Any1 else work out of home full time and struggling w/symptoms?

[LROM]

I worked out of the home full time during my last pregnancy and aside from the fact that I threw up all the time - throughout the pregnancy - I felt great through most of it.

This time only 6-7 weeks along and the nauseau and exhaustion are KILLING ME! It's SO hard to get up, plus handling a toddler who still nurses during the night... I"M SO TIRED! Getting DD ready and then having to get myself ready, get her to daycare and me to work, and then FUNCTION as a professional all day... oy vey.

Anyone else in similar situation? How are you coping?

[ein328]

Originally Posted by LROM

I worked out of the home full time during my last pregnancy and aside from the fact that I threw up all the time - throughout the pregnancy - I felt great through most of it.

This time only 6-7 weeks along and the nauseau and exhaustion are KILLING ME! It's SO hard to get up, plus handling a toddler who still nurses during the night... I"M SO TIRED! Getting DD ready and then having to get myself ready, get her to daycare and me to work, and then FUNCTION as a professional all day... oy vey.

Anyone else in similar situation? How are you coping?

Mama, I totally understand! I am a full-time military mom, and got pregnant again when my daughter was 6 months old. Between the night feedings (we co-sleep, and dd reverse-cycled early on), the extreme nausea, and the exhaustion, the first couple of weeks were HORRIBLE.

How do I cope? I go to bed early. DH has been great about picking up the chores. I take naps during my lunch break (before it got hot I went to my car- now I'm not above shutting my door and catching zzz at my desk.) I acknowleged that I needed the Zofran and started taking it minus the guilt. I eat constantly (small, light snacks) and drink a lot of water. And I tell myself that this will not last forever!

[LROM]

Please tell me more! When you say you go to bed early, about what time and how well are you sleeping? I feel like even after DD is asleep I still have stuff to do that DH doesn't do (mostly prep her lunch (which often involves cooking) and getting her clothes ready (which often involves coordinating what she's wearing with what she's eating since inevitably she WILL be wearing it!).

And are you a good cat-napper? It sounds like you are... I work in a cube so I am hard-pressed to think of where I could go to catch a good cat-nap (and it's way too hot to go to car). I guess I'll have to try harder to be creative on that.

So did your doc give you zofran without you actually throwing up a ton, or were you throwing up when s/he prescribed it? I was on zofran for much of my last pregnancy but only after I threw up 11 times in one day early on. This time, so far, I haven't thrown up once. Just feeling crappy, which in many ways is worse!

I mentioned the nauseau to my midwife and she had no recommendations (I shoulda come right out and asked about zofran) but I didn't want to feel like I was jumping to meds when last time there was a specific reason my doc prescribed them.

May I ask what your situation with the zofran was and how it's working for you?

[ein328]

Originally Posted by LROM

Please tell me more! When you say you go to bed early, about what time and how well are you sleeping? I feel like even after DD is asleep I still have stuff to do that DH doesn't do (mostly prep her lunch (which often involves cooking) and getting her clothes ready (which often involves coordinating what she's wearing with what she's eating since inevitably she WILL be wearing it!).

And are you a good cat-napper? It sounds like you are... I work in a cube so I am hard-pressed to think of where I could go to catch a good cat-nap (and it's way too hot to go to car). I guess I'll have to try harder to be creative on that.

So did your doc give you zofran without you actually throwing up a ton, or were you throwing up when s/he prescribed it? I was on zofran for much of my last pregnancy but only after I threw up 11 times in one day early on. This time, so far, I haven't thrown up once. Just feeling crappy, which in many ways is worse!

I mentioned the nauseau to my midwife and she had no recommendations (I shoulda come right out and asked about zofran) but I didn't want to feel like I was jumping to meds when last time there was a specific reason my doc prescribed them.

May I ask what your situation with the zofran was and how it's working for you?

LOL i'll try to answer everything!

I am indeed a good catnapper...I am still pumping at work for my daughter, and I often nap while I pump. Put on the shields, set my watch alarm, and I'm gone for 15 minutes.

DH is a big help to me. I've had to learn to "let go" of a few things- i.e. he'll never do it EXACTLY the way I will, and that's okay. This is esp. important in regards to the clothing my daughter ends up in!

Regarding zofran, I've needed it for both pregnancies, although they each have been very different. With my first, I had the hallmarks of HG- I lost 15 lbs (only weighed 130 to begin with), had to receive iv fluids, puking 5-6 times daily for over 4 months. I only ended up gaining 10 lbs. total.

This time, I haven't been actually throwing up as much, but I've been wayyyy more nauseus (you know how throwing up can actually make you feel a little better?) and have ZERO appetite. I took zofran for about a month so that I could eat enough calories to keep breastfeeding, then weaned myself off for the last two weeks. Now, though, I've found that although I am able to make it through the day without puking without zofran, i can't eat, either. So I am choosing to take it.

It's difficult because it works different for every woman during each pregnancy. With dd, it killed my gag reflex, but nausea remained. This time, it is actually helping with the nausea itself.

[LROM]

Thanks so much for that info. I think I also need to let go of some of the stuff I'm used to doing because, of course, I do it "right" and DH wouldn't But it's not stuff that, done differently, would hurt anyone, and I need to let go some.

I totally hear you on how in many ways vomiting at least brings relief after it's over. 1st pregnancy for me, I felt fine most of the time, then would start to feel hot and queasy, but would throw up pretty quickly after that then feel good as new.

I'll talk to my doc on the next visit and see what is possible re: nausea. Thanks for your advice!

Oh, and you are a rockstar for being able to pump AND SLEEP at teh same time??? I always felt like I had to monitor the pump and hold the shields in place, I coulda never napped and pumped at the same time! Amazing!

[pollyanna123]

I'm not really proud of the way I've been coping, but it's survival mode around here. Fortunately, I'm almost 10 weeks and starting to feel a little better, so we should get back to normal soon.

Prior to the nausea and fatigue, we at a lot of organic, I cooked all the time, and cleaned up my house during my 2yo's nap time and after bedtime. Since I've been sick, we've been surviving by having a REALLY messy house and tons and tons of takeout.

ETA- Instead of working after the kids go to bed (on food prep and housework), I now go to bed right after they do. My dh gets up with them in the morning so I've been sleeping about 10 hours a night!

[lyterae]

I think my least favorite thing about WOHM and early pregnancy is that I really hate throwing up in public restrooms.

[LROM]

I hate throwing up in public restrooms too, but I've mastered the art of ALWAYS carrying around a few ziplock bags and an opaque shopping bag. The ziplock bags help make a lot less sound when you're throwing up (everyone can still hear the heaving and all the other lovely bodily sounds) but the unmistakable sound of it going into the toilet is cancelled. Then I just zip up the ziplock bag and put it in the opaque shopping bag adn throw just the ziplock away when no one's looking.

I actually don't think anyone ever heard me throwing up ONCE at work, just a combo of lucky timing and sometimes enough other noise in the bathroom that my little noises into the ziplock bag went unnoticed.

Now don't get me started on constipation and public bathrooms - a couple times I felt like I was delivering a baby and probably sounded like it too!! Sorry, TMI

[EnchantedMamma]

DS doesn't nurse anymore... but I do work OH FT.

DH is super supportive.

I do what I can as I have extra energy and then I let it go and sleep

I eat as healthfully as I can. I try to be happy and positive.

The house is not up to par, but we're catching up whenever/wherever we can.

One step forward, one step back. At least our tired little feet are shuffling.

[JessieBird]

I went through exactly this a few months ago. Those were some of the hardest months of my life. Everyone has some great advice here! One thing I don't think that anyone has mentioned that really helped me is to tell just one person - even if you feel it's too early to announce to your colleagues, having one person to complain to can really help to get through the day. With my first pregnancy, I wasn't planning on telling anyone but someone guessed and was bold enough to comment on my suddenly flabby tummy at only 7 weeks. I didn't know her well and never would have confided in her normally but this ended up being perfect! It was like our little secret and it was great to have just one person I didn't have to pretend around. This time I told another pregnant woman in my office (she was further along and already "out"). I also didn't know her that well at the time but we became fast friends and it was great to have someone shoot me a sympathetic look as I hobbled back from the bathroom looking green time after time.

[St. Margaret]

SURVIVAL MODE. DD wore silly outfits she and DH picked out, I had DH do the laundry, I didn't step foot in the kitchen, didn't care it was a disgusting MESS since DH is still learning that doing the dishes means wiping down the counters, stove, and table, too

I was miserable and tired and just ate all the time, napped when I could, sat on the couch while DD played, etc. I had bad m/s for a long time, and on top of that, I had a bunch of colds and now have sciatica, so there's just been a lot of take out and survival mode living. I figure-- we get a PERSON at the end of this. A sweet baby, a sweet boy, a young man... years and years of love. I'm trying to focus on that over a few months of misery.

It was hard teaching a room of 14 yos and even worse sitting in stupid staff meetings (knowing I was only going to be teaching a short time this next fall... so all the big picture planning was kind of useless to me...).

[LROM]

Survival mode it is! Thanks for the recent posts and all of the earlier ones.

I am having to let go of some things, and whoever said "accept that DH may not do them "right" but it's good enough" - that is what I've had to do and it DOES feel better to do that. I think DH actually appreciates it too, cuz I was probably keeping more tasks from him than I realized.

Yes, the kitchen is still messier than I like, he never puts foil down in the toaster oven so it smells like horrible burning food every time we use it (which doesn't help my nausea), and DD looks like she's raised by chimps many of the times he does her hair before daycare, BUT those things can all be lived with.

We made a little progress on weaning DD off the night feedings which helped me feel a bit more rested... then backslid this last week when I had to travel for work. But that's just the way it goes.

It also helped to talk to a colleague who's a lot younger than me (and so is his wife), they have a 4 & 2 yr old, and while they're not pg, they've been in the middle of him changing jobs, the whole family moving from one coast to another, and suddenly having the wife diagnosed and treated for cancer in the midst of all this and then having a relapse... talk about survival mode. Talking to him about how he got through it and how he thinks about it (plus having to live with the uncertainty about his wife's health), that helped put a lot in perspective.

One more thing that's helped (just in case this helps anyone else): I have recently made a point of throwing up in front of or within earshot of DH as much as possible. I really think it's one thing for our partners to hear ABOUT how crappy we feel... another thing entirely for them to see us heaving and sweating and miserable. I find DH is working WAY harder to have patience for the things I can't get done, to find opps to take DD out of the house so I can rest... his sympathy level has gone up so his desire/efforts to help have also gone up. That helps a LOT!

Thanks everyone, best of luck to ALL of us in survival mode... cuz it'll all be worth it when our healthy babes are born!

[bri276]

I have recently made a point of throwing up in front of or within earshot of DH as much as possible.

Not a bad idea.

I had 13 weeks of pure hell, SEVERE nausea, moderate vomiting, strong aversions to many smells that had me barely able to enter the kitchen and I do work from home. Unfortunately, Zofran didn't work well for me. Unisom and b6 didn't work very well for me, it took the edge off if I was very, very faithful about taking it around the clock 24/7 but just the edge, and the fatigue at first was awful. DD is only in daycare part time so I also had to take care of her most of the time, my DH works long hours.

It was just awful. I lost a lot of money. Thankfully, I didn't lose my job, I have an understanding boss and my hours are flexible anyway. Good luck!