Chronicles of Chicken Scratch: Week 13- Feeling Better

I am sharing how things have been going for me physically, spiritually, and emotionally these past couple of weeks, but if you just want to look at pictures, well, scroll down.

Physically, I felt unwell in a few ways during my second and third months of pregnancy. I have to admit that I felt really lucky when I got pregnant that I didn't experience morning sickness within the first couple of weeks, but then things changed. I have felt tired, nauseated, and/or just achy these past several weeks. I thought that throwing up was going to become a new morning ritual, but fortunately, I got that under control, but I even though I didn't always throw up, I got to deal with the nausea. I know now that I need to eat something right away in the mornings. I have felt much better physically recently since I've had more energy and I haven't been sick lately.
*Cravings/things I can really handle: Most meat, dates, grilled cheese sandwiches, air-popped popcorn, and yogurt! I combine plain yogurt with banana and/or some frozen berries with just a little bit of honey. My ice cream is a bit tart, but it has tasted so heavenly to me lately. I do have an aversion to the smells of bacon, garlic, however..
I should also add that clumsiness is a real physical change in pregnancy. I tripped and fell down a few stairs yesterday, and hurt my foot pretty badly. So I hobbled around town in Greg's slippers because my foot is too swollen to fit in my shoes. The worst part was going to the ultrasound because the office was located on the third floor of the building, and I had to climb up the stairs because the elevator was being maintained. I was kind of like the Witch of the Waste from Howl's Moving Castle climbing up those stairs...if you don't know what I'm talking about it was just pretty sad. I ended up borrowing crutches from a friend, and used those later on when I went to get blood work done.

Spiritually, I felt like I was kind of in a rut and just kind of frustrated with life for a few reasons. First, I was scared for this pregnancy. Second, I think part of this rut was due to the fact that I was hurrying through scripture study and prayers at night since I was exhausted. Also, being sick definitely puts a damper on life (even when you are sick for a good reason). I decided that I should try to study in the mornings instead of at night so that I'll be more aware and more attentive, and lately Christmas music has been so calming and spiritually uplifting. Music is a wonderful tool!
While I got my blood work done today, I listened to this beautiful song by Andrea Bocelli and the Mormon Tabernacle choir. I know this song isn't exactly Christmas-y, but it was so lovely to listen to! My wonderful friend helped me out while I got blood work done today since Greg was in class, and she recommended that I listen to "The Prayer", and what a wise choice that was. Overall, my first blood work opportunity went quite well; the nurse found my vein right away, and my blood just hurried through to fill four vials. I mean, I was done in under a minute or so! I did feel a bit light-headed afterwards, and I had to put my head down and had an ice pack placed on my neck, but the sickness passed away very quickly. I am just grateful that God has blessed me with good friends, has comforted me throughout my life and especially this pregnancy, and also that He has given me experiences that I can handle. Afterwards the blood work, I got to treat myself to Wendy's.

Emotionally, I have felt so much different now than before I was pregnant! I've felt more hormonal then what I am used to. I've yelled and cried simultaneously at Greg the other day over something silly, and honestly, I've cried quite a bit over a number of things. (I sympathy cry really easily now!) My first midwife appointment was surrounded by smiles and tears because I was SO nervous and yet thrilled. Some people have a sigh of relief that things are finished with hard events, but I threw up instead...outside my front door. Sometimes, I didn't even look forward to having a baby even though Greg and I want kids.
But after seeing my baby on the ultrasound monitor today, I definitely feel more connected to my baby, and I just feel more excited to have this baby. The ultrasound went well; I was relieved to see that I am carrying one baby and not eight like Greg has been teasing about. Since we went to get the ultrasound for prenatal screening, the technologist had to get the certain images of the baby which can take a while to get, so Greg waited in the lobby. I had a lot of fun talking with the ultrasound technologist, and she kept saying, "Oh hopefully your laugh will hopefully make the baby move around so I can get a better picture!" I had to cough, laugh, lie on my side, and urinate twice to try to get a better position for the baby, and the technologist just did the best she could to get the best image for the midwife. It wasn't until Greg came into the room later to look at the baby that the baby had moved into a fantastic position for us. I guess the baby was showing off for daddy.