Dehydration

This pregnancy is very different from my first in a variety of ways. First was the morning sickness (aka all day sickness) - I didn't get it with Arianna at all. I had/have it very bad with this one but its getting much better - instead of all day nausea nothing tastes good.

Second has been my lack of 'thinking about it'. With Arianna I thought about being pregnant every day - looking up all sorts of baby/parenting information and obsessing over my pregnancy. This time I generally don't think about it much at all - I'm actually hoping I can start 'bonding with this pregnancy' a bit more after the cerclage surgery.

Thirdly its my dehydration. I'm naturally NOT a thirsty person - never have been. I probably live the majority of my life in a mildly dehydrated state. Last weekend I don't think I drank much at all - we were busy, out and about so I didn't take the time I needed to drink many decaf fluids.

Monday morning I came into work and my lips were dry/cracked. My legs were itchy from being dry and my hands were cracking. Hmm... I should probably drink something. So I brought in a pitcher and some decaf iced tea sweetened with sugar - the only thing I can drink unlimited amounts of. I'm not kidding when I tell you I drank 2.5 Liters of tea at work and only used the bathroom 3 times.

HOLY DEHYDRATED BATMAN!

It's now Thursday and I've been drinking about 3 liters a day and not really using the bathroom all that much - its obvious my body really needs all this fluid. But its horrible that its sugary iced tea! So today I went to the store and got some decaf iced tea sweetened with splenda which my OB told me is a much better alternative, so as soon as the original container of iced tea mix is gone I'll switch to the no sugar kind.

Being dehydrated can trigger pre-term labor and it makes me wonder if that's what happened with Arianna. The day I went into labor I was working the cat show at the convention center and on my feet all day. I can't really recall drinking anything that day. I met my mom for lunch and drank 2 big glasses of seltzer water that day but in the bathroom I had lost my plug (not knowing that was what it was). I was in active labor 5 hours later.

Well... you can rest assured I won't make the same mistake this time - I'm drinking tons of fluids and staying hydrated. Just finished my 2 liter pitcher and its only 1:45 PM!