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Yes, another post about my digestive system. Feel free to bypass.
 The anti-nausea stuff works really well, and I feel a whole lot better. Except it causes the worst constipation ever. So after eating nothing but fruit puree for 24 hours to no avail (not quite but close) I called my doctor and got a recommendation for a laxative. I’ve never taken a laxative, that I can recall. Hopefully there won’t be a grosser post tomorrow.
I’m still pretty tired, and I think the anti-nausea stuff contributes. But I so don’t care. My mental hygiene is sooooo much better.
I’m not sure if I’m going to hold off on the general announcement until 12 weeks or until after the amnio. A bunch of people know by now, but I’m still not advertising. Although I suspect I’m going to be showing fairly soon. My massage therapist commented I’d lost weight since the last time she saw me (bless her) so I guess I’m not showing yet, although I’m much more front-heavy than before. I think the combo of being curvy and short means there’s not much room for the uterus to stretch up. It’s all out. It’s amazing how different women at the same stage of pregnancy look! At my prenatal class yesterday, there were two women at 37 weeks. One was HUGE in the belly. I mean HUUUUUGE. And the other was smaller than a lot of the 2nd trimester women. All I know is my belly feels waaaay different already.
My skin has improved, though I’m still wearing minimal makeup. I’m kind of red and blotchy compared to pre-pregnancy, but far less oily and acne-ridden. Also, my doctor said I could use salicylic acid stuff on my face, which means I can use this. Bonus!
Oh, and did I mention how amazing it is to NOT EAT ALL THE TIME? The other beauty of Zofran. I don’t feel compelled to stuff my face every two hours so I don’t get horribly sick. I can actually get hungry! This is a beautiful thing. Now if we can just get the other thing straightened out…
The nausea pills seem to be helping. I still had some mid-morning queasy, but not nearly as bad. And I made it to a pre-natal yoga class. One where the teacher does NOT speak in a singsongy voice. This is key. Have I mentioned my tolerance for bullshit and artifice has dropped precipitously? And was I every really good at tolerating those things? Not so much. Anyway, even though I like that pre-natal yoga DVD I got, I swear I want to throw things at the face of the instructor, she’s so ultra-gooey. And somehow, I don’t think David would appreciate dents in the TV screen. So it is a huge relief to find a prenatal teacher who is grounded and normal.
I’m tired this afternoon, and I’m teaching tonight so it seems to be nap time. Maybe the dishes will do themselves while I sleep.
 David caught this photo of a blue heron taking flight.
 Tiny Napoleon's first picture Today was our eight week prenatal appointment. Everything went well. We got our first look at the little critter, and he/she was wiggling around. Pretty crazy. My due date is officially March 4, 2010. which will make him/her a Pisces. The admin staff at the office was competent, but not great. My nurse and doctor were both good, so I think I’ll probably stick with them. Plus, my doctor got super extra bonus points for giving me a nausea prescription. This is a beautiful thing. She thinks I’ll be in the clear by the end of next week anyway, but in the meantime, blissful relief is near. I may even be able to make it to a yoga class tomorrow without getting motion sick or homicidal! That would be neat!
David endured the whole medical thing quite well. We decided we’re going to skip the early genetic tests because they can produce false positives (this actually happened to my doctor with her last kid) and just wait for the amnio. In the meantime, the kid looks healthy, in spite of my complaints I’m relatively healthy, and I have drugs! Woo!
 A balcony in the French Quarter.
 One of David's awesome shots.
We’re back from our road trip and happy to be reunited with our crazy dogs and quiet house. In truth, the Florida part of the trip was a partial fail. The beaches are beautiful, but crowded. I forgot how sand gets in everything! I think I’m more of a hammock girl. While we encountered some really nice people in Destin, there’s a weird vibe with a lot of the women. Kind of a high school ranking system kind of feel. Very very odd. It’s also very conservative. We got a little tired of being assaulted by Fox News, which always seemed to be playing in the hotel when we were having breakfast. Hi, would you like some Obama bashing with your eggs? Dude, they even do that crap on the morning shows on Fox. Fox News is about as unbiased as a Michael Moore movie.
All that aside, we did get to relax and spend time together. We watched about 20 hours of HGTV. We also got together with an old friend, which was really nice. But we both wished we’d spent less nights in Florida and more in New Orleans.
I just love New Orleans. Yes, there are some signs of economic recovery there, but there are a lot of signs that the city is struggling as well. Hotels are cheap! You can stay in almost any hotel in town for about $150 per night or less. Some of my favorite restaurants had closed, but the old standbys are still there, and there are some great new places as well. Check out my reviews on Yelp if you want to read about what and where we ate.
We also took the Honey Island Swamp Tour. I took it about ten years ago and loved it. The focus was very much on the ecology of the swamp, and we explored a lot of bayous and saw some cool stuff. This time it was pretty different. The tour guide (different guy) stayed mainly on the river, which kind of sucked for certain kinds of photo op. However, he was very popular with the alligators, and we got to see a couple of them very close up. One of the bonuses of the trip is the drive to Slidell. The guy who drives the van gives you a ton of interesting information on the trip there and back about New Orleans history, architecture, Katrina, and much more. It’s a really good tour.
I did a fair amount of photography in the French Quarter, and learned some lessons about how to shoot architecture: either straight on, or at a significant angle. Duh. So not all my shots came out that great, but since we took about 350, there are still a few good ones in the lot. As always, check my flickr page for the full set, a few excerpts below and in the coming weeks.
 Friendly Gator  Say hello to my leeetle friend.  Honey Island Swamp  Jackson Square  Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde. Delicious.  Vieux Carre
I know there’s a lot of bitching going on on this blog. That’s because, much as I try to pad the truth, the last month has sucked rather a lot. The joy of pregnancy has been pretty much crap for me so far. While there are certainly women far worse off than me, I can count my daily symptoms thusly:
- nausea
- acne
- more nausea
- more acne
- insomnia
- fatigue
- still more nausea
- bloating
- constipation
- mood swings (just ask David)
- and some extra nausea
I’ve tried everything. Some stuff works temporarily. Some stuff works, just not all the time. Yes, I’m eating right. Yes, I’m exercising. It still sucks. But hey, I’m not vomiting, I have minimal aches and pains, and I don’t have to try and stay awake at a day job. So that’s good anyway.
This Thursday will be nine weeks, unless I actually conceived earlier in the month, which I think is highly possible. Hopefully the doctor will be able to tell me. This first appointment is going to be an audition for her. She’s been my gyno for the last several years, but that’s really about 5 minutes of poking and prodding once a year. It doesn’t tell me a whole lot about how she’s going to be with pre-natal care which is far more frequent and intensive.
I know a lot of women who delivered at the same hospital I’m currently at, but it’s also the other end of town from us. So I’m not married to the hospital or the doctor as of yet. I also need to find a doula at some point, but I’m not going to worry about that until we get through the next few hurdles.
I’m actually cooking dinner tonight. I’m so tired of eating out I overcame my squeamishness and made eggplant parmesan. Hopefully I’ll be able to eat it as well.
 New Orleans was fun, but tiring. I dragged David all over, effectively exhausting us both. In spite of my food restrictions, I managed to sample some pretty dang tasty stuff. The weirdness of pregnancy means being v e r y careful not to eat too much at meals. Which means I’m eating about half my meals and David is cleaning up the rest. Lucky him. I’ve gone from underfeeding him at home (can’t stand cooking right now) to over-feeding him on vacation.
We took a swamp tour yesterday. I was worried about nausea on the 45 minute bus trip there and back, and on the boat ride, but I was mostly okay. Mostly okay can describe my state about two thirds of the day, and not so great describes the rest. Have to say, I’m wicked tired of feeling nauseous. Also, and I’m going to be indelicate here, when was my digestive system taken over by angry aliens? The interweb tells me that everything slows down so the fetus can leech nutrients out of my system. All I know is a day with two bowel movements is a glorious day, and a day without any sucks a whole lot and contributes to the overall malaise.
I was officially eight weeks yesterday. On Tuesday we have our first prenatal appointment. I think I’ll find out a more accurate due date at that point, but it might be at the next appointment.
We’re going to head back to Austin sometime this morning. I’m hoping to get one more fix of New Orleans food before we do.
 We’re packing up tonight and driving to New Orleans in the morning. Florida has been not as exciting as I hoped, but I think that was actually what I needed. We’ve been glutting ourselves on cable television (I now dream home improvement shows) and just taking it slow. We ventured out to the beach a couple of times, but David ended up with heat stroke and for a time, was significantly sicker than me. Luckily he improved after a few hours. Watered down Gatorade and rest works wonders.
I’ve been somewhat better, I think largely because I’ve been able to relax a bit and listen to my body rather than trying to order it around. My body is definitely taking orders from somewhere else these days. I’ve been working out in the hotel gym, and at the moment I think I like mindless exercise better than yoga. Sounds crazy, but it doesn’t exacerbate the nausea (yoga does with all the up and down and round and round) and seems to help me sleep better. So David and I are going to start hitting the gym when we get home.
I’ve been able to eat a little bit more like a normal person, though I still have to be very careful not to overeat at meals. Like by even one bite. Generally, I want fairly healthy food. Except ice cream. I haven’t been a huge ice cream person for several years, but I think it’s a pregnancy thing.
 I’m hoping I can still enjoy New Orleans, which is all about the food. Although tragically, I realized yesterday that I can’t have a muffaletta! How much does that suck! It’s made with lunch meat, and I’m not supposed to eat it. One of my FAVORITE things to do in New Orleans is getting a big muffaletta at Central Grocery for the drive back. Alas. I predict I will still be able to eat some damn tasty stuff.
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