i'd like to thank you

As morning sickness takes an exit from the stage that is my life, I have taken some time to fondly remember and thank the things in my life that got me through those dark, dizzying, gloomy days.

• cereal - specifically Puffins and Cheerios. Where would my stomach have been without you? You made it possible for me to look my husband in the eye and say, 'Yes. I have eaten today.' For that, I thank you.
• Gardettos - that one awful night I had to visit the birthing center during a strong wave of nausea that never left, you were my consolation. I still remember how salty and crunchy you were, when everything else felt mushy and warm.
• fuzzy white blanket - those nights I crawled into bed shivering uncontrollably, knowing in a few minutes I would feel overheated, you moderated my temperature like no other blanket could. 
• Curious George - where do I start? Even before pregnancy you were the only thing that took my mind off nausea during sickness. Those hours of bed-ridden vertigo would have been even more bleak without your innocuous little episodes of calming sounds and soothing pictures.
• comfy pants - I love you. 
• Perrier Lime water and Tummy Drops - you two were one of the only reliefs from nausea I ever experienced. 
• Granny Smith apples - you darling granny. On average I would eat about 3-4 of these apples a day. They were the other nausea reliever I found. I will always look at green apples fondly.
• Couch - my dear friend. We have grown closer together these past few weeks, haven't we? I think you've become a part of me... I'm not proud to say this, but if a pie chart for my time spent during this first trimester were made, and the color blue was used for 'time spent on couch', I would basically have a blue pie chart.
• water - helloooooo beautiful. You are always welcome in my life - in any form. Drinking water, pools, oceans, ice cubes, sprinklers, what have you. The fact that I was nauseous the entire ride up to the waterpark, downed a sub in the car while sick, and didn't even care says a lot about your powers over me.
• cold packs - My Excedrin in gelatinous form. Even sans pregnancy, I don't really like the thought of taking medicine for a headache, unless absolutely necessary. Being pregnant, my options are severely limited and I'd rather not mess with it at all if I don't have to. Cold packs have been the #1 relief for my headaches. There were times I had two in rotation for hours until, a) I could fall asleep, or b) the headache went away. But having that cold pack on my forehead was a sweet, sweet solace.

Although a bit tongue-in-cheek, these were great reliefs to me at some point. In my most genuine moments of thankfulness, I think of Fred and all that he has done. Now it's time to celebrate! And also...to get back to work. Every day I feel well I want to use it to bring my outdoors and indoors back into order. De-cluttering and weeding are my biggest jobs staring me in the face, but I'm really enjoying having the energy to tackle them. 

And here's a baby bump photo.