Happy Post!!!

Most of the time I fell decidedly UNhappy with this whole grueling process, and I get the feeling it may show through in my writing.  So since I am no longer chronically completely dehydrated or starving to death, let's have a happy post for once with all of the GOOD things going on in my life.

- My husband, NM, is doing really, really well at work.  He has been promoted and received a raise, with the option for more good things in the future and things like a bonus every month.  Big sigh of relief on the financial front; we are by no means rolling in riches, but we're feeling less poor and this will help with the financial impact the HG has had.

- I gained weight!  As I have said before, I lost 10 kg/22 lbs at the beginning of this pregnancy (same overall weight loss as last time, but this time I started out slightly heavier).  Well in the last week or so (I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow) I have started to gain back some of what I lost!  To anyone who has ever dealt with HG, you know how big of an accomplishment this is and how much it means.  Last time I didn't start gaining until 22+ weeks, and never got beyond my pre-pregnancy weight.

- I'm 20 weeks tomorrow!  That's the halfway point, and the second half (for me) is decidedly better than the first half.  Just three more weeks until my anatomy scan to check up on the Brownie, and just four weeks until viability.  Once you reach the point of viability, even though 24 weeks is NOT something you want to be looking at, it's such a relief to know that you've gone through all this pain and suffering and even if something goes wrong now, you still have a chance to get a live child out of it all.

- Work for me has been going really well as well and has been very busy, so my paychecks should be quite reasonable.  I work as a freelance transcriber and editor, so I get paid by the file - the more I take on, the more I get paid.  I have been very lucky to be very busy lately, and that will be really good for our bank account.

- Our 2.5-year-old daughter, LH, is awesome as usual. :)

- I've been able to eat more in the last two weeks than I ate probably in all the 15 before that.  Now THAT's an accomplishment!

- The Brownie gives me plenty of jabs and does plenty of somersaults to let me know that everything is good and that he/she appreciates the food I've been sending down there for supper.

- I have still been unable to reduce my Zofran dosage, even by a tiny amount, but at least I have good insurance coverage so I only pay a fraction of the cost.  If I have to stay on it long-term, at least I won't go bankrupt for it.

And now I've run out of happy happy things to write, but I think I made a pretty good list of it. :)  For any other sufferers out there, I can only hope and pray that you also have an improvement in your symptoms.  I know that not everyone does, and I count myself very lucky that I have.  Stay strong, mamas!  You can do it!