On the mend

I wasn't exactly surprised that the pregnancy test was positive -- It had been about 10 weeks afterall. Six weeks late is pretty obvious, I just don't like the idea of wasting money on a pregnancy test, so I don't take one until I'm pretty darn certain.

That said, it's been a weird pregnancy so far. Usually I'm a bit morning sick, but nothing major, and that's it. This time, no morning sickness, but terrible "evening sickness" -- the further the day went on, the worse I felt. Every day. By early evening, I was reduced to sitting on the couch, half-watching the kids play. It was a really good day if I could make supper. And I've been feeling crummy, crummy, crummy.

And I've had the worst gas ever. This is somewhat normal early pregnancy for me, but not this bad, not this painful, and not with the horrid burps.

So, at my first appointment (when I was 12-13 weeks ish), I compained: I have headaches, I feel crummy all the time, I'm not digesting properly, I'm cold almost always, I'm super tired, when will it end? Aren't I out of first trimester? I should be feeling great! (I usually feel wonderful second trimester).

The midwife frowned and said, "I think we should add a thyroid test to your blood work".

That started me thinking. Hmm... thyroid. It could make sense to me.

Pretending to be the naturalist that I wish I was, I looked up "thyroid" in my trusty herb book. Kelp, Cayenne, and four or five other herbs that I didn't have on hand. I happened to also notice that all the "thyroid" herbs were also "diabetes" herbs. Aha! I wonder if this is gestational diabetes. I am heavier than I usually am when I start a pregnancy. I'm craving nothing but pasta. I'm eating way too many carbs, hmmm....

So I made up some kelp capsules (with a tiny sprinkling of cayenne, since it's only safe in the amounts you would put in food during pregnancy), and started taking them (I started at 2 a day, and then went up to 4 a day a couple of days ago). I also decided to limit my carbs - my trial number was 180 carbs a day -- no more than 30 at a time (3 meals, 3 snacks). It wasn't as hard as I expected, and I didn't feel as crummy. I felt even better when I cut it to 90 carbs a day, and better yet at 30 carbs a day.

But I still felt somewhat crummy, especially after a half-muffin for breakfast (my estimated 30 carbs for that day). So yesterday I tried going without all breads, but I let myself eat a few starchy veggies (to make my guess at 30 carbs). I felt better than I had in a while, and didn't have gas -- but I was still really tired and had a horrid headache. It started me thinking though, "I wonder if it's not carbs, but wheat?"

I had been taking lactaid for my gas, since it was ubiquitous, and the only things I could think of that I eat all the time were dairy and wheat. It hadn't helped much. I just hadn't been willing to try going without wheat.

Today, I finally took the leap and decided to try the day wheat free, but not avoiding carbs in general. I'll tell you what. I feel good -- no headache, plenty of energy. I took a nap for only about 40 minutes (I've been sleeping for more like 1.5 hours at naptime). But I'm soooo hungry!
Oh, and I have no trace of extra gas in my system so far....

I think I'll be trying this wheat-free thing for a few more days, and maybe long term. It sure aint easy -- we're a very wheat-y family (we grind our own wheat for fresh whole-wheat flour, and make stuff with it pretty much every day). So we'll see.

I made some soaked-oatmeal granola bars, that maybe I can eat for breakfast when we have pancakes or muffins (which is about half the time), and I'm making turkey and potatoes for supper. I even had the energy to play at the park with the kids all morning long, and to hand my laundry out on the line! This is what I expect second trimester to be like!

So, got any great wheat-free recipes? (I'm also interested in trying soaked wheat or sourdough, just to see if that would appease my digestive system.... We tried sprouted wheat with terrible results though, and I don't think I could convince my husband to give that a second shot).

That to say, I'm starting to figure out what my system is demanding during this pregnancy. Sure hope it results in a healthy baby :)