The Sickness -- Part II

nospam@example.com (Bobby) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:16:38 -0600

continued from: The Sickness — morning, evening, night… pick one — Part One

So you might think that, being nearly 14 weeks along, the sickness would have abated by now…

You would be wrong.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I was just being dramatic. It has lessened — but it continues to haunt my poor wife’s life.

And mine.

Picture this, if you will: Robin is humming along, having a good day; her appetite is good (understatment), her mood is steady (…), and her vertigo has been gone for a while and shows no signs of coming back. She’s feeling pretty good about the whole being pregnant thing.

Then it happens…

It begins as this… feeling… in her chest. A constricting or a pressure of some kind. Almost like congestion, but not so easily described. It just feels… bad. I know when it is happening because she gets all quiet, usually sits up and hunches forward a bit — and then starts the long, slow, whistling breaths. And when I ask her if she is alright — she says no.

Next, she falls into coughing fits.

These come and go periodically for Robin — sometimes it seems like that cold from so many months back still hasn’t gone away entirely. From what I understand, however, it may be caused by the acid reflux/heartburn that is yet another fun discomfort of pregnancy. I was worried about the strain on the little one, but, apparently, there is little worry that this constant hacking will hurt the baby, as the little alien is equipped with some great shock absorption bio-technology.

Sorry… nerd moment.

She knew she married one.

Back to the coughing… Before long, the poor girl is doubled over or in the fetal position herself. She is doing the breathing thing more rapidly now. There is a pause… and then, without warning, she is up and moving. Fast. She is heading to the bathroom as quickly as she can safely go. Usually, she makes it all the way to that oh-so-huggy porcelain friend.

Usually.

Sometimes it is the nearest available sink.

If I am home, I am right there with her, kneeling down behind her and rubbing her back, if she can stand it. This is where it starts to affect me…

Oh, it makes me feel bad for her and all that. I hate that she has to feel that way. But this is not what I am talking about. It’s a more… direct… effect. Don’t jump to conclusions now, I’m not talking about sympathetic vomiting. I’m talking about fighting that urge so hard that it almost hurts.

I haven’t puked in years.

I think I may be almost phobic, I hate it so much. If I ever do throw up, I am so sick I probably need to go to the hospital. This may sound a little weird to you - but I reeeeaaallllyyy hate it — and I exercise my personal willpower toward that battle. With a great deal of success, I might add.

This is trying though.

But I stick it out. Every time she’s in there, hugging her new friend, I am in there with her — with my eyes closed, and my ears… dealing with it. No matter what I feel, it can’t be as bad as what she feels.

Ohh the wonders of pregnancy…

ick.

The Sickness -- morning, evening, night... pick one -- Part One

nospam@example.com (Bobby) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 22:51:54 -0600

It wasn’t long after we were sure we were pregnant that Robin got hit with The Sickness. Morning Sickness, they call it, but that is one of those big societal lies, like the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, or lowered taxes. It can come at you in the morning, the evening, 3am, 12 o’clock, or whatever time you would find most inconvenient. Sometimes it lasts all day and even all night long. No one actually knows what causes it. Some say it is the increase of estrogen and progesterone levels, some say it is the new sensitivity to smells, some say excess stomach acids, and still others say it is the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the poor lady’s body that keeps increasing until about the 12th week or so — which, as a matter of fact, happens to be the time that most pregnant women start to feel better.

But not all!!

Oh no!

Robin’s mother was sick for the entire pregnancy… for all 4 kids. Needless to say, Robin is hoping to follow her sister (also a mother of 4) and… not be sick for the entire pregnancy. So far, well, the jury’s out on that one.

So, what are all these big words I keep bandying about? Human chori-whatsis? Progesticulate? Estro… well, most of us know what estrogen is. Just so you can be sure I am not trying to sound smart, and to allay any cynical thoughts that I am not the caring and inquisitive husband I am making myself out to be, I shall endeavour to show just you how SMRT I really am…

Estrogen is the hormone secreted by the woman’s ovaries that affects much of her body, especially the reproductive cycle and organs (it makes a woman a woman…).

Progesterone is the most dominant hormone during pregnancy. It has the effect of softening the the muscles in the body, possibly to help make sure that pre-term labour doesn’t occur. It also causes a general relaxing of the digestive track, which leads to excess stomach acids that could cause vomiting and heartburn, not to mention constipation… but those are for later. Read on!

hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin (man that one -does- make me sound smart!), is a hormone that triggers ovulation (it’s sometimes injected to help women who have difficulty conceiving), is the deciding factor of most pregnancy tests, and "signals the corpus luteum to continue progesterone secretion, thereby maintaining the thick lining (endometrium) of the uterus, and providing an area rich in blood vessels in which the zygote(s) can develop." — the placenta takes over after about 10-13 weeks. Thank you answers.com!

There.

Now, moving on…

There is another element to pregnancy that they don’t advertise to the world at large. Namely, the fact that a woman’s immune system is lowered to prevent rejection of the new life form growing inside her. This, unfortunately, leave the a lot more vulnerable to getting sick — but regular sickness, not the morning variety. We found this out the hard way when we went camping down by Mount St. Helens and Robin came back with a throat infection… that quickly turned into a really bad cold… with fevers… and vertigo.

Yeah.

Robin ended up having to stay home from work for the better part of 2 week. The damned thing just wouldn’t go away! The symptoms seemed to lessen over time, but her body really had to work for it. The worst things, the ones that kept sticking around week after week, were the cough and the vertigo.

Now if you have never had vertigo, believe me, you don’t want it. It is not like the fun times you had as a kid, spinning yourself about in circles until the ground moved like the ocean, you couldn’t stand up, and you tossed your mom’s tasty tuna sandwich on the grass. That was fun. Not so, vertigo. Imagine all of those things, but involuntary — and all the time. Not fun. Not. And Robin had had a serious issue with vertigo several years ago, so the memories only made it worse for her.

Now add morning sickness to all of the above and you have the recipe for one seriously unhappy pregnant lady…

(to be continued in part 2)

holy crap, I'm pregnant! (Entries tagged as heartburn)

The Sickness -- Part II

The Sickness -- morning, evening, night... pick one -- Part One