Shortly after getting the news the 1st trimester symptoms kicked in. I was sick... and nauseous... and sick... and nauseous... and sick again. I felt like I was about to throw up at all hours of the day. I kept a sleeve of arrowroot cookies by the bed and ate one the second I got up to settle my stomach a bit but still threw up every morning. John got so used to it he didn't even flinch after a while, just kept brushing his teeth as I heaved into the toilet in the bathroom. I remember sitting on the streetcar going to work with my head practically all the way out the window trying to breathe deeply and make it all the way in (I did a few times have to abandon the plastic bag I was carrying my lunch in and turn it into a barf bag. Fortunately I always made it off the streetcar before this happened). It's such an awful feeling - the longer you go without eating, the more nauseous you get but the thought of eating ANYTHING makes you gag. John used to ream off lists of foods "do you want pasta? chicken fingers? salad? toast? fish?" and everything he mentioned made me want to barf but he knew that I was hurtling toward the panicked state of NEEDING to eat ASAP. He once commented that he hadn't expected me to be such a high-maintenance pregnant lady... Obviously the words of someone who has never experienced morning (a.k.a. "all day") sickness. I was also horribly constipated, which was terrible too. Between the sickness & the nausea, I logged some serious hours every day in my workplace bathroom and resolved that every pregnant lady needs a private bathroom that is hers alone all day every day! My boobs never became particularly sore but they got big alright! And my nipples became bigger and darker - it's disturbing. That's something nobody warns you about - that your boobs don't just grow, they become these tribal-lady breasts that are terrifiying. I also had a lot of little cramps and stomach pains that made me crazy. All the pregnancy books say that it's "normal" to experience some feelings like premenstrual cramps, etc. and then in the next chapter say that if you have any cramping you could be having a miscarriage and you should go to the hospital! I worried far more than I should have. Oh, ya, and slept for about 12 hours a night. I can literally remember going to bed at 8:30! And peed ALL THE TIME. Ooh, and one of my favourite pregnancy stories was the night I woke up to pee (for the zillionth time) and at our old house we had to go downstairs to the bathroom. So I was on my way down the stairs when I realized out of nowhere I was going to throw up. I started to run and made it to the toilet before I hurled but the pressure of vomiting was too much for my over-flowing bladder and with every heave I peed all over the floor of the bathroom! Good thing I was naked and our bathroom floor is tile. I was laughing to myself (at my own expense) as I mopped it all up and went back to bed. Glamorous.

Bianca at work was the first person I told after John because I knew I'd need an ally at work! She was amazing. And I distinctly remember after having my 10 week ultrasound, rushing B into the sample room at work to show her the picture and she was amazed at how much like a "baby" he looked!

The second trimester was much better. I didn't have that feeling that I've heard about where suddenly one morning you wake up and you're like a new woman - you feel like you could do anything. The nausea slowly dissipated but I continued to throw up once a day (in the morning) well into the 2nd trimester. The constipation & tiredness & constant need to pee went away and the only problem that took their place was really sore hips. It started to hurt when I slept on my side but (again with the pregnancy books!) the books all say that it's best for the baby to sleep on your side. We had an orthopedic mattress that helped a lot in that regard but the beds at the Riley's cottage has some really hard mattresses and I can remember going up there and it was amazing to be pregnant (little belly starting to protrude) and just lie in the hammock and sleep and read and relax but the beds KILLED me. I couldn't sleep because my hips were so sore.