9 Weeks Pregnant: sinus infection and first appointment

For a while there, I wasn't enjoying pregnancy as much as I thought I should. I was walking on air when I was pregnant with Meo, despite morning sickness that lasted through trimesters one, two and three. Well the morning sickness is back, though no actual vomitting, thank goodness. Although last time, I recall that helping. The one time I did vomit, nothing came out so I realized I need to eat MORE snacks in the night or my stomach will be completely empty in the morning. Nursing a baby toddler and growing a baby consumes lots of calories, even when you are sleeping. Also, I caught Meo's cold, which almost never happens. But with a weakened immune system (part of the pregnancy package) we both were sick. I was a walking zombie. I never felt awake; all I wanted to do was sleep. I needed to eat so I wouldn't feel sick but it was such a chore. Then, walking out of Lowe's holding a sleepy Meo's hand, the wind almost knocked us over and completely blocked one of my ears. I developed a horrible ear infection, which I treated by wearing a pealed clove of garlic like a hearing aid. Garlic acts as an anti-inflammatory and has anti bacterial and this method worked like a charm without being invasive, as my ear pain diminished and then disappeared almost instantly. But my cold remained and so did the feeling that my ears were a little blocked, even though they didn't hurt. I tried garlic again a couple days later, but they weren't really blocked, just felt full of fluid. After spending a few days feeling completely miserable and not present (all I could think about was sleeping), I began to realize I had a sinus infection (which I had never had before) and I decided to go see my nurse practitioner. She looked me over and said that I had some fluid in my ears and definitely had a sinus infection, but it looked viral rather than bacterial, so I wouldn't need antibiotics. She said I was more prone to developing a bacterial sinus infection in this state however, and I needed to take especially good care of myself. She told me to use a netti pot, a netti stick (which is pepermint oil, euctoplyptus oil and menthol and feels heavenly), and saline spray (I am using XClear, which has xylitol in it and I heard rumors of it being amazing). All this stuff seems to be doing the trick as I have been feeling more energized and fine with just getting one nap in with Meo during the day. I have had more energy to play and be with my little boy. The sinus infection is almost completely cleared up, but I still feel a little bit of stuffiness. It's easy to forget how prone to sickness pregnant woman are, and I will have to do a better job of avoiding sick people if I can! I guess part of the reason I developed a sinus infection is because my nasal passages are already a bit swollen due to increased levels of hormones, causing me to be more prone to sinus infections now. I hope this was my first and last sinus infection, bleck.

In other news, I had my very first appointment last week (8 weeks). I didn't actually meet with a midwife this time, instead I just met with their medical assistant, Martha, who is a wonderful woman. She was so excited that I was pregnant again, and to see Meo again that it made me feel very happy and special. It's nice to be taken care of by people who really seem to care about you and remember little things about you. We just reviewed my medical history and did a blood draw to run a few tests (like for iron and stuff like that). At 10 weeks I'll meet with one of the midwives. It felt both strange and exciting to be back at Back Cove Midwives...strange because I have to go through the entire process all over again, but exciting because I have a brand new baby inside me that I already love and will be watching to grow and develop over these next 31 weeks or so.