Interesting Pregnancy Observation

I think it's pretty darn amazing that I haven't been sick (as in a cold or flu - NOT counting nausea from morning sickness) for the last seven or eight months. You want to know my secret? I take good care of myself, and I've learned to say no to extracurricular activities.

I got pretty sick when I first started my job at Virbac. I was newly pregnant, pregnant ladies have generally lowered immune systems, and I was just getting my regular eight (more like seven) hours of sleep. One thing I learned about being pregnant -- it makes you so darn exhausted! I had heard of all the other things, the nausea, the gas, the bloating, the weight gain, being hungry all the time, etc. The exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks! So after having this horrible hacking cough/cold, runny and stuffed up nose, and grossing out my boss and coworkers, I took a day or two off just in the second week that I started working at Virbac, I started REALLY listening to my body.

I started going to bed at 8 or 9pm. Or even 7pm. Adam would laugh at me because I'd fall asleep on the couch if I couldn't make it to my bed. I'd miss watching The Office or other tv shows that we like to watch together because MY BODY NEEDED THE SLEEP! I ditched book club and hadn't been to any Relief Society activities in awhile. If people called me to babysit their kids, I generally said no. It only happened twice that I remember. (I think I said yes to Emily Southerland, and she found me asleep on their couch at 11pm when they got back home. But Noah stayed asleep the whole time, he was very easy to watch. But I remember being in a daze heading out of her apt to my car. I had to wake up a little more before attempting to drive home.) So if you think I was a rude jerk, oh well, I was doing what was best for my baby and my body and my health! So suck it!

It was glorious getting 10 or 11 hours of sleep a night, and I needed it working full-time at my job AND being pregnant. It was exhausting. I did try to steer clear of naps, because then it's harder to fall asleep at night and get a long stretch that can really do wonders for the immune system.

Other things I did to benefit my health:

-Obviously, stayed away from sick people and washed my hands lots and lots.

-Made sure I got enough to eat. And I think my metabolism has gone way up! I don't think I was eating enough before and my body was kind of in starvation mode, and just holding onto fat and calories. (I actually lost weight during the first trimester, although I was eating about twice as much! But it was good food, not crap. And the baby was growing right on schedule.)

-Took multivitamins every day - I take fish oil, calcium, magnesium, blackstrap molasses on my cereal for iron, and a good multivitamin (did you know that most multivitamins have about the same stuff and amounts as prenatal vitamins, and cost a lot less? What a racket! Adam found this out just by comparing labels. Where the things are lessened you usually get in cereal anyway)

-Drink lots and lots and lots of water! I started carrying around two water bottles in my purse. Heavy but worth it! And pack snacks, you never know when you'll be waiting in line somewhere.

-I didn't eat crap. I craved salads and breads and whole grains. Everytime I had sweets I had a horrible horrible headache. And I only made that mistake a couple of times and then just laid off the sweets for most of the pregnancy. It was not worth it to eat the junk food! (Maybe I'll have another pregnancy down the road where I'll crave the crap, but I sure hope not!)

-Was not afraid to say NO! Go bug someone else that isn't pregnant! (Okay, I know a lot of you didn't know then because I hadn't told anyone, but don't lay on the guilt. I'm saying no for a reason, even if I'm not sharing it yet, not because I'm lazy.)

-Seriously though, I think the most important factor was GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP AT NIGHT!

So a bad cold went through the office where I worked about a month ago. Guess who was the only person who DIDN'T catch it?? Pretty amazing for a pregnant lady!

Okay, but now I'm being an idiot because I didn't get much sleep tonight. I don't know if I'm getting all hyped up and excited because I'm going to be having a baby very soon, two weeks or so. It's like the night before going on a trip, I usually can't sleep, although I know I really need it! I need to listen to my own advice!

Seriously good advice! Whether or not you are pregnant!!! Take good care of yourself and get plenty of rest!