sicko

I'm feeling a little like death these days. I've been tired and queasy and generally blech for 2-3 days now. I don't know what's up, but I don't like it.

The BH contractions have become stronger and more frequent and they kind of started freaking me out over the weekend. I did a little online snooping to make sure they are in fact BHs (and it seems that they are) and found a bunch of information that can basically be summed up as: Braxton Hicks are good and mean your uterus is preparing for labor, unless they are not good in which case you need to call your doctor right away because you're probably in preterm labor and your baby may die. Great, thanks. "Good" is quite a relative term and not so much helpful when you are a first-time pregnant woman and trying to figure out if this particular round of weird feelings you're having are weird-normal or weird-worrisome.

But concerns about BH contractions are soooo Sunday. Today we're on to aggravating symptom #2: Persistent nausea that makes all food sound terrible followed by sharp stomach cramps upon ingestion of said food. It's like the first trimester all over again! Awesome! I did some more internet research today and found a very helpful site that explained that from here on out, I'm in the extreme growth phase, and if things don't happen in perfect concert (like, say, if the kiddo grows faster than... the skin enclosing my belly, I guess), I may be in for some severe discomfort in the form of nausea, stomach pain, shortness of breath, etc. I have to assume this is what is happening, and I have to hope that it is temporary. I'll be a very unhappy camper if this is what the rest of my pregnancy involves.

I'm trying to get as much rest as possible and laying on my left side does seem to help, boring though it may be. However, I have an especially demanding week at work and it will cost me dearly if I have to back out of it for any reason. I'm participating in a very elite (read: expensive) leadership training for the next three days and we're about 2 months past the deadline for a refund. I get that my health comes first and I need to be smart about things, but I also need to have a job once the baby gets here and skipping out on part or all of this training would not win me any brownie points with the management team at my agency. So, my plan is to take each day one step at a time - as slowly as I need to - and get through as much of it as I can. If I need to call in sick Friday, or all of next week, so be it. It's only three days, and I have nothing to do in the evenings except recover. If nothing else, this has taught me not to make commitments like this from here on out. After Christmas, nothing ambitious is going on my calendar until June!