Pregnancy Sucks

No joke.  Pregnancy does not agree with me.  As I'm now 41 weeks pregnant, I have forgotten a lot of the horrors of those first 25 weeks.  Yep, 25.  Not the 12 weeks of morning sickness that they advertise, but 25 weeks of all day, I'd-rather-be-dead sickness.  The details are growing fuzzier, but I specifically recall being convinced that: 

1) I will never have more children

2) If fighting a terminal disease is more challenging than pregnancy, I do not have that "fight" in me.  I would give up on day 2.

I didn't have normal pregnant lady symptoms either.  Well, I had heart palpitations, headaches, exhaustion and I did my fair share of gagging and throwing up.  But I didn't have food aversions or cravings.  Instead, I had this horrible feeling in my stomach that was only improved slightly by round the clock eating.  A saltine wasn't going to cut it either.  I was downing cereal, beef vegetable soup, fruit, and lean cuisine meals all before lunch time.  The soup and cereal were pretty key to my survival.  I also had this awesome sensitivity on my stomach and neck.  I couldn't stand for any pressure on my abdomen or anything coming anywhere near my throat.  I walked to work (unclear how I managed that) with my winter coat down around my waist.  People surely thought I was crazy as I was speed-walking past them gagging.

I was lucky to have the amazing support of Beau and my family.  Otherwise I would certainly have never left the bed.  My parents visited us every weekend, stocking our fridge with food to sustain us through the week and helping Beau catch up on laundry and cleaning.  Poor Beau took care of me around the clock and never complained when I woke him up every morning at 4am for some cinnamon toast crunch in bed.

So after that long, sad saga, here is my list of things that I could not have survived without:

Herbal Tea

Cinnamon Toast Crunch - best at 4am

Beef Vegetable Soup - best for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Boppy - sleep lifesaver but I can't even pin point why

Burts Bees Foot Lotion - for the dry feet that woke me in the middle of the night

Water Bottle with Straw - Cosco brand from JoAnns are the best

Disposable Face Wash Cloths - for when you are too sick to wash your face standing up

I'll have to remember to stock up on these for next time...because a "next time" doesn't sound quite so scary anymore.  I'll be hating myself for that one, later.  I'll add pretty pictures to this post later...