Our little munchkin is 10 weeks old!!
Can you believe it?
The birth was amazing, crazy, traumatic in a good way.. We had a great midwife, everything went as smoothly as could have been expected. Contractions started Friday at 4am, but subsided- so I ended up going into work. I went into labor that evening. Made it through dinner with the family, then walked home with B. Contractions became closer together, and continued all night, getting stronger and more frequent. Just before 5am we decided to head to the hospital. I was already 5cm dilated when we arrived. My water broke 2 hours before delivery, just after i started pushing. No epidural, just endorphins to deal with the pain. B was amazing throughout the whole thing, supporting me and being involved the whole time. Couldn't have done it without him. MH made her appearance on shabbat morning 10:26am on February 22, 2014. Born 2.730 kg.. she's perfect.

34+5 weeks

Here we are. Getting towards the end. Still seems like a long way off, to be honest, but I'm feeling heavy and a little awkward, and I know the little one will be here soon.
We bought Baby Papaya a bed, and B set it up in our room for easy access. My mom was in the US for some conferences and teaching.. I ordered some stuff to her, and she also bought some more clothes and such at some second hand shops in Cali. So we're all set with sheets for the bed, 2 cute baby blankets, clothing for the beginning, a breast pump and some glass bottles, a snuggly, and a starter cloth diapering system. Now we just gotta sort out the car seat, and start organizing a hospital bag, and we'll be good to go.
I'm getting super excited! A little nervous obviously. But we signed up for a birth prep class, and B has been super supportive over the last months- so I'm really starting to gain more confidence that we can do this. Hopefully things will go smoothly.
Back to work for now!!

14 Weeks

I finally went back to work mid-last week. I let them know that I wasn't yet feeling 100%, and people have been quite understanding about the whole thing.
I managed a few days, and then yesterday I had a bit of a relapse. Started vomiting alot, left work early, and took another sick day today.. I was just starting to feel better, starting to ween myself off daily medication. They say I'm supposed to be feeling so much better now that I've entered the second trimester.
I'm gaining my strength back though, slowly slowly. Trying to eat more. Can feel my clothes getting a little tight around the waist.
Today I have an appointment with my OB/GYN. Just to make sure everything is on track.
I feel like my body is starting to change- I mean I'm not really showing unless you know me well from before, but I'm not used to any roundness in my belly. It's a bit of a strange feeling. Sometimes makes me happy at the thought of finally looking a little pregnant, after all these months of feeling like crap and having nothing to show for it. But it also makes me self-conscious- I just look a little like I've eaten too many doughnuts or something.
I've been looking into all kinds of natural beauty/cleansing remedies.. I came across this great blog called Crunchy Betty. She has all sorts of great ideas to stop the cycle of products that require you to need more products. I particularly love the honey cleansing method for the face. She has other options if you wanna do this but need something to remove the makeup as well.
Anyway, I've been doing some thinking about how obsessed with buy more stuff we are, and especially with a baby coming up I'm trying to think of ways to simplify and make things more natural. So all these homemade ideas are great :) I'm looking forward to trying her no-shampoo hair cleansing ideas. Hopefully I'll be able to get the bathroom clutter down to a minimum soon!
That's all for now.
Tootles :)

Pregnancy

So I'm 10 weeks pregnant today. Unbelievable.
The reason for blueberry is that's what we started calling it, around week 6. Cuz that's the size it was supposed to be. Then it was raspberry, then olive, and most recently prune.
I found out I was pregnant at the earliest possible date- one day the beta-hCG was negative, the next it was positive. See, I work at the hospital- so i never even peed on a stick. Just sent urine straight to the lab. And then got confirmation with a blood test I asked one of my co-residents to take for me, on the excuse that i wanted to make sure my B12 levels were ok.
Anyway, about a week or two later B and I headed off for our long awaited vacation/family visit to Canada with a long weekend getaway in Rome. Everything got off to a fine start, just a bit of mild nausea in Rome- nothing to write home about. Then it hit me hard on the flight from Rome to Toronto. I puked the entire way. I had no idea what was going on. The flight attendants got all worried about me. Started giving me tips. Soon everyone knew i was pregnant.
The whole Canada part of the trip was heavily burdened by my puking. There were a few better days, so we did get to do a few fun things. A bit getting out and about, a little shopping.
But by the time we got to Ottawa- it was really getting bad. People were getting really worried.
I told Aba, hoping he might have some advice, and I tried to catch Ima, but she was in the US, and didn't have any reliable internet.
I had to tell M+D what was up, and D got me a prescription for Diclectin, which is supposed to help. They took good care of me while we stayed with them in Ottawa. I managed to avoid getting admitted to the hospital, but just barely. If i had been home- I probably would have gone to the ER. I was finally able to keep down a little bit of soup stock,  a bit of tea.
I don't know how i survived the train ride back to Toronto- I guess at least it was better than having to take the bus.. Either way, we got thru those last few days, and somehow managed the trip back home.
Luckily my parents came to pick us up at the airport- and I finally told my mom the news.
I tried going back to work, but only made it through a couple of hours before having to call it a day and go home early.
I actually haven't been back to work since then. See, it turns out I suffer from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Basically it means I'm constantly vomiting, to the point that I can't keep any food down, I get severely dehydrated, and I keep losing weight. I was in the hospital twice last week. The Diclectin wasn't doing it, and the Pramin that I tried next didn't help much either. After my second visit to the ER the started me on Zofran, which is the only thing that has slightly saved me from extended stay in the hospital with IV fluids and TPN.
With the Zofran, I've been able to keep down some fluids and a bit of food. Got the puking down to 1-2 times a day- considerable improvement from 10-15 per day. And I'm only nauseous for about half my waking hours, and I have been able to get some sleep at night. Just starting to get a little strength back.
Now I'm battling with myself how I'm going to be able to go back to work. It's certainly going to be tough. I can barely stand on my feet. And I'm super nervous to head back after over a month that i've been gone.
I'm going crazy here at home. Especially since I'm bored as all hell. I can't even manage basic house chores like doing dishes and hanging the laundry. It's depressing. I'm so sick of feeling SO SICK!!