FYI- this post has pretty much nothing to do with horses. I'm putting it up because I remember being newly pregnant and scouring the internet for other women's accounts of their pregnancy. I wanted to know if what I was feeling was normal. So this post is for those among you who may become pregnant and wonder if what you are feeling is normal- just remember that every pregnancy is different, even for the same woman.
I'm currently in the middle of the second trimester, and I think I can say so far that I've had a pretty easy pregnancy, but still...
The first trimester SUUUUUUUCKS!
Seriously, it does.
It didn't help that I wasn't trying to get pregnant and that when I found out I was I had to get over being annoyed about all my plans for the year getting tossed. Riding in another dressage show? Nixed. Getting Coriander to reliably pick up that left lead canter? Nixed. Getting Gwen solid under saddle and attempt canter by the fall? Nixed. I was a little cranky for a couple weeks.
Anyway, physically the first symptom I had was cramping that started, literally, an hour after conception. At that point I ran over to the calendar and did a little mental arithmetic after which a few profanities fell out of my mouth. My midwives still don't believe that I know the day of conception but I do, down to the hour.
The cramping continued for the next six weeks, it was accompanied by dizziness, thirst, and the need to eat ALL THE FOOD. Heaven help you if you annoyed me when I was hungry. It wasn't pretty.
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| Hyperbole and a Half, I miss you |
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| I never looked nearly this nice |
Sometime around 9 weeks the morning sickness hit. This was all-day, constant, never-ending nausea. It's much worse when your stomach is empty, which it tends to be when you wake up in the morning- thus the name. Here is an interesting discovery:
Pregnancy is the one time in a woman's life where she'll feel sick for months on end and it's considered a good thing.
Somehow I got lucky and never tossed my cookies, but that doesn't mean I didn't have a few close calls. Unlike me, there are a bunch of women out there who have hyperemesis gravidarum, and vomit so badly while pregnant that they have to be hospitalized for dehydration. That really sucks.
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| Really all cats are |
Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better now. Can't ride anymore? Make the best of it and strat training your horses in hand. By the time your baby is there they'll be able to do haunches in, collection, side-pass :-)
ReplyDeleteCheck it out at http://straightness-training.kajabi.com/fe/4206-my-complicated-horse
Good idea, they can both do shoulder-in and leg yield in hand but I have been wanting to teach them haunches-in and then half pass. Now if only I could see them in the daylight during the week...
DeleteI hate daylight savings.
I have also been sorely tempted to sign up for her straightness training course. Have you done it?
Sorry, but I am chuckling at your expense! :-) I don't have children, but have lots of friends and relatives that do. I have to say that I admire your frankness.
ReplyDeletep.s. I miss Hyperbole, too.
That's okay, pregnancy is hilarious for everyone around the pregnant lady. That is unless she has deadly gases emanating from her nether regions. Fortunately I haven't gotten that too often either.
DeleteAll in all it doesn't sound too bad. I can't believe you've never hurled. My poor daughter couldn't keep anything down. She must be the only person I know who loses 25 pounds during pregnancy. Oh, and she was on a
ReplyDelete( don't know what happened there, here's the rest of it) an IV the whole time. It might be inconvenient right now but there USA light at the end of the tunnel. I always hated being pregnant too. The good part is in the end you are rewarded with a cuddly little bundle of joy!
ReplyDeleteYou can still work with the horses from the ground so that's a pls. I had a friend who rode until her 8th month. I thought she was crazy.but it worked out for her. I think working from the ground I a better option. You can really get a lot done.
Oh that poor, poor woman :(
DeleteI did throw up once, but it was after the first trimester. My husband was out of town and one of the cats dropped a deuce on the floor. I got some toilet paper to picked it up and throw in the toilet and the feel of it made me throw up in the sink.
I have done a bit of in-hand work so far. I previously mentioned that they can both do shoulder-in and leg yield in hand, but I've also worked with Coriander on stretching down into bit contact. Not as much as I wish I had, but a little.
Well now that I'm home and off the iPad (I was babysitting my 3 yr.old granddaughter) I can see so many mistakes. Just wanted you to know I'm not illiterate. Apparently, iPad takes it upon itself to correct things as you type. Not always correctly.
DeleteI probably would have thrown up picking up the cat poop too. I used to throw up every morning when I fed the dogs their stinky canned food years ago and when I brushed my teeth. Hang in there. When are you due anyway?
End of March, and don't worry- I know you aren't illiterate :)
DeleteFirst, I just want to say that I am glad you are feeling better. I hope that you will continue to get some relief from the nausea and fatigue.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I love Hyperbole and a Half. I have printed out that same picture with the exclamation about cleaning all the things. I hang it on the refrigerator when I am pissed about the house being a mess. It is really hard to keep the house clean when both of us work and who wants to spend the weekend cleaning? Not I!
How about double lungeing or long-lining? You get to have the outside rein for balance and speed control. It almost feels like riding. :)
Hang in there.
My house is also a mess. Everyday I look down and say "man, I need to vacuum." Do I do that? No.
DeleteI'm going to see if I can do some long-lining this weekend, it's supposed to be fairly nice out.
Glad you're feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your realistic attitude about pregnancy - plain and simple, it's uncomfortable and inconvenient, despite the desirable end result. If it weren't for oxytocin women would likely not repeat the experience voluntarily. ;D
I hope you get to work with your quarters this weekend!!
I tell it like it is, sister ;)
DeleteI'm due end of March too, (2nd baby) so I completely sympathise, and I gotta say... You forget how much pregnancy sucks until you do it again. My first trimester this time around involved 3 weeks on the couch due to all-day nausea whilst trying to keep a hungry, active 16mth boy happy! :S
ReplyDeleteI also hate how neglected my horses are during this time. It's so hard to have the energy for them! I'm still riding though, I'm planning to do so until I physically can't any more. Which maybe sooner than I think. :P
bonita of A Riding Habit
You poor thing, those three weeks on the couch must have been awful :(
DeleteMy horses have been terribly neglected also, I'm not happy about how much training time I've missed and will miss. But I snuck a ride in today- shhhh, don't tell anybody.
I remember the exhaustion! I didn't find out I was pregnant until almost five months and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I couldn't get off the couch in the middle of the day. Then pregnancy with baby number 2, with a toddler crawling over me on the floor, and me unable to pry my eyelids open.
ReplyDeleteIt gets better:)
Sasha
Well I guess the bonus of finding out at five months is that you have a "short" pregnancy? I remember thinking more than once during that first three months, "how do women who already have a child do this?"
DeleteMy hat is off to you ladies.
once your first start getting out of the baby stage and you look at all the little clothes he's grown out of you will want another one and forget about the pregnancy pain;) During delivery (natural, no drugs) I said to myself, never again! but then wanted another one, and at that delivery I thought NEVER AGAIN! but I guess nature has a way of wiping out the miserable parts, lol. As my boys are getting bigger, I would be thrilled to a chance to have another two and go through it all again, but it seems at 32 my baby days are over. Enjoy this time!
DeleteSasha
Ginger may be your bestie with a sour tummy. That and saltines.
ReplyDeleteFeel better and just enjoy your time. Ground work as you know can be just as effective as in the saddle.
I can only comment on my experience so- you're right about the ginger but Schweppes ginger ale didn't cut it for me. It was ginger beer or nothing, if it didn't make my nose itch it wasn't ginger enough. I also didn't have good luck with "bland" food. For me the spicier the better, I pigged out on Indian, Thai, Mexican, anything with a lot of flavor.
Delete