Pregnancy Notes

This picture sums up the Johnson family survival guide to pregnancy...

Nearly 3 pregnancies complete now, I find it interesting to look back and compare them. I think my kids might get a kick out of this someday too. I've always loved the story of how my mom craved cottage cheese when she was prego with me - I can just picture my brain actually being formed out of cottage cheese.

Let's start with the similarities. For me, pregnancy breaks down like this:

• Weeks 1-5 - I'm pregnant! Yay!
• Weeks 6-18 - "The Black Hole". I am nauseous, tired and unmotivated. I cope by taking zofran almost round the clock, watching a LOT of TV, eating every 2 hours and giving in to any food craving I have.
• Weeks 19-34 - Happy days are here again. I love finding out the baby's gender at week 20 - it's my reward for surviving the first trimester. During these weeks I get into a good routine of sleep and exercise, I start making real dinners again and start doing fun activities again.
• Weeks 33-37 - Hunker down and don't let that baby come early. This is when contractions and weird pains start to appear so I start taking it really easy - killing the exercise routine and staying home as much as possible. Insomnia tends to crop up, making me pretty tired once again.
• Weeks 38-40 - "Let's do this thing!" Exercise, do jumping jacks, pack the hospital bag. I'm ready to get my body back and eager to meet that new little baby!

Other similarities:

• Whenever the pregnancies got tough, I relaxed by envisioning the same thing - a family trip to Disneyland!
• Hardest things to give up: hot baths, deli sandwiches, IB profin, being skinny
• What I couldn't live without: zofran, breathe right strips, a husband with a flexible work schedule so I can get a morning of extra sleep when I'm desperate, a mom who helps me with the kids at least weekly.

What I look forward to about not being pregnant:

• Immediately: laying flat on my back while still breathing, laying on my stomach, no more heartburn, sleeping (ok, I know that's short lived), waking up from sleep for reasons other than peeing, aching legs and hunger pains.
• Within 2 weeks: walking upstairs without feeling winded, laying down on Ruthie's bed when reading her books, picking up stuff off the floor, sitting on the floor without my feet going numb, rolling over in bed, taking a hot bath, doing dishes and washing my hands without twisting my torso completely sideways, no more well-meaning comments like: "I swear you're bigger than the last time I saw you", "Are you still pregnant?", "How much bigger can you get?", "You poor thing!" (The reality is I am 5' tall and now 4' around - seriously - so I try to not be offended and to appreciate the thought instead).
• Within 2 months: running (gently), eating healthy - controlling my cravings instead of them controlling me, taking all 3 kids out on my own and surviving it!

And the differences (as much as I can remember):

(I'll have to return and edit this after the babes is born).

Category	Austin	Ruth	Sister
Frequent foods	cereal, frozen burritos, jello	yogurt & granola, toast w/ jam	bagels & cream cheese, yogurt & granola, Wendy's burger meals
Food aversions	beef stew, Cafe Rio	chicken	chicken (kind of)
Weight gained (all from exact same starting weight)	35	50	60
Biggest pain	nausea (including an ER trip), HUGE knot in my right shoulder	hemorrhoids	partial bed rest for early contractions (33 w)
Unexpected help	discovering Zofran at 8w	"labor induction massage" (trigger point below ankle) I swear started my labor	regular chiro visits - I had no sciatic nerve pain and almost no back pain
Exercise routine	Nightly walks and talks w/ Antho. First around the old neighborhood, later around the BYU botany pond.	Circling the floors of the new SFB on BYU campus while listening to the Dune audiobook.	Walking on the treadmill in the basement while listening to Fablehaven 3.
How I passed the time	Watching the original Star Wars series, again w/ commentaries, and all bonus material	Reading 5 Stephanie Meyer books, then the Narnia series	Online games, online shopping, blogging, Spider solitaire
Why I went to TN (apparently a requirement for me when prego)	My first Johnson Christmas (at 6w)-stuck barfing in Nashville for 2 days	Ila's death (Antho's grandma) (at 28w)-stuck on tarmac for 2 hours alone w/ tantruming Austin	Claire's wedding (at 26w)-blissfully uneventful travel
Where I was working	Altiris - full time	Flexsim - part time	full time motherhood
Major purchases (kids are pricey!)	3bed condo (6mo prego)	5bed house (2mo post partum)	Honda minivan (7mo prego)
Early or late?	induced 4 days early	4 days early	?
Method of delivery	induction then c-section	VBAC	?
Difficulty of pregnancy	8	5	5
Difficulty of labor	6 (epidural)	6 (epidural)	?
Length of labor	10 hours (7a-9p)	10 hours (6a-8p)	?
Difficulty of recovery	6	8	?
Length of recovery	8 weeks	1.5 weeks	?