So you know how I’ve been bitching and moaning about not feeling any different? I finally, finally felt something. It’s not pleasant, but at least it can be attributed to pregnancy.
Some background: my mom has severe food allergies. She’s allergic to nuts, any aged cheese, onions, peppers, strawberries and any spice that makes food taste delicious. I grew up eating a lot of bland chicken with sides of plain mashed potatoes. On the flip side, my father has a stomach of steel. I was lucky enough to inherit his lack of allergies with two minor exceptions. First, as I’ve mentioned, I’m lactose intolerant (but I still eat Greek yogurt every day because I freaking love it). Second, I have a weird but minor reaction to high fructose corn syrup, which is why I drink evil Diet Coke instead of evil regular Coke. I’m much more likely to have a reaction if it’s in a beverage than if it’s in a food. What happens is that my throat gets “itchy” and I can’t help but make a low guttural sound that sort of sounds like I’m trying to dislodge a hamster from my esophagus. The sound is not attractive. Just ask my husband. So I try to avoid corn syrup, but if it slips in somehow it’s really no big deal.
Fast forward to Tuesday. I went with coworkers to happy hour and drank whatever the special cocktail was, just sans liquor. So essentially I was drinking some fruity juice concoction. My throat started to tickle as the night went on, but not in a “corn syrup” way, more in a “I’m getting a sore throat” kind of way. By the time I went to bed I was completely miserable. Every time I swallowed it felt like a hundred tiny men were stabbing my throat with little daggers. I was convinced it was strep and made plans to see the doctor in the morning.
But in the morning, my throat was almost back to normal. I still worked from home assuming I was contagious (plus, I was exhausted from being up all night in pain). The next day when a coworker suggested it might be the corn syrup allergy, I brushed her off and said I had never had a reaction that strong before. I figured it was a cold that my immune system fought off in record time. Yay for daily vitamins!
…But then on Saturday night the same thing happened. I texted my mother in law to confirm that the soda I drank at her house did indeed have corn syrup, and lo and behold, it did. So apparently my big tell is intensified allergic reactions to food. Who knew? Has anyone ever heard of this before??
In other news, I went for my third beta on Saturday and got a 6476. Woo hoo! I got confirmation that I will have to go back every week (boo) but I will get to have an ultrasound in 2 weeks, which I did not realize would be happening (double woo hoo). So yeah, things are going pretty well. I’m slightly less angry (slightly…) and not feeling that whole utter exhaustion thing yet. My boobs hurt like crazy one day but then not really since. I keep getting little twinges down in the uterine area, but other than that and the crazy allergies, it’s just regular old me.
