Morning Sickness
I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have to experience this wonderful side effect of pregnancy. However, there are a few things I attribute to this success. Each morning, before ever getting out of bed, I'd snack on a few crackers and drink a glass of ice-cold Ginger Ale, Sprite, or Coke that the hubs would bring me just to have something on my stomach before getting up and moving around. Occasionally during the day, I'd start feeling nauseous. If I did, I'd immediately start chewing some gum or suck on a Starburst to make the feeling go away. Apparently the increased saliva production can help the feeling of nausea! Who knew?
Caffeine or No Caffeine?
At the beginning of my pregnancy, this was my biggest concern. All of my life I've been a soft-drink drinker. To say my body is addicted to caffeine is an understatement. So when I went to my first ob appointment, I explained to my doctor my concern about cutting out caffeine out of my diet. I'd tried before and it left me with a migraine each day. I wasn't looking forward to that again. Her advice, "As long as you aren't downing a two-liter each day, it's fine." So with that said, I felt okay to continue caffeine as long as it was in moderation. For me, moderation was two can drinks of Coke each day. I always had one can while at work. Because hey, I'm a teacher and without caffeine, I don't think I could make it through the day! The second one I'd drink at dinner. For the rest of the day, I'd stick to water or Gatorade.
It's no joke. Right around the time I entered my second trimester, I started getting sharp pains in my right side. By sharp pains, I mean I felt like someone had a knife in my side. The pains were so bad I could barely stand up and walk. After contacting my doctor she informed me I was experiencing round ligament pain. A common symptom during the second trimester. Not being a big medicine taker, the only way I found some relief was to soak in a hot bath or lay on a heating pad. But trust me, they only last a few days and they aren't constant. And some people are lucky in that they may not even experience them and if they do, it may just feel like a tightening sensation. If you're one of those people, lucky you! I'm hoping next go round, I'll be one of those lucky people!
The Glucose Test
It isn't nearly as bad as you think. My doctor's office offers two flavor options: fruit punch and orange. I'm not a big fruit punch person so I opted for the orange flavor. It tasted like a diet Sunkist. The only difference was it had the consistency of cough syrup. Thankfully I only had to drink about 3 oz. of it. It wasn't that bad going down but after my throat felt like I'd just downed a whole glass of raw sugar. My suggestion is to bring a bottle of water to wash it down with. Water is the only thing they'll allow you to have within the hour. No food, drink, or even gum before they can draw your blood. But you won't need any of it because water does the trick. Also, my doctor's office allowed me to eat the morning of the test which was amazing. A friend of mine told me the key to having good blood sugar is to take in extra protein. So the morning of the test I made sure to eat my eggs and a slice of toast with peanut butter! Apparently it worked because I passed with flying colors.
Contractions
My biggest fear at the end of my pregnancy was that I was going to go into labor and not realize it because I didn't know what a contraction felt like. So for those of you with the same concerns, it really does feel just like cramps. They'll start off pretty mild but get stronger in intensity. The strongest they felt to me was the equivalent in a cramp in my side that I might get if I haven't ran in a long time. And once you get an epidural, you literally feel no pain!
I was a Googler like crazy, and it just drove me nuts (especially with my cholestasis diagnosis)! I had to step away from the computer and do like you did - rely on advice from friends and family who'd been there and done the whole pregnancy thing! I also didn't think the glucose test was that bad - but it definitely would have been better with some water afterwards. The sugar didn't sit too well on my stomach and I think some water would have helped!
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