"Pretty good, I just have a little cold."

For the past week, the title of this post was my answer to the previously-mentioned question, "How are you feeling?"  And, aside from the sore throat, sniffling and coughing, I did feel pretty good.  I was actually kind of amazed at how good I felt.  See, in May, during my first trimester, I got three or four colds in a row.  My colds always run the same course: sore throat, runny nose/stuffy head, coughing/itchy throat.  In May, each time the itchy throat started to fade, it would turn into a sore throat and we'd start all over.  So, I had waves of a cold for about six weeks straight.  I'm guessing it was a combination of weather changing and my compromised immune system.

Having a six-week cold that you can't take medication for is no fun; what made it even worse was the first trimester complaints that accompanied it - the exhaustion, nausea, and lack of appetite.  I was in a complete yucky haze.  So, just having just regular cold symptoms was not that bad!

Some people have asked me if it's worse being sick when your pregnant.  Other than that first trimester crap I had, no, not really.  I didn't feel any sicker this past week than I have with any other cold.  The thing that makes it harder is that I can't load up on cold medication to get me through the day.  According to the advice of my midwives (this is not my medical advice, please consult your physician!), with a few exceptions, I can take almost any single-symptom medication.  So, obviously, I shouldn't take my favorite Aleve Cold and Sinus with cough syrup (which might be a questionable combination under normal circumstances). And, of course, I shouldn't take more than one single-symptom medication at a time.  So, I have to decide which is worse at any part of the day - the sinus pressure and stuffiness, or the coughing?  Do I want an expectorant or a suppressant?  Is it less than four hours until bedtime?  If yes, then I probably want to wait until bedtime so I can sleep okay.  Which I guess is another challenge to being pregnant when sick - I don't get as good of sleep as I usually do.

Luckily, this hasn't been to terrible of a cold - I've actually foregone the meds a lot, deciding to only take them if I really couldn't sleep or function.  Although they say it's technically "safe" to take certain ones, I can't imagine it's the best thing, especially if you can avoid them.  I'm feeling more or less better now, though, so I'll have to find a new answer for next week. :-)

"How are you feeling?"

I'm finding, as a pregnant woman, there are a few questions you get asked ALL. THE. TIME.  Which, truthfully, didn't get tiresome to me until this weekend.  We're in Pennsylvania Dutch Country for a "Baby Moon," and have been having way more interactions with strangers, friendly strangers, than usual.  In any case, the top two questions, regardless of where I am, without a doubt, are:

1.  When are you due?
2.  What are you having?

Since I typically see the same people on a regular basis, they all know the answers to these questions.  It also seems to me, that, before this weekend, I was asked them so sporadically that I never minded answering.  But here, in Lancaster County, everyone wants to know.  Waiting in line at a chocolate cafe - the server wants to know.  Just got out of a the car in front of a furniture shop - the shopkeeper wants to know.  We're at a bed and breakfast, and have eaten with new people everyone morning, all of whom WANT. TO. KNOW.  I guess it's not that I mind them asking; I'm just kind of bored with giving the answers.  Making a joke about a Christmas baby, hope not right on Christmas, oh, you're mom/sister/son/best friend's birthday is in December, too? Ha ha; no, we want to be surprised, it seems like everyone is finding out these days, yes, yes, Christmas Surprise! Someone made the tax break joke this morning (hope that's born before January 1st!), which was a refreshing change of pace.

(Oh, so in case I don't know you that well, or haven't talked to you in awhile - December 23, and we're not finding out.  :-))

One question that I'm still not sure how to answer is the third most common one, "How are you feeling?"  I don't know for sure, but my sense is that this is slightly different from "How are you?"  Usually, when someone asks how you are, they don't really want to know - or, in any case, they don't want to know too much.  They want to hear that you're "fine," or, at the very worst, maybe something like, "a little under the weather, but pretty good, thank you!"  I kind of feel, though, when people ask a pregnant lady how she is feeling, they sort of expect you to be a little more honest.  Like, not graphically honest, but they expect you to have a small ailment, like being "a little nauseous," or "some back pain," or, "somewhat tired," but, of course, overall, "pretty good."  I almost feel like I should have a minor complaint - which I always do, don't worry!  But I do wonder if I'm misreading this.  What do you think?

"Morning" Sickness

I just happened on a post I wrote in my first trimester, intending to put it up right after we went public.  Considering it's about 20 weeks later, at this point, that obviously didn't happen.  I saw it as a public service announcement as I was writing it, though, so I do feel it's my duty to share it with you now.

SPOILER ALERT:  My "morning sickness" did subside by a few weeks into the second trimester, so I haven't been one of those horrible cases I refer to.

WARNING:  This post contains a lot of vomit.  Ok, actually, it doesn’t contain any vomit but a lot of talk about non-existent vomit, so if you’re sensitive, you might want to skip it. People need to know this stuff.