Dear Baby Pacheco,

You are almost 9 weeks along now, about the size of an olive! I love the fruit/veggie size comparison… every week when I go to the grocery store I’ll stop and stare at your current fruit (you’ll remember this past week it was raspberries) for a few minutes and think “WOW, how awesome is that?!” Truly amazing, this little life we’re creating. 🙂

Last week when I spoke of smooth sailing I’m pretty sure I jinxed myself. Tuesday morning I had the most awful nausea, and chalked it up to morning sickness getting worse… but by the afternoon & evening I started to develop a fever, congestion, and other such symptoms. Soon it was evident that I’d somehow come down with the flu, at the end of June for heaven’s sake! Dad was sick with a bit of a cold the previous weekend, but it was not nearly as bad as this. I think what made it even worse for me was that I really didn’t want to take any medications unless absolutely necessary, to protect your health. At the same time, I was terrified of how my being sick was affecting you (especially the fever). By the end of the day on Wednesday I finally broke down and took some Tylenol (which is on my list of approved meds from the doctor) to bring down the fever, and that helped tremendously. Things gradually improved after that, and now I feel almost back to normal. All that’s left today is some congestion. Dad took really great care of me while I was sick, even though he was still getting over his cold as well.

Still I worry a bit about how this week’s events might have harmed you. This early stage of pregnancy is tough that way– you are still so small that I can’t really see or feel anything that would help me confirm that you’re doing well in there. My next appointment is July 2, and I can’t wait for the doctor to confirm you are progressing normally. I have no reason to believe otherwise, so in the mean time I will have faith that you’re trucking along!

This weekend should be a busy one, so I’m really glad that the flu is more or less behind me. Dad & I are going to a baseball game tonight, then Grandma & Papa are coming to visit and help us start building a new shed in the backyard. While they’re down, Grandma & I are going to a concert also. Should be a lot of fun! Until next time, little olive.

All my love,
Mom