a mother's sacrifice

6th week this week. Today Im feeling very uggggggghh. Still no morning sickness but I do feel very dizzy and lightheaded in the mornings and bloody tired. In the afternoon I feel even more exhausted but come bedtime, I can't sleep. Talk about weird. Also noticing that I want to eat, but when I put food in my mouth, my appetite goes down and I find it hard to finish. Me being me though, I still always clean off my plate. :-)

Now that the symptom whining is out of the way, I can say that emotionally I am feeling happy with anticipation. I am really looking forward to our first doctors appointment on April 18th but it feels absolutely eons away. In the meantime I have purchased 2 jumbo books about pregnancy and am reading everything about pregnancy and babies that I can put my hands or eyes on. The Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy is an awesome resource and has successfully made me think in detail about labor and delivery which inevitably causes extreme anxiety. Nevertheless reading is the only way I can feel that its really happening!

Im dying to tell more people, but at the same time something holds me back and I feel like I should wait until Im at least 2-3 months before sharing the news. Ive already been to a few parties and not had any alcoholic drinks but no one seems to notice which is good as I don't know if I'd be able to lie very well. I've been avoiding friends who I usually drink with cause they'd most probably suspect if I refuse a drink. Oh I do miss a glass of vino with dinner!

Speaking of giving up I never knew just how many things one is told to avoid when pregnant. These are a few of the one's Ive read or been told about:

10)"toxic" chemicals (eg: cleaning products) - not annoying
9) most pain killers except acetameniphine (tylenol)
8) excess of caffeinated drinks (ie more than 1-2 cups)
7) smoked meat or fish
6) some ground meats
5) undercooked meats/fish/egg (ie: a juicy medium rare steak, a runny egg, etc)
4) deli meat
3) big fish (eg: tuna, swordfish, etc) due to mercury
2) unpasteurized cheese (all the good ones are unpasteurized!!)
1) alcohol

This is tough for a foodie! But no sacrifice is too great for my little sausage, and of course, when its a teenager and promptly acts up I will show him/her this post to instill the necessary guilt. hahahahha.

This is just the beginning of a lifetime of mother's willing sacrifice!