Having this schedule while pregnant has not been as bad as I imagined, though I will be extremely relieved when it's over. The resident whom I'm paired with is a mother to a 16yo girl, so I shared my news with her and she's been watching out for me ever since. She makes me sleep for 2-3 hours on our call nights even if she doesn't get to sleep at all. Being busy like this has been a nice distraction. Sometimes I feel so tired, but I can't tell if it's more the schedule or the pregnancy; I guess it's both.
Weeks 9-13 development: my uterus is the size of a grapefruit and Champ is no longer an embryo but is now a fetus: 2.5-3 inches long with a whirled hair patter, taste buds, soft nails, and it's starting to urinate the amniotic fluid.
Now a word on the symptoms of early pregnancy:
1) Fatigue: check. However, while a friend who is 12 weeks pregnant says she's napping all the time, I'm getting less sleep this month than ever before. Mostly, I feel weak and uninterested in exercising. I have some guilt about this, but I'll get back into work outs after this rotation is over.
2) Frequent Urination: check. I noticed this around week 4 and thought I was making it up. I knew that frequent urination is common in 3rd trimester because of pressure to the bladder, but I hadn't realized it's also common in the 1st because of increasing hormones. At work, I try to carry my water bottle around during morning rounds and if I'm not presenting, I slip off to the bathroom whenever possible.
3) Breast changes: check. Also noticed it very early in the first month, but now may need to buy new bras. Luckily, the tenderness if decreasing some, so maybe I can start appreciating the change in body habitus.
4) Nausea: luckily, I haven't thrown up since high school when I drank too much alcohol at my first party. I still have a few weeks left before the nausea window closes, so I don't want to jinx it, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected. I made an early preemptive strike by trying to eat as often as possible and drinking plenty of water. The weird thing I've been experience is more bloating and belching. The belching used to make me feel nauseated until I realized what it was; air is ok, other things are not.
5) Food cravings/aversions: The first month I craved tuna fish and pickles. Lately, I've been craving anything comfort food. I even tried to make a ground beef/potato/carrot casserole that my mom used to make for me as a kid. No one remembers the recipe so I made it up, but pretty much anything meat and potatoes is good right now.
6) Emotional liability: I'd have to ask Kyle about this one, but I think I've been relatively calm for the past few weeks. I'm tired all the time, so I haven't been particularly energetic, but nor am I cranky or moody.
In non-pregnancy news, the Match Day is 3 days away. This is the day when every 4th year medical student finds out where they will be doing their residency training. As an anethesiology resident, I will also need to do an intern (1st) year in something: internal medicine, surgery, or a "transitional year." The intern year and the 3 year anesthesiology residency can be done at different institutions. I am very much hoping to do both here at Emory so that Kyle and I won't be uprooted from our house, his job, or his parents. However, I'm fully prepared to make the best of whatever happens. Today, I received the news that I definitely matched into a program, now we just wait to find out which one!
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