We're Half Way There!

Four and a half months later… we are half way there!

This is me at 20 weeks. Don't mind the messy, pulled back hair and lack of makeup. I had just taken a nap (which happens almost daily). 

SO much has changed since the last time I blogged about my pregnancy and my health. I’m in my second trimester (yay!), my hyperemesis has downgraded to just normal pregnancy morning sickness (double yay!), my leukemia is starting to stabilize (triple yay!), AND we found out that our precious baby girl is completely healthy (quadruple yay!). My days are filled with less worry and now more excitement!

People told me it would happen, and I remembering it happening when I was pregnant with Talon, but when you are so miserably sick, you don’t think it’s ever going to happen. Around 13 weeks, I woke up one Monday morning and it was like a fog had been lifted. If you follow my blog then you know, week 6-12 was completely and utterly miserable. I couldn’t eat a bite of food, I couldn’t drink a drop of water, all I could do was just try to sleep because I was dealing with your not so average morning sickness—hyperemesis. I spent a couple of days in the hospital getting fluids because I was so dehydrated and ending up losing a total of 10 pounds during the course of that time. I couldn’t even concentrate to watch a TV show and couldn’t even carry on a conversation because I was that miserable, all day every day. Unless you’ve had hyperemesis, it’s really hard to put into words how terrible it is. But just when I didn’t think I could handle it any longer, the second trimester started and I slowly began feeling like better and better and now at 20 weeks, I can say I feel like a normal pregnant person. It’s so very exciting!!

I still have to take Diclegis 4x a day (and if I miss a dose I can totally tell) but only have to take anti-nausea meds as needed (I was taking them around the clock). I do still get sick on occasion but it’s nowhere near what it was. I can put in a full day at the office, I have energy to put effort into getting ready which includes putting on makeup and fixing my hair, I can do laundry, clean house, and even started cooking again this past week—I’m pretty much back to my normal routine. Even though I'm struggling with anemia, I still have so much more energy than what I have had. I’m still limited on what I can eat (still can’t eat red meat—no burgers or steaks -- and I crave a burger from Laha's like something awful, warm, heavy foods are a no go, and sweets are limited—no chocolate) but I can eat, I CAN EAT! I still can only drink water and a little unsweet tea but it’s better than having to get fluids from an IV. Now the sad part-- the foods that I crave are salad, apples, string cheese, and almonds. How boring is that? And I’m not normally a salad or apple eater, until now.  It’s so weird how your body changes when you’re pregnant. It’s like my body knows how I’m normally such an unhealthy eater so it’s forcing me to be healthy while pregnant. I know that’s something I should be happy about (and I am) but that’s supposed to be one of the perks of being pregnant, right? Using the excuse that you’re pregnant and eating whatever you want? I still have a few more months to go so maybe that will change. On the other side of that, since I haven’t been spooning ice cream out of the tub every night, I haven’t gained much weight. Well technically, I haven’t gained any. Now I weigh the exact same as I did before I was pregnant. BUT I did lose 10 pounds initially and just now gained that back, and the fact that I feel like I can’t eat enough tells me I’ll probably be packing on the pounds soon. :)

And now onto my health. If you follow me on FB then you know that last week I received some really exciting news from my oncologist. The risk of me being pregnant is that I can’t take my normal treatment for my leukemia, which inevitably means my leukemia will progress throughout my pregnancy. So long as that slowly happens, then we can delay treatment until after I have the baby. Each month, we do a couple of blood tests to essentially check where my leukemia level is. Initially, my numbers increased pretty quickly which was a huge concern so I was prepared to start treatment sometime soon. Well my last blood test results showed that my numbers weren’t increasing as quickly anymore and were beginning to stabilize, which is what we want. The longer it remains like this, the longer we can delay treatment, which overall is what is best for me and baby. Now that could change at any moment (I get tested every 4 weeks) but the results of this last test gave me hope that there might be a chance that we delay treatment until AFTER I have the baby—something I was convinced otherwise in the beginning. It was a good day.

And then icing on the cake?? Finding out today that our little GIRL is completely healthy and growing just like she should. Now THAT was music to my ears. It’s been hard to enjoy this pregnancy because I have been so concerned— having leukemia and knowing the risk is poses to me and baby, having hyperemesis and that being so hard on my already weak immune system, and having to take medications that even though I know are ‘safe’ during pregnancy, still can’t help but make you worry—my biggest concern all along was the health of this baby. So when we finally got to see for ourselves and hear from our doctor that SHE looks perfect, it was the best news ever. Did I mention I’m going to have a daughter? It’s so crazy to say. I was convinced I’d always be a boy mom. Looks like God had other plans. :)

So how am I feeling at 20 weeks (4.5 months) pregnant? Blessed, thankful, and so completely overwhelmed with the joy and excitement. Let the fun begin!

Confession:

TJ and Talon were both pulling for a boy. I think TJ is still in shock but excited (and possibly a bit scared :) ) but Talon was instantly excited when I told him the good news. His response—“I’m so happy WE are having a girl!” It melts my heart every time he talks about the baby. It’s not ‘mom is having a baby’, it’s ‘WE are having a baby.’ That boy is going to be the best big brother. <3


To read more about my pregnancy journey, click here.