in the last few days so no worries there.
At the beginning of my incubation, I was eating whatever I wanted. I’m now trying to go back to my decent-ish eating habits. It’s not hard for me to eat well, usually, but I think I had that “I’m pregnant” entitlement feeling, like I should be able to eat whatever I wanted. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I would prefer not to get as big as a house. Also, my doc thinks I should try to limit myself to gaining 20-25 pounds. Before I got pregnant, I had some elevated liver enzyme readings, which is a common sign of “fatty liver.” I think this is probably a problem in the West, where we eat too much refined, fatty food, don’t get enough exercise, have high obesity rates, etc. So after the elevated reading, I started working out again and eating better. I eventually lost 18 pounds, which was good, and my liver readings went down. Even though I haven’t gained too much weight so far (six pounds at 15 weeks) I think I need to start paying attention to the quality of my diet because of the liver thing. Apparently, fatty liver can also be a complication of pregnancy.
Anyway, I’ll try not to focus too much on pregnancy and weight talk, since it bores even me sometimes, but it is what’s on my mind a lot lately. The other thing on my mind is queries, queries, queries. I haven’t sent out too many lately since I was sick as a dog, but I have gotten a couple of requests for the full manuscript, which has been an ego boost. Especially one that I received just as I was coming down with my cold. We were looking at our mail after our Thanksgiving trip and I recognized my own SASE. “It’s a rejection,” I told Nate, but when I opened the letter it was a request to send the entire novel. So things are moving along. Wish me luck.