week 16 check up

No major news to report on the pregnancy front other than that my drinking problem is becoming a pain. It's so dumb. During pregnancy one's intestinal system has this irritating tendency to begin functioning like that of William Burroughs on a year-long opiates-based bender. That is to say it begins not to function at all. Vast amounts of liquids seem to be required to keep things in working order. And man, do I ever hate to ingest liquids. It's so tiresome. Really, aside from my morning cup of tea and a little water during the night, I could pretty much do without beverages. I eat broth. I eat fruit. Why bother with the hassle of cleaning all those cups? It wasn't so bad when I had my "morning" sickness because the incessant queasiness forced me to carry water everywhere I went so that I wouldn't be tempted to barf on, say, my students or on cab drivers. Now that I'm not feeling horrible all the time I'd really like to get back to my usual non-liquid diet. But ohhhh no, the body won't stand for that. So now I'm engaged in this ridiculous game of trick-the-body. Yesterday I had 2 cups of tea and a cup of juice at breakfast, 2 cups of water at lunch, 2 cups of Milo and a cup of water at snack time, an Ovaltine after school, a tea when I got home, a fruit juice at dinner, and then I forced myself to drink an additional 2 glasses of water on top of that. Is it any wonder I didn't really want to eat much? It sure doesn't help that we are now starting in on Bangkok's hot season, ie at least 36' at some point during the day. I think I'm just going to invest in an IV drip and drag it along behind me.

We saw the doctor today and all is well with number two. We didn't have an ultrasound, just a check and a listen to the heartbeat. The only surprising thing was that I've finally gained some weight - a kilo and almost a half now! That's it for the brie and the Ben and Jerry's. Not that there's any problem with gaining weight when I'm pregnant. But three pounds in a little over a month! Wow.

As for funny stuff, the doctor finally went through the patented Niedzwiecki Ladies Blood Pressure Disbelief Process. Previously, the nurses had always taken my blood pressure, but this time the doctor also took it. FIVE TIMES. It was hilarious. She took it, checked. Took it again, and started re-taking it mid-take. Then she did it two more times just to make sure. I remarked, "Yes, I have low blood pressure don't I?" She said, "How can it be like this? Do you sometimes faint when you try to stand up?" Heh heh heh. Little does she know how low-blood-pressured we Niedzwiecki women really are. We're the only people who could be knocked up with quintuplets, drink six gallons of margaritas a day (with extra salt), dine solely on smoked meats, and still make it up the CN tower stairs without any pressure problems for our hearts. Hm, actually that sounds like kind of a fun challenge -- any takers? Mum? Em? We could raise money for low blood pressure awareness groups. We could be sponsored by the salt company. It would be awesome. Just let me know. [Number Two-29-March-2006]