June 10, 2008

Hungry hungry hippo

Is that a hippopotamus in our kitchen?
No, it's Natalie eating everything in sight. Vroom.

Okay, I know most people would jump at the chance to eat everything they wanted, all the time, all day long, especially high-fat foods like whole milk and butter and meat and cream. But eating every 90 minutes is a lot of work. Really. It's like, oh god, I'm hungry again, what could I POSSIBLY eat now?! Plus a lot of things just make me nauseous, like vegetables right now, so that limits my options.

This is my day: I wake up a little after 7 am, an hour later than I used to because I need the extra sleep because I'm constantly exhausted. I eat a few crackers on the bedside to fill my tummy just a little, enough to make it so that when I get out of bed, I won't feel like puking. I go downstairs and make, for breakfast, about 24 oz of smoothie (with whole milk, whole milk yogurt, coconut oil, and frozen fruit), three boiled eggs, 1-2 pieces of toast, and a cup of Smooth Move tea (for the constipation caused by the extra progesterone running through my body). I eat it all, saving half the smoothie for 90 mins from now when I arrive at work and am hungry again. Then I shower and dress, pack myself some lunch, and take the bus to work. Nevermind the begging dogs at the front door who are used to me taking them to the park in the morning; and nevermind that I used to wake up early enough to have time for 30-40 mins of yoga every morning -- I don't have time anymore, because I eat so much more for breakfast and wake up so much later. Also nevermind that I used to walk to work twice a week; I don't have the energy right now for so much physical activity. They say this gets better after your first trimester. I'm in my 7th week now.

I get to work at 9 am, drink my smoothie, eat a snack (probably fruit) around 10 am, eat lunch around 11:30, have another snack around 1 pm and maybe succomb to my sleepheadness and close my office door and lay down on the floor for 30 mins for a nap, then get up, eat more, work some more, and ache for 5 pm when I can be home again, napping.

I get home by 5 pm and nap. Usually Brady is interested in a nap too, and we nap together. I wake up after 60-90 mins, and Brady or I cook dinner, eat and watch The Wire on DVD, and then at 9 pm I eat again... and then I go to bed for nine hours (hopefully). I get up once or twice in the night to pee (I NEVER get up in the middle of the night to pee... but now I have to do it at least once a night), and then get up and do it all over again. It's really hard work... and this is coming from a woman with a flexible work place, who works relatively short hours for a full-time job. I can't imagine how the other half live, especially teachers. Ugh.

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