I can't say that the symptoms of pregnancy are fun but of course, they are definitely worth it!! Also, I have read several times that the sicker you feel the better your pregnancy is going. I'm not sure that I completely believe this but if it is the case, we are doing very well!
For this entry I have listed the top 5 symptoms that I've experienced so far. I also rated them 1-5 with 1 being the symptom that has affected me the least and 5 being the symptom that has affected me the most. All of them have affected me quite a bit but I am trying to get a handle on what has had the biggest impact on me.
1. Exhaustion - I have definitely been sleeping a lot more than usual. I also feel like my brain is fried after only being at work for 7 hours or so. Typically (when I'm not prego), I can go for 12 hours or more before feeling that way. By the time I get home from work each night I absolutely have to lie down.
2. Dizziness - This is something that comes and goes. It might actually be tied in to exhaustion as it gets worse when I feel tired. It often hits me right when I get out of bed in the morning but today it lasted the entire day. Sometimes it makes the nausea even more intense (see item #4). It would seem like this would be an easy one to overcome but there is really nothing you can do for it....It is very distracting and makes even simple tasks feel like a really big deal.
3. Emotional Outbursts - This symptom comes in the form of tears. I have always been a bit of a cry-baby (which I usually attribute to overactive tear ducts), however this is a little out of hand. I am ultra-sensitive and cry when my feelings get hurt, when I feel tired or sick, I even cried when I saw some kids perform on the cruise ship!!
4. Nausea / Queasiness - Blah, this is not fun at all. I have never eaten so many crackers in all of my life. They call it morning sickness but that is a lie - it is constant, all the time, every day. Luckily I have only actually thrown up a couple of times. Then there are certain things that will send a wave of nausea through me....like eggs. Seeing them, smelling them, thinking about them, even writing the word just now makes me feel extremely ill. This too shall pass.....I've been told that I will only feel like this for 4 more weeks. Please keep your fingers crossed!
5. Headaches -This has been the most debilitating symptom of all. At first I thought it was merely caffeine withdrawal but now, several weeks after quitting the coffee / soda / Excedrin / etc., the headaches are still coming on strong. Some days I wake up without a headache but other days no such luck. I go to bed with a headache almost every night. My doctor allows me to take Tylenol but I certainly try to put off taking it as much as I can....there are certainly some days when I can't do without it. I hope that this is a symptom that will go away with the "morning sickness".
There are certainly other things that I have experienced that didn't make the top 5. One that I feel I should mention is Pregnancy Tinnitus. This is a weird thing that allows me to hear my own heartbeat in my right ear. Fun!! It is even loud enough for Peter to hear it sometimes. Although it is pretty annoying, I can only hear it when everything around me is absolutely quiet....not too often.
As I re-read my post I realized that it might sound a little Debby-Downerish but the fact is that I am really happy and very excited. Although I am not 100% most of the time, my body is reminding me about the little life forming in my belly. Maybe God intended it this way - maybe the hormone surges that take place in the beginning of the pregnancy help women to stay focused on the baby....internal reminders since you can't see anything on the outside yet....makes sense to me :)
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