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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The first trimester is poorly designed

I've been considering this lately. I'm a total biology nerd so I think about evolution stuff like this sometimes-- how things often seems to be "designed" to work out to their best advantage. (No, please don't start an "intelligent design" debate in the comments, that shit drives me up a wall.) Anyway, the first trimester definitely isn't one of those "well-designed" things, and here's why:

  1. Morning sickness. How am I supposed to eat all healthy and at least maintain my weight when I am constantly dry-heaving, occasionally vomiting, and I have aversions to every food in sight? I don't feel better when I eat, so it doesn't keep my stomach from getting empty. At least this particular symptom has been getting a little better for me lately!
  2. Selfishness. I'm supposed to be preparing to be more selfless than I've ever been, but I've never been as selfish in my life as the past six weeks or so. It's hard to focus on anything but yourself when you are miserably nauseated and exhausted and sore and etc. I feel like this is the big one-- I've been completely wrapped up in myself lately and I don't think it's healthy.
  3. Fatigue. Shouldn't I be resting up to get ready for all those sleepless nights when the baby comes? Maybe I'm being prepared to function on no sleep... now that's a thought...
  4. Sore boobs. I desperately want to breastfeed, but my boobs have been so painful for so long that I seriously can't picture anyone ever touching them, let alone a baby nursing every two hours. (This definitely won't keep me from breastfeeding, but still!)
  5. Irritability. I've been so immensely cranky that I fear I'll have no friends left by the time the baby comes. That means no babysitters, which is not very advantageous. [:)]
  6. Absentmindedness. How can I get everything done that I need to get done when I can't even remember my last name half the time? (Seriously, I keep writing my maiden name on everything at school.)

I am mostly just kidding about this. My first trimester really hasn't been that rough, at least it could have been much worse, and I'm basically almost done with it. I am relieved that the morning sickness and breast soreness seem to be subsiding a bit (knock on wood!), even if the fatigue is totally out of hand with all the time I have to spend at school. I feel very lucky that it seems my morning sickness won't last past the first trimester, since my mother dealt with it for 20 weeks in both of her pregnancies. Anyway, some of this stuff just makes me think-- there's got to be a better way to do this, right??

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