Sleepless in... Mountain View

After fighting to get to sleep until sometime after midnight, I woke up again around 3:00 a.m. this morning. I tried to go back to sleep for another hour-and-a-half; then, finally decided to give up and get up. I ate cereal, checked e-mail, watched some news, completed a crossword puzzle… Now, it’s 5:30 a.m. and here I am. I know that I won’t have another chance to sleep until at least 9:00 p.m. tonight and that I will be exhausted by then, but I still can’t sleep. Hmmm ~ pregnancy...

“They” say that every pregnancy is different. While some things were about the same for both of my pregnancies, many were different. Maybe the most notable has been my mood!! I remember so well with Kaia, laughing while in the middle of morning sickness misery and NOT getting annoyed at Greg for hardly anything. BUT, with Laila, almost EVERYTHING irritates me… Wow! Poor Greg and my poor dogs! Thankfully, I have playdates with Kaia, the joy of watching her develop (although I wish she would stay a baby a little longer), and a new little bundle to look forward to. At this point, I have about 2-1/2 more weeks and I think I’ve been in better spirits for the past month or so ~ maybe that’s senility kicking in from sleep deprivation. Regardless, just forgive me for a little bit longer if I’m being cranky (I really do mean well!).

Below are some conditions seen with pregnancy and my experiences with them.

(1) - Pregnancy 1: Kaia, born June 19, 2007

(2) - Pregnancy 2: Laila, due January 08, 2009

Morning Sickness
(1) Every day, all day and night…for the first 5 months. (Even with a growing belly, I lost weight early in the pregnancy.)

(2) Maybe 5 episodes at the most.

Sleeplessness
(1) Yes – from sore hips, dreaming, and all the thoughts that run through the mind of a soon-to-be-new-Mommy (plus, I was working on an MBA).
(2) Absolutely – from sore hips, peripheral neuropathy, dreaming, and the thoughts that run through the mind of a soon-to-be-new-Mommy-AGAIN – whose husband works insane hours and can do little more than sleep when he is home (plus, getting Kaia to sleep through the night in her own bed ~ 6 nights in a row so far!!).

Dreams
(1) Yes, crazy dreams that seemed real ~ I could wake up, remember them, go back to sleep, and finish them. Fun! (Except when scary!)
(2) About the same.

Sore Hips
(1) At night – I thought it was because I wasn’t used to sleeping on my side (and I couldn’t sleep on my stomach for obvious reasons; the weight on my spine while lying on my back didn’t work too well either).
(2) Yes! At night again, but there have also been phases (of growth, maybe) where every step I took sent pain radiating through my hips.

Nose Bleeds
(1) Yep.
(2) About the same.

Stretch Marks
(1) None.
(2) None yet… 2-1/2 weeks to go.

Hot Flashes
(1) I’m usually colder than other people around me. While pregnant though, I tolerated cold better and even used a fan at night (fan on my face, blanket on my body). I love New Orleans summers too and wasn’t miserable when I had Kaia in mid-June. But, as far as TRUE hot flashes, I only had three... and, trust me, I remember them!
(2) None.

Food Cravings/ Intolerances
(1) Frozen lemonade (that Greg learned how to make and did make almost daily), McDonald’s spicy chicken sandwiches (which I didn’t eat before or after the pregnancy), Raising Canes sauce (mostly on the fries and toast – not by itself and not on the chicken), and Ice.
- Diet coke was the only thing that helped with the morning sickness, but it wasn’t a craving.
- Intolerance: cinnamon (i.e. cinnamon rolls, cinnamon toast – I ate it before, but now still can’t tolerate it).
(2) Ice.
- I want a lot of my New Orleans’ favorites, but these aren’t cravings… just me missing NOLA : (

Hair Issues
(1) My hair grew fast and thick while pregnant, but… about a month or two after, it started falling out – a lot. (I read this happens often, but was still surprised by the amount that I lost in the shower.)
- My nails grew fast – I had to clip them at least every week.
(2) Seems to be about the same so far, but I’m hoping to keep more of it after delivering Laila.
- Nails are growing fast again, but are more brittle with this pregnancy.

Fluid Imbalances
(1) No issues until AFTER delivery; then, I had some edema for a few weeks.
(2) I don’t notice any retention, but I have peripheral neuropathy that the Doc says is from excess fluid.

Forgetfulness (??)
(1) I don’t know if this should be called forgetfulness, but I had a hard time finding simple, everyday words. I’m also pretty neurotic about knowing where things are and I had a hard time keeping up with things like that. In essence, I was quite a bit out of whack for me and felt dumb a lot. (And, remember, I was working on an MBA. Aaagh!!)
(2) I’ve had similar episodes, but it doesn’t seem as bad this time – maybe because most of my time has been with an infant/toddler, rather than with other adults, or just because I don’t care as much now.

Drum Roll Please… Weight Gain
(1) As mentioned above, I lost weight early from the nausea and vomiting, but the overall weight gain from my pre-pregnancy weight was 25 pounds.
(2) Now, serious drum roll… so far, I’ve gained 36 pounds!!