Pregnancy, Then and Now

The most common question of early pregnancy is, "How are you feeling?"  

At 13.5 weeks, I am happy to say that I am finally beginning to feel human again.  I have officially gone 3.5 days without even thinking about throwing up...Hoorah!  This pregnancy has been very similar to my first: not a whole lot of vomiting, but 24/7 nausea and severe food and smell aversions.  At any given moment of the day, I could easily bow to the Great White Throne.  But my experience has shown that unlike the stomach flu, when vomiting brings relief, pregnancy vomiting just makes me feel worse.  I have mastered the art of closing my eyes, breathing deeply, and thinking happy thoughts until the urge to lose my lunch fades.

Now here I am in the second trimester, and as Jonathan said with great relief, "You're back!"  My poor boys had been living in squalor and subsisting on boxed mac-n-cheese.  They were good sports.  But this week the house is decently clean again, dinners have been on the table, and I have not greeted my husband from the couch in pajamas at the end of the work day.  Progress!  

With this second pregnancy, a new most-commonly-asked-question has arisen: "Isn't it so much harder to be pregnant when you already have one?"  

And to that I say a big, fat, "No way!  It's a breeze!"  Here's why:

The last time I was pregnant, I was the Greek Life and Community Service Advisor at The University of Memphis.  In weeks 8-10 of that pregnancy, we were in the thick of fraternity and sorority recruitment.  With no exaggeration, I worked until 2 a.m. every night for a week (Panhellenic Recruitment), and then until 11 p.m. for another week (IFC Recruitment).  During sorority recruitment, I was either running around handling drama with the ladies or cooped up front of a computer in a room that had been filled with huge catering orders of BBQ and pizza that would then be left there all night for me to smell.  I ended up not being able to eat BBQ or pizza for my entire pregnancy.  During fraternity recruitment, I spent my nights driving around in a golf cart from house to house, making sure that young college gentlemen weren't using booze to sway their newest members.  And while I thoroughly enjoyed my job and the students I worked with, I dealt with lots and lots of drama, stupid choices, bad attitudes, and generally exhausting behavior.  

Even once the mess of recruitment was over, I still worked crazy hours.  Saturday morning service projects at 6:30 a.m.  Monday night meetings at 9 p.m.  Wednesday night recruitment meetings at 7.  All of that in addition to my regular office hours.  Oh, and since I am old school and did not share my pregnancy until later, I put up with all of that without the excuse of pregnancy!  (Although I did enjoy shutting my door for a daily lunch break power nap!) 

(Here I am with some of my darling Panhellenic women who threw me a fantastic shower!  I really do miss these girls!  Thanks to Tigers games and other university events, I'm able to keep in touch with many of them.  Riggins has quite the fan club!)  

This time, yes, I have my hands full with a busy toddler.  And I'm sure that as I get bigger and as he gets older it will be much more difficult to keep up with him, lift him, etc.  But for getting through the first trimester yuckies, my current situation has been a dream compared to the first time around!  This time, I can stay in my pajamas.  I have at least one, sometimes two, naps each day (You can bet that the second that nursery door is shut I have been bolting for my bed, sometimes sleeping the entire 2 hour nap time!  This week I've actually been able to stay up and get some things done, which is huge!)  He goes to bed each night at 7, which means that if I want to call it a night at 9, I can!  And even when he is awake, he is young enough not to mind if we spend the afternoon laying in his box house reading books, playing in his room as mama lays on the floor nearby, or snuggling on the couch for some Praise Baby or Baby Einstein.

So you can bet I am counting my blessings this time around!  All in all, being responsible for one sweet toddler is a whole lot easier than being responsible for 800 collegiate Greeks!   

A bitty bump shot at 11 Weeks, with my personal stylist in tow.