Good Riddance, First Trimester!

I'm 13 weeks and two days pregnant. There's a debate on when the second trimester officially starts. When I was pregnant with Gracie way back when, the second trimester began when the 12th week of pregnancy was over. Now, the 14th week is thrown into the mix for some strange reason. I heard from someone that her midwife said 14 weeks is now the number because the chance of loss is still high until that week is over. On the other hand, I've heard as soon as you hear that heartbeat, your particular chance of loss falls to less than 5%.

Because no one can give us a reasonable answer, James decided the second trimester begins at 13 weeks and 3 days. That's tomorrow for me, so today is the very last day in this roller-coaster first trimester. Goodbye, and good riddance!

To celebrate the end of the first trimester, I began throwing up. I'm a real party animal. Today, after Bible Study, I stopped by Kroger to pick up a few missing dinner ingredients. I was scheduled to make dinner for a family at our church who recently had twins. I'd been fine all morning, and felt fine in the store, but all of a sudden, while picking out a brand of shredded cheese, I became suddenly very nauseated.

Historically, I like to mix things up a bit by skipping the nausea in the first trimester and moving it to the second and beyond, but nausea for me does not always mean vomiting. It just means misery. I thought that might have been what this was -- by body moving on. I stood very still for a moment to see if it would pass. When it didn't, I thought I'd better scope out the closest restroom (while noting trash cans along the way).

As soon as I spotted the bathroom, I knew I had no hope. I hustled my confused children into the bathroom, and as I waved their questions away, I looked for an opening in the stalls. Both stalls looked full from the front, and I couldn't bend to look underneath without expelling my breakfast. Gracie thought to push on the door of a stall she saw was empty. No sooner did I hang up my purse and hit my knees than I began puking again and again.

The kids were outside of the stall, peering through the cracks, worrying themselves sick. "Are you okay mom?" they asked. "Is the baby okay?"

"Yes, kids," (barf) "Sometimes when a mommy (puke) has a baby in her tummy (ralph), the baby makes the mommy (hurl) throw up. (blech) I'll be just fine."

The lady in the stall next to me wasn't just fine, though. She finished up her business and hurried out the door. I peeled myself off the Kroger bathroom floor, cleaned myself up and finished up my grocery shopping, sipping a cold 7up along the way. I came home hoping it would pass, but it hasn't. I've been throwing up more this evening. Gracie also has become sick with a tummy ache and a low-grade fever.

So, now it doesn't seem that this is my body acknowledging the second trimester. Instead it's some nasty bug doing its best to get out. Needless to say, we cancelled our plans to take dinner to our friends. I've also cancelled our plans to attend a homeschool swimming event in the morning. If I feel tomorrow like I do right now, there's a very good chance I'll spend much of the day lying very, very still. Here's hoping whatever this is passes quickly, and that I have enough Phenergan to get me through!