Where Did Jena Go?

This pregnancy has been harder on me than all of the others combined. Each time before I would get slightly nauseated in the evenings about 5:00, but it would wear off after an hour or two. I never threw up, and never needed to take anything for it.

This time, the game has changed. I am so tired all of the time, and have no energy despite the fact that I am getting more sleep than I normally do. I am nauseated all. day. every. day. Yup, that means my stomach hurts ALL the time. After lunch (no matter what I eat) I become incapacitated. This lasts until I pass out "later" that night from sheer exhaustion at about 9:00. I can't do anything. I sit at my desk and try not to throw up. I get dizzy, light-headed, and flushed. Once I get home, all I can do is shuffle upstairs to our condo, drop my purse somewhere, and sit on the couch watching Hulu. It's all I can manage. No laundry, no dishes, no cooking. NOTHING. You don't want to see my house right now.... Everything has to wait for the weekend. We run out of dishes constantly. It's bad. So bad. Thank goodness for Todd. He has to do everything without me. He has been such a support. We normally share tasks for Rylin where one of us will feed her and the other will bathe her and get her ready for bed. More often than not lately, he has been doing it all, including cooking/fetching anything my poor stomach decides it must have NOW. When I want something to eat, I want it right then and there, otherwise it is unappetizing later. Leftovers are not options anymore, even if it’s something I was craving earlier.

Here are just some of the random things I have "craved" lately:

Frozen yogurt piled high with a plethora of fresh fruit

Beef jerky

Chili powder chicken taco salad 

War heads

Plain Hershey’s chocolate bars

Roast beef w/horseradish cream cheese and cheddar on croissant sammiches

7-layer dip (freshly made, NOT cold)

Simply Grapefruit juice

Pink jello salad

Chzburgers from Burger King (flame-cooked taste)

Karev’s chzburger and fries (resulted in a midnight McDonald's run)

Bean and cheese burritos (Todd calls these "wimpys")

Tortellini with pasta sauce

Spaghetti with pasta sauce

Pizza with pasta sauce 

Pasta sauce

Grilled cheese sammiches made with American cheese (yuuuuck normally)

Jamba Juice

Any chewy, fruity candy

Wright Family Top Ramen 

Orange sherbet

To combat nausea I have used:

Canada Dry (ONLY) ginger ale

Saltines

Whole wheat Ritz crackers

Junior mints

Jolly Ranchers

Watching TV and letting everything pile up

It is ALL worth it though. I am SO thankful that I have a very good reason why all of this is happening. I am looking forward to the 2nd trimester in 3 or so weeks and hope that I magically feel better and can feel more like Jena again instead of a lump.