9 Weeks Pregnant

First of all, the exciting news! We heard the heartbeat on Tuesday - before 9 weeks even! That's how healthy this baby is! LOL So, we told our 4 and 3/4 year old, Emma and she has not stopped talking about it. It is so funny! She's gotten us totally excited about the baby (hearing the heartbeat helped me a lot too) and now I'm ready for the adventure ahead!

So I promised to talk about why I'm feeling so great now. First I have to give you some background. I had absolutely NO idea I was pregnant until I was past 5 weeks pregnant. I am usually completely on top of those things. Both girls were very planned and I knew and got a positive pregnancy test before I was even 4 weeks pregnant. And we were in Disney World, so I wasn't really paying attention to things. I should have been tipped off when I fell asleep at 10 pm in an Irish Pub with a very loud (and good) Irish band playing only 10 feet away from me. I fell ASLEEP! I am a night owl. I couldn't believe I did that! So clueless! I also almost threw up after going on a "build your own" roller coaster at Disney Qwest. I love roller coasters and never get sick. So, this was totally out of character for me.

Anyway, we got home on Thursday night and when I woke up on Friday, I realized that I still hadn't started my period. But it didn't occur to me that there might be a reason. My cycles had been pretty all over the place last year and I figured that for some reason I was having a long luteal phase (the time after ovulation before your period). And as I walked to the bathroom, I couldn't figure out why I was having a long luteal phase. Seriously, I asked myself that. Then it hit me. So after taking 4 tests, we pretty much figured that we were indeed expecting our third child.

And then it all hit me. The next day I got a little flu bug so I felt awful for the next 36 hours. And then the next day I got a cold that lasted for 2+ weeks. So fun! Anyway, after the flu went away, I got morning sickness all day. It was no fun. I wanted no food. I was praying that I could get a feeding tube inserted so I could avoid eating. Nothing sounded good to me and I just didn't want to eat. I did not think I could make it through the first trimester.

Okay, let me interrupt for a minute. Since August, I've been taking USANA Essentials which have been great and fortunately, I kept taking them and they are as good as a prenatal since they have 800 mg of Folic Acid. (Most vitamins only have 400 mg and you need 800 mg when you are pregnant). In December, I started drinking Xango (Mangosteen juice). But when we went to Disney World, we didn't take it with us, so I was without it for about a week. I immediately started taking it when I got home. I take 4 oz a day, but had a lot of trouble that first week with the flu, the nausea and the cold.

But I'd heard that Xango helped with morning sickness, so I was determined to get it down. I knew I couldn't do it on an empty stomach, b/c I tried that and didn't feel well. And sure enough within 2 weeks, the morning sickness was gone! And I couldn't believe the energy I had. Don't get me wrong, if I don't get enough sleep, then I'm tired. But if I get enough rest, I really have enough energy all day - no naps and I stay up until 11 pm usually. And for the nausea to go away this early was shocking to me! With my 2nd daughter it stayed with me until at least 12 weeks. But to have it be gone before 8 weeks, was crazy. The only thing I'd done differently than my last 2 pregnancies was the vitamins, diet and Xango. I'm convinced that if I'd had the Xango all along, I would have avoided the morning sickness altogether. But since I was off of it for more than a week, it took a couple of weeks for it to work again. And we ran out the other day and I didn't have it for a couple of days and I got nauseas again for the first time in more than 2 weeks.

So that's why I'm feeling so much better these days. You better believe that I don't forget my Xango! :)