sunday in the park(ing lot), with pukey mcpukerson
i feel so fortunate that, unlike in my previous pregnancies, morning (or whenever) sickness didn't kick in for weeks. and luckily, it strikes periodically and isn't the 24 hour phenomenon i experienced previously.
but what i lack in quantity this time, i make up for in quality.
for all my puking in hans's pregnancy, i don't think i ever puked in front of anyone else (except poor justin). but this time, what puking i do has been spectacularly dramatic and sometimes alarmingly public. there was the spew across the fetal diagnostic center's lobby just before my first ultrasound, sending the receptionist running for cover. then there was the run down the aisle of the tiny commuter jet to cover every surface of the lavatory and clog the sink, all at a volume sure not to be missed by anyone on board, including the pilot at the opposite end of the plane. a couple of sunday mornings ago, i puked in bed; it came on so suddenly i honestly didn't have time to run to the toilet.
today i pulled through mcdarnald's for an egg and cheese bagel and orange juice before going to the pharmacy to get my anti-anxiety prescription refilled* and then to the grocery store to get a few things to get us through wednesday, before we fly out on thursday. as i considered my travel snack choices (lemon yogurt granola bars or the blueberry/strawberry/vanilla yogurt variety pack? orange juice boxes or apple?) i began to do the gagging lurch. no big deal! i told myself. i do this all the time! doesn't mean a thing! but then it just kept happening, and i knew i had to get the heck out of there. late in my pregnancy with hans, the same thing happened in the same grocery store and i ignored it until i threw up in my mouth, and then i panicked and swallowed it, and i did not want to repeat that particular episode of grossness.
i made it through checkout and to the car, but as i pulled out of the lot i realized it was all over. i pulled over to the side of the street just in time to put the car in park, get my seatbelt off and open my door before spraying the asphalt with sunny-delight-hued vomit. at least the scrambled eggs, american cheese and orange juice were of similar-enough colors to create a uniform palette for the poor person who will uncover the remains of my breakfast when the snow getting dumped on us today eventually thaws. and in keeping with my new-and-improved positive outlook, i hope my display distracted the diehard runners on the high school track off the street from the miserable conditions in which they were running for at least a moment.
on another pollyanna-ish note: this nausea does not require medication that causes me to need to wear diapers! it could be worse!
*****
to celebrate the end of the first trimester, i have gotten a haircut to clean up the scruffy, trying-to-grow-it-out mess that was my hair as well as banished the greys that made me look more like a prospective grandmother than mother. so now my new hair looks like a chocolate cherry winter hat, which is a little awkward but a hundred times better than it looked when i woke up yesterday, and by the time z is born, my hair might even be slightly fabulous. cross your fingers for me.
*how ridiculous is it that every time i've tried to fill this particular prescription my insurance company first rejects it, causing me to wait while the pharmacy tech calls them to fight it, which gets me agitated enough to get on the phone and rail at them until they finally grant approval and assure me it won't happen again? and why it does still happen each time anyway? does it occur to anyone at the insurance company that this process only increases my need for medication? and that an increase in treatment will cost them even more? apparently not.
but what i lack in quantity this time, i make up for in quality.
for all my puking in hans's pregnancy, i don't think i ever puked in front of anyone else (except poor justin). but this time, what puking i do has been spectacularly dramatic and sometimes alarmingly public. there was the spew across the fetal diagnostic center's lobby just before my first ultrasound, sending the receptionist running for cover. then there was the run down the aisle of the tiny commuter jet to cover every surface of the lavatory and clog the sink, all at a volume sure not to be missed by anyone on board, including the pilot at the opposite end of the plane. a couple of sunday mornings ago, i puked in bed; it came on so suddenly i honestly didn't have time to run to the toilet.
today i pulled through mcdarnald's for an egg and cheese bagel and orange juice before going to the pharmacy to get my anti-anxiety prescription refilled* and then to the grocery store to get a few things to get us through wednesday, before we fly out on thursday. as i considered my travel snack choices (lemon yogurt granola bars or the blueberry/strawberry/vanilla yogurt variety pack? orange juice boxes or apple?) i began to do the gagging lurch. no big deal! i told myself. i do this all the time! doesn't mean a thing! but then it just kept happening, and i knew i had to get the heck out of there. late in my pregnancy with hans, the same thing happened in the same grocery store and i ignored it until i threw up in my mouth, and then i panicked and swallowed it, and i did not want to repeat that particular episode of grossness.
i made it through checkout and to the car, but as i pulled out of the lot i realized it was all over. i pulled over to the side of the street just in time to put the car in park, get my seatbelt off and open my door before spraying the asphalt with sunny-delight-hued vomit. at least the scrambled eggs, american cheese and orange juice were of similar-enough colors to create a uniform palette for the poor person who will uncover the remains of my breakfast when the snow getting dumped on us today eventually thaws. and in keeping with my new-and-improved positive outlook, i hope my display distracted the diehard runners on the high school track off the street from the miserable conditions in which they were running for at least a moment.
on another pollyanna-ish note: this nausea does not require medication that causes me to need to wear diapers! it could be worse!
*****
to celebrate the end of the first trimester, i have gotten a haircut to clean up the scruffy, trying-to-grow-it-out mess that was my hair as well as banished the greys that made me look more like a prospective grandmother than mother. so now my new hair looks like a chocolate cherry winter hat, which is a little awkward but a hundred times better than it looked when i woke up yesterday, and by the time z is born, my hair might even be slightly fabulous. cross your fingers for me.
*how ridiculous is it that every time i've tried to fill this particular prescription my insurance company first rejects it, causing me to wait while the pharmacy tech calls them to fight it, which gets me agitated enough to get on the phone and rail at them until they finally grant approval and assure me it won't happen again? and why it does still happen each time anyway? does it occur to anyone at the insurance company that this process only increases my need for medication? and that an increase in treatment will cost them even more? apparently not.
posted by laura at 2:33 PM
6 Comments:
Here's too fabulous hair in a few months!!! :) And to not puking in the grocery store.
Oh, man, how quickly I forget about all that puking. I hope yours doesn't last as long as mine did. Hooray for your new hair! Can we see a picture?
remember that hat the chick in "dr zhivago" wore? that's what my hair looks like. i'm in that awkward phase.
How long is this flight to Japan?
Glad you're in good spirits and puking less.
You said 'and by the time z is born'.
You said.
Congratulations, and I hope you feels better soon.
14 hours, nonstop, sweetcoalminer.
thankfully, a perk of working for my employer is business/first class seating when available - and guess what? there are seats available on thursday!
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