A Smokin' Toothache

This morning, at 7:15am, our smoke alarm went off.  Ian shot out of bed and went around and checked the whole house to see what was up.  No smoke anywhere but here's a video reenactment of me, imitating him how he woke up to the alarm (these iPhone 4 videos look pretty crappy on your computer, geez):

It went off again at 9:30 in a different room but still no smoke.  Our house is still standing so it's ok, maybe the batteries were just dying.  So weird.

On another note - last week I "made" Ian go to the dentist for our bi-yearly cleaning.  I had to get a cavity filled too and when they went in they saw it was worse then expected and told me I needed a root canal.  This is when I freaked and cried in my car because I have always heard that root canals are super scary and painful.  My tooth was sore for a bit and then stopped hurting, until three days ago.

I had the worst toothache since Sunday.  It got so sore I couldn't even bite down on it and felt my heart actually beating in my tooth.  I never knew what a toothache felt like and don't ever want to again, it is the worst.  You can't eat, drink or do anything without it throbbing and being pregnant sucks because you can't drink or take anything to numb the pain.  I kept thinking of myself as the alligator in the 1976 children's book by Marguerite Dorian called The Alligator's Toothache, it was one of my favorites when I was little.

 

I went online and did some research about root canals.   It turns out that they don't suggest pregnant women getting them until their 2nd trimester just in case the anesthesia used (some doctors use epinephrine) could hurt the baby.  So, I decided to head back to the dentist I hate, Dr. Patterson on 3rd Avenue and Osborn, to see what he could do for me.  

I read all of these alternative treatments to root canals like growing your pulp back, cleaning and draining the tooth and so on, but of course when I told him about it he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about.  I also told him that to do this to a pregnant person, when they are already feeling lousy, AND over Christmas was so wrong.  I was almost in tears telling him that I have at least another month in my first trimester and care more about my blueberry then I do about my tooth hurting.

I feel like he put a half-ass filling on my tooth thinking I was going to rush right to the endodontist to get my root canal, so I wanted to go back to see if he could fix it so I could hold out another month.  He ended up just sanding my tooth down (I guess when your gums inflame due to your roots being infected, your tooth drops and becomes more sensitive) and wanting to prescribe me antibiotics.  I told them I hadn't even been to the obgyn yet to check on the baby so I was really weary of taking anything, but they called my ob and got amoxicillian approved for me.  I looked all over online too and this is ok to take while pregnant and ok to take along with your prenatal vitamin.

Started taking it yesterday and today, my toothache is gone!  Still sore, still can't eat on my left side but no more throbbing pain!  I couldn't even get out of bed yesterday or Tuesday but today, feeling amazing!  Hopefully this will hold me over until February when I can get a root canal, still not looking forward to it though.  After that pain I would do anything, however, and even considered knocking my tooth out with an ice skate and rock (like Tom Hanks in Castaway).

Took down our Christmas decorations today because we have a busy weekend coming up with Ian playing two shows.  Can't wait for his New Year's Eve show tomorrow, even though it is going to be COLD!  Also, went in search of snow today and found some in north Scottsdale, it hasn't snowed in town in 20 years.  Drove all the way out on Scottsdale Road past the 101, lots of snow chunks falling on us not just flurries!  Here are some pics:

Feeling lucky that we got to see snow in AZ, it was a great way to end our winter break.  And it was blueberry's first snow!

On a totally other note, got airbrushed tanned today with Christie for the first time (blueberry's first tan) and it was amazing.  Feeling like my old self again, I could get used to this!  Here is my crazy tan line, not wearing anything next time we go:

 

It was really cold outside today, not looking forward to going back to school if the mornings are like this.  My phone says that right now it is 41 degrees outside and I am currently curled up under a heated blanket (thanks mom!).  Sooooooo soooooo cold!  It finally feels like winter on the last weekend before we go back to school.  Not looking forward to Monday, our first day back after I've already established a "vacation pregnant routine," but AM looking forward to Monday because it is our first doctor's appointment.  Can't wait!  :)

7 Weeks

Today, and for this week only, our baby is officially the size of a BLUEBERRY!  Finally!  

My bestie Christine asked me what I'm going to call the baby when it is no longer the size of a blueberry but instead a lemon, then eggplant and then a honeydew.  I responded with, "He/She will always be a blueberry muffin to me," and when I asked Ian the same thing, he answered with the exact words I said.  Too funny!

Here is my 7 week picture.  I have decided that weekly pictures are kinda funny in the beginning because they don't really show much, but at the end of each trimester we will put them all together and hopefully you can see some progress.  So, at week 12 look for a montage.

(Please forgive these photos.  Most of them are at the end of the day on Sundays when I haven't even brushed my hair or put any make up on all day.  We are also taking them in blueberry's room which is currently filled with random things, and we have to climb over stuff to get a clear spot for a pic.  It's as real as it gets I suppose!)

As I said yesterday, this week was rough and I couldn't have gotten through it without my husband, friends and family.  Here are some other things that made it a bit better:

Sea Bands are all natural, no chemicals.  They apply pressure to your wrist tendons using a small, plastic bead and help with morning sickness.  They feel like sweat bands and the pressure is pretty light, except if you've been wearing them awhile it kind of gets annoying.  I suggest wearing them whenever you go out, just put them on before you go, so you don't get dizzy or nauseous while out and about.  The gum is Sea Band ginger gum, also for nausea, it is amazing.  Both of these I found at CVS.

It is hard to find "all natural" soda now-a-days but I found some.  This is made with real sugar, pregnant ladies should stay away from fake sugar, and has the bubbles which help when your tummy hurts.  I got the cranberry splash and it is delicious.  The only bad thing about it is that it is 160 calories, so drink them sparingly. 

Reed's Ginger Brew (non-alcoholic) and Reed's ginger candy are life savers.  The candy instantly makes me feel better and the brew is bubbly and delicious with 26 grams of fresh ginger and 25% fruit juice.  Very refreshing.

 

Organic ginger herbal tea from Fresh & Easy with ginger, peppermint, chamomile and spices.  Delicious and spicy! 

Candied dried ginger.  If you don't like the taste of ginger, don't eat this.  If you've had ginger at a sushi restaurant plain, this tastes exactly like that.  I don't mind it, but you can only eat one piece a sitting.  Save it for when you're really feeling bad, trust me.

I only post these recommendations for all of my ladies who will be pregnant after me, offering help in case you need it.  Just want to make sure you all are ok and feeling good!

Had trouble sleeping last night, spoke too soon about being able to sleep through the night on Christmas Eve.  I heard your allergies get better when you're pregnant but last night I felt very allergy-y.  Going to try the humidifier tonight, hopefully that will help.  

It was a very relaxing day today, spent most of the day watching Home Alone 2 and listening to the boys (Snake Burner) get ready for their New Year's Eve show.  Can't wait to hear them play downtown on Friday night - it's gonna be so much fun!  Their New Times page:

Can I also just add one more random thought, I LOVE my Christmas nails.  Got them done on Christmas Eve with my fam and friends at Valley Nails, and am thinking about having them all year round.  They make me happy and feel wintry.  :) 

Merry Christmas Little Blueberry

Today is Christmas and I have never felt so blessed in my whole life.  The past week has been rough, and I have purposefully put off blogging because of it.  But today, today I feel so incredibly lucky.

Let me take you back a week to some of my thoughts:

• Am I going crazy?
• Will I feel like this every day for the rest of my life?
• Will I feel this crazy when blueberry comes?
• Will I ever not be tired?
• Am I depressed?
• Will I ever feel like myself again?
• Who the heck am I?

And some of my actions:

• Crying in the car for 20 minutes after finding out I may need a root canal.
• Crying over 4 times during the movie Love Actually (which I've already seen, many times).
• Considering going to the tanning salon and just sticking my head in the tanning bed (so as not to hurt blueberry but still being able to tan my face).
• Asking my friend to go and get me bronzer because I felt as though I could not leave the house (June - I owe you!).
• Asking Ian to help me hang my clothes up because I felt as though I couldn't make it through hanging up about 5 things before wanting to pass out.
• Laying in bed feeling like I'm on a boat and wishing that it would all just go away for just a minute.
• Crying over 6 times during the movie 50 First Dates (this also wasn't the first time I've seen this movie).
• Calling/texting my friends and telling them I think I'm going insane.
• Laying in bed at night wondering if I am indeed going insane.

But, then it was over.  Just like that I feel normal again and have for the past two days.  Hormones are nutty and no one explains this to you.  And, everyone expects you to be "oh so happy" you are pregnant all of the time when sometimes you just feel so poopy.  I guess if someone explained this to me before hand it wouldn't have mattered, it's just something you have to experience I guess.  I am sure there will be more crazy days, but I also am sure I will get over them and see the light at the end of the tunnel again, just as I do today.

I spoke to God (0r Buddha or Allah, whoever is up there) last night before I went to bed and this is what I said:  "I am so grateful for everything in my life.  I am grateful for all of my family and all of my friends and can't believe how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life.  I am so blessed to have our home, our dogs, my husband, our jobs and our baby; and as much as I complain I am so happy that this is my life.  I consider myself the luckiest girl in the world and thank you for making it all happen."  I truly feel this way and today, on Christmas, it is the perfect day to share these thoughts with you.

These are the people (and dogs) that make my life so wonderful.  Merry Christmas to all, words cannot express how much I truly love you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving us as much as we love you.

Only missing my dad today, it is my first Christmas without him in 31 years.  He is in Oregon, having fun with family friends, and I'm sure he will be back before I know it.

Also, my friend June was right when she said, "when you're pregnant you will fall in love with your husband all over again."  Here are some things my husband did for me this week when I wasn't feeling like myself:

• Hung a blanket on our bedroom window so I could nap during the day.
• Cleaned the whole house for my family to come over on Christmas morning.
• Bought me reflexology socks that when you put them on they tell you where to rub for certain things (on the bottom of your feet).
• Rubbed my feet multiple times (with and without the socks).
• Helped me hang my clothes up.
• Helped me grocery shop for baby friendly foods.
• Made sure that wherever I was, I was ok; and left places when I wanted to leave if I wasn't feeling well.
• Hugged and kissed me whenever I felt down.
• Checked on me in the dentist parking lot when I was crying in my car.
• Hugged me in bed at night when I didn't feel like myself.
• Touches my belly and talks to our baby every chance he gets.

Ian is truly the best person I've ever met in my life.

Merry Christmas to all, today was definitely a great day.  Thank you God (or the "man in the sky") for everything in my life, I am truly blessed.

6 Weeks

I have a new routine it seems.  I go to bed, sweat like crazy, create a heat pocket on my side, move to the middle and then wake up after sleeping only like 6 hours and can't go back to sleep.  Then I'm up for 2-3 hours and then I go back to bed for a couple more.  It is weird.  I thought now was the time I was supposed to be able to sleep, before I get huge and uncomfortable.  It seems I am not the only one, click here.  I also have to take a nap after being up for about 4 hours in the morning (after the SECOND time I wake up).  So essentially I am taking two naps a day. 

Felt ok today, just dizzy again.  Wish I could stay asleep, this broken sleeping is messing with me, but at least I'm not in school for the next two weeks.  Feels like I'm dreaming during the day sometimes.  Took our doggies to the dog park, did ok out and about and then came home to take another preggo pic.  Gained a pound this week, not too shabby.

 

I don't know if you can tell in this pic but I totally have a bump.  Wasn't sure if it was a baby thing or if I was just getting chubby (eating so many small meals during the day now just to feel better), so I googled it and looked at other slender girls who were 6 weeks pregnant.  They all had a mini bump like me so I guess it's normal.  

I have always had a super flat tummy, you could actually see my muscles.  Now, I have a small pooch forming right in the front, the size of the middle of my hand.  It's cute, we noticed it for the first time today.  So fun!  I understand that it could be your "bowels distending" or your "uterus expanding" like What to Expect When You're Expecting says, but it's cool none-the-less - no matter what it is.  ;)

Went to Christie's to watch Scrooged and had to come home because I started feeling nauseous.  Was so cuddly on her couch under a blanket, I think I got too hot.  Got clammy and sweaty feeling (like at the mall last weekend), and felt instantly better when I walked outside to my car where it was cool.  Ate some ginger candy, took some deep breathes through my nose (yoga breaths), and am feeling a bit better now.  These are life savers, they are ginger chews and when I eat them I immediately feel better.  I like ginger to begin with but if you don't, they are still pretty yummy, like candy but gingery.  

I think I need to make more of an effort to get on the treadmill every morning.  I normally only run/walk 3 days a week but I bet if I do it every morning, at least walking, I will feel better.  It will just get my blood flowing and wake me up a bit, I don't know.  I'm still trying to avoid barfing, ugh.  I also didn't take my afternoon nap today because we went to the dog park, need to make more of an effort to rest too before I start feeling sick.

I feel like I'm on a boat that's rocking and swaying sometimes.  I heard that these work for this kind of feeling when pregnant, I need to get one.

Nani, Meet Blueberry

Last night, I told my nani (Italian for grandma) that I was 6 weeks pregnant.  I was going to tell her at our annual ravioli dinner on Christmas night, but my mom couldn't hold the secret in any longer and planned a rendezvous for us at Uncle John's party.  It was HUGE news for her because out of five children, she got only one grandchild (me) and she has been waiting her whole life for this.  I am her baby and she is my nani, she means the world to me.

This was her reaction:

And the first picture of four generations of our family (blueberry is in there somewhere):

It was an amazing moment and I will NEVER forget it.  :)

Ian and I have since decided that when you get pregnant you either you tell everyone all at once, or no one until you are ready for everyone to know.  Telling only immediate family and friends doesn't work, no one can keep a secret!  To be honest, the only reason I wanted to wait is because our first doctor's appointment isn't until January 3rd (8 weeks), and I just wanted to make sure everything was ok before telling the world.  But, no one can wait (including Ian), oh well!

I Have the BEST Girlfriends

 

(All of my favorite people)

Tonight I invited my girlfriends and their significant others to my family's Christmas party at my Uncle John and Lisa's house.  I have known these girls for almost 17 years, for reals.  I was excited that they could join us at the party.

I told them ahead of time that Lisa LOVES Christmas and has a tree in every room of her house.  So, we decided to wander the rooms and take a picture next to every tree.  I think we found 7 but we missed one in the downstairs bathroom totaling 8.  My mom took some amazing pics on Jenny's camera of us next to 7 of them:

(#1 was in the living room)

 

(#2 was in the office)

 

(#3 in the dining room - the biggest one)

(#4 in their bedroom, Christie couldn't believe it!  

 (#5 was in their master bathroom)

(#6 was in the upstairs hall bathroom)

(#7 was hanging on the kitchen cupboard and 

#8 was in the downstairs hall bathroom - we missed one!)

It was a super fun night and I am always happy when I get to see these girls.  I consider myself the luckiest because I have had these ladies in my life for such a long time, and because they are such amazing people.  I could not ask for better friends and it is beyond words how I feel about them.  I hope they know just how much I love them.

Last night, as we were driving to the party, Ian and Christie were talking about blueberry.  Christie asked if Ian was nervous at all about the baby and he said that he's fine with the baby, the only thing he's nervous about is me.  He is worried about my body and being able to handle everything, because my bod appears to be so sensitive (allergies, stomach stuff, etc).  He just hopes that I will be ok during all of this.  It melted my heart to hear him say that, he knows we will make fantastic parents and will be able to do everything for and with this baby, but the one thing he is nervous about is me.  I love him more than anything in the whole world, because of things like this.

Another of my favorite parts of last night was standing outside of the British Open talking with Christine about if we were having a boy or a girl.  I used to always want boys, like Bruce and Cheryl, they made it look so fun and easy.  I didn't want a girl because I used to hear from my mom (when I was being a snotty teenager), "I hope you have a daughter one day who is just like you!"  In my opinion, girls are tough and are hard to deal with from about 12 - 25, but boys are only tough from about 2 - 4.  You also always seeing little girls crying in stores and little boys just taking it easy, playing with a toy.  So, boys just seemed like my best bet so I always told everyone that's what I wanted - 2 or 3 boys, all boys.  But, now that I actually have a blueberry of my own, I really want a little girl.  I want to dress her up in cute clothes and buy her lip gloss and put bows in her hair.  I want a nerdy little girl with glasses who is so cute but so smart so all the boys leave her alone.  When I told Christine this last night she said, "So, you want a girl just like you.  You are a nerd, super smart but totally hot."  It cracked me up!  She also said that if I have a little girl, "it's on" when it comes to outfits and such.  And, THAT is the part I'm super excited about.  I will run out and get some of these in every size and color the minute we find out!

But, I guess she's right, I do want a little girl just like me.  But much nicer to her mother than I was at 16.  ;)   

Don't worry, I now try to tell my mom every day that I am so lucky to have her and that she is my best friend; because she definitely is: