The last couple of weeks of pregnancy are easily the worst. I've reached a point where the baby could come any day now. But it could also still take several weeks for him to arrive. And there's nothing to be done about it. All of the signs of early labor double as symptoms of late pregnancy. This hasn't stopped me from obsessively googling everything from back aches to spotting to weird pressures and pains. But the hard truth is that the baby will come when he comes and there's not a thing I can do to change or predict when that will be.
Well, that's not entirely true. Because he's so big, my doctor offered me the option of inducing a week early. When she presented this option, she said I'd need to make a decision that day if I wanted to get an appointment before my due date. At first I was all for this. I've been wanting the kid to come early, if only because I'm so done being pregnant. But I also knew it was worth doing some research and figuring out what all the risks were.
After a lot of back and forth and going down a few rabbit holes on the internet, we decided it wasn't worth it to induce early. It turns out that the risk of a c-section because the baby is too big isn't all that different from the risk of a c-section after an induction. Plus the induction comes with a whole host of other risks, especially if your body isn't quite ready to give birth. Since there was no real justifiable reason to induce early, we decided not to. So now it's just good old-fashioned hoping that the stars align and the kid comes before his due date.
Though we did decide that it's worth inducing if he's still hanging out past his due date. Although that decision was also helped along by the fact that I appear to be closer to labor and therefore an induction would be less risky.
So that's where we stand now. As of my doctor's appointment this morning (yesterday, by the time this posts), I'm 3 cm dilated. Which means basically nothing. The kid could come today or next week or still be hanging out when we reach my induction appointment. I'm still hoping he comes a bit early, though now that's mostly because I don't want to trek to the hospital for a 6 am appointment.
In the meantime, we're about as ready as we can be. The nursery is all put together, and I think we have everything we need. I'm sure we'll discover more we need as we go, but the store isn't that far away. I haven't packed my hospital bag, mostly because the things I want to pack (pillows, shampoo, etc) are things I still use every day. But I should have time to do that once I know labor is starting. Which, by the way, is also weird. In the movies they always show the woman going into labor and rushing out of the house. In reality, it's only 8% of pregnancies where the water breaks before you go to the hospital. For everyone else, you time contractions for 60-90 minutes before calling your doctor who will decide whether you should come in or wait longer.
So it's all about waiting now. Waiting for labor to start. Waiting for it to shift to active labor. Waiting to go to the hospital. And then probably more waiting. But, as the kind nurse told me this morning, I can't be pregnant forever. Soon enough he'll be here, and everything will change. More importantly, I'll be able to have a tuna melt and a beer.
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Please Come Early
At 36 weeks, I had a final ultrasound to check and make sure everything was good with the baby. Actually, it seems my doctor was worried about how the umbilical cord had attached to the placenta. I never really got a complete answer about why they were worried about this in my case (I definitely don't have a history of it, as one doctor claimed, seeing as this if my first pregnancy). But I'm mostly willing to trust the doctors, and I was eager to get some measurements of the baby anyway.
It seems that my umbilical cord is attached to the side of the placenta rather than in the center. Which can lead to two things: a malnourished baby and excessive bleeding during labor. Well, the baby certainly isn't malnourished. Which either means that the umbilical cord implanted properly or that it isn't an issue. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how little I actually know. I'm not sure how I feel about that. As I said, I basically trust my doctors. They've done this a lot more than I have.
What I did learn at that ultrasound is that my baby is enormous. They said he already weighed about 7 lbs, 11 oz, putting him in the 87th percentile. The tech said I looked closer to 38 weeks than 36, and my mom said that's nearly what I weighed when I was born.
So now I'm hoping the the kid decides to come early. Even though Kevin was almost 2 weeks late and weighed well over 10 pounds when he was born, I have my fingers crossed that our son will come a little earlier and be a little smaller. Which he probably won't. I can still dream though.
The problem is that I'm now driving myself a little bit crazy looking for signs that I'm going into labor. According to the internet, literally everything could be a sign of early labor. Then again it could just be a symptom of late pregnancy. And it's basically impossible to tell until you actually go in to labor. Not that that's stopped me (or thousands of other women) from tracking these signs and convincing ourselves that the baby's coming only to be disappointed.
Two days after the ultrasound, I experienced some spotting over night. Then I had intermittent back pain in the morning. Convinced that things were starting, I call my doctor and moved my scheduled appointment up a day. Of course nothing was actually happening, but I did get some peace of mind about it at least. I also discovered that the cervix check is more painful than I would have thought possible. So now I'm both eagerly awaiting and straight up terrified of going into labor. But billions of women have done this and most of them came through it just fine.
I'm still hoping the kid decides to show up any day now. I still have three weeks until my due date, and two weeks until I have enough PTO to go on maternity leave. But I'm so sick of being pregnant and so anxious about birthing this monster of a child that I can't help but hope he comes early. Especially since he would be considered full-term at this point. In the meantime I need to try to stay away from the internet.
It seems that my umbilical cord is attached to the side of the placenta rather than in the center. Which can lead to two things: a malnourished baby and excessive bleeding during labor. Well, the baby certainly isn't malnourished. Which either means that the umbilical cord implanted properly or that it isn't an issue. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how little I actually know. I'm not sure how I feel about that. As I said, I basically trust my doctors. They've done this a lot more than I have.
What I did learn at that ultrasound is that my baby is enormous. They said he already weighed about 7 lbs, 11 oz, putting him in the 87th percentile. The tech said I looked closer to 38 weeks than 36, and my mom said that's nearly what I weighed when I was born.
So now I'm hoping the the kid decides to come early. Even though Kevin was almost 2 weeks late and weighed well over 10 pounds when he was born, I have my fingers crossed that our son will come a little earlier and be a little smaller. Which he probably won't. I can still dream though.
The problem is that I'm now driving myself a little bit crazy looking for signs that I'm going into labor. According to the internet, literally everything could be a sign of early labor. Then again it could just be a symptom of late pregnancy. And it's basically impossible to tell until you actually go in to labor. Not that that's stopped me (or thousands of other women) from tracking these signs and convincing ourselves that the baby's coming only to be disappointed.
Two days after the ultrasound, I experienced some spotting over night. Then I had intermittent back pain in the morning. Convinced that things were starting, I call my doctor and moved my scheduled appointment up a day. Of course nothing was actually happening, but I did get some peace of mind about it at least. I also discovered that the cervix check is more painful than I would have thought possible. So now I'm both eagerly awaiting and straight up terrified of going into labor. But billions of women have done this and most of them came through it just fine.
I'm still hoping the kid decides to show up any day now. I still have three weeks until my due date, and two weeks until I have enough PTO to go on maternity leave. But I'm so sick of being pregnant and so anxious about birthing this monster of a child that I can't help but hope he comes early. Especially since he would be considered full-term at this point. In the meantime I need to try to stay away from the internet.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Baby's First Vaccine
The scientist in me is sort of weirdly proud of the fact that my baby's first first is a vaccine.
A few weeks back, the doctor told us that we needed to make sure we were up to date on our whooping cough vaccine and to tell our friends and family the same. Anyone who was going to be spending significant time around the baby and hadn't had a booster in ten years was supposed to get one. So we spread the word and Kevin made an appointment to get his booster and a basic physical, during which he discovered that he'd had the booster just a few years ago.
This prompted me to call the doctor, and, sure enough, I'd received the booster just last year. I happily checked one more thing off the to-do list and didn't give it another thought.
Until the next doctor's appointment, when I was asked if I'd gotten the booster. I explained that I'd had it a year ago, and my doctor said I needed it again anyway. It turns out you're supposed to get one every pregnancy, between weeks 27 and 36, to pass the immunization on to the baby. It's not perfect, but it provides some protection until the kid can get a vaccine of his own (which I think happens at 2 months).
So after my appointment, I got to trek out and get the TDAP booster. Which was basically a non-event. I also have to get the flu shot before I give birth, but my doctor said to wait a couple more weeks for that, so I cover more of flu season. But I'm pleased to be starting off the kid's life the right way, getting his vaccinations started before he's even born. No preventable diseases here.
A few weeks back, the doctor told us that we needed to make sure we were up to date on our whooping cough vaccine and to tell our friends and family the same. Anyone who was going to be spending significant time around the baby and hadn't had a booster in ten years was supposed to get one. So we spread the word and Kevin made an appointment to get his booster and a basic physical, during which he discovered that he'd had the booster just a few years ago.
This prompted me to call the doctor, and, sure enough, I'd received the booster just last year. I happily checked one more thing off the to-do list and didn't give it another thought.
Until the next doctor's appointment, when I was asked if I'd gotten the booster. I explained that I'd had it a year ago, and my doctor said I needed it again anyway. It turns out you're supposed to get one every pregnancy, between weeks 27 and 36, to pass the immunization on to the baby. It's not perfect, but it provides some protection until the kid can get a vaccine of his own (which I think happens at 2 months).
So after my appointment, I got to trek out and get the TDAP booster. Which was basically a non-event. I also have to get the flu shot before I give birth, but my doctor said to wait a couple more weeks for that, so I cover more of flu season. But I'm pleased to be starting off the kid's life the right way, getting his vaccinations started before he's even born. No preventable diseases here.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Overbooked
Last week I tried to do too much and burned out in a major way. I'd been feeling good, and I kept adding social events to my calendar without thinking too hard about it. It came around to bite me, as I should have expected. But I did at least find the time to recover.
After the baby shower, Kevin, Zach, and Sarah had plans to go to the baseball game. I had plans to finish my book and take a bubble bath. But since Autumn and Ben were in town and I didn't hate the previous baseball game I'd gone to, I decided to join the group instead. The game got off to a bit of a slow start, but it didn't end up lasting too long. I'm glad I went. The last several times we've seen Ben and Autumn I feel like we've barely hung out with them. I was busy with my sister-in-law's pre-wedding events or packing or moving or cleaning or just staying in a different part of the city. So it was nice to have a chance to catch up.
That led in to a Sunday spent playing board games with everyone down at Zach and Sarah's. Again, it was nice to throw responsibilities out the window. I'm not going to be able to do that for too much longer. But it did mean that I was starting to fall behind on housework with no plan for catching back up.
Monday night, Washington was playing their opening game of the football season. And since Monday Night Football isn't broadcast on local channels, we went to a bar to watch the game. This is where things really began to fall apart. I have a touch of insomnia and I'm exhausted all the time seemingly no matter what I do. So I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to stay out until 10:30 to watch the football game. It's not like I was going to be using that time to sleep anyway. It turns out I would have been using that time to relax and get ready for bed, and everything get pushed back farther because we were out late. It would have been worth it if we hadn't been destroyed so completely by the Steelers.
On Tuesday, I had the monthly ladies night with my neighbors. I was still feeling alright, and these are new relationships that I want to form and nourish. So even though these people aren't exactly my people, I joined them all for dinner and small talk. They're all nice and they're all moms, and it's good to be around other mothers when I'm so close to being one. It's nice to complain about some of the pregnancy stuff with the other pregnant women. But I also spend these evenings envisioning myself becoming a completely different person, and I'm never sure how I feel about that. On the surface, I don't have anything against becoming a "Suburban Wine Mom". I've been halfway there for years now. But I'm also not entirely ready for conversations about nannies and insane first birthdays.
The next evening I was supposed to go downtown for an alumni event. This was actually the first of all of these events to show up on my schedule, and I hadn't even committed to it until I scheduled 9:00 am doctor's appointment for Thursday. I figured that would give me a chance to sleep in and recover from staying out. But I hadn't quite counted on doing that for so many nights in a row. So when 2:00 rolled around and I was contemplating my second cup of tea to make it through the evening and Kevin expressed a lack of interest in going, I decided I wouldn't go either. Instead I went home and sat on the couch and finally started recovering from my whirlwind social life.
I did manage to sleep in on Thursday. And since I didn't have to go back to work after the doctor's appointment, I managed to bounce back from all this craziness pretty quickly. I even made a dent in the housework I hadn't done on Sunday, though I mostly just watched TV. I need to remember to balance my life and not push myself to exhaustion just because I'll be exhausted anyway. I only have a few precious weeks of relaxation left before the kid shows up, and I shouldn't waste them.
After the baby shower, Kevin, Zach, and Sarah had plans to go to the baseball game. I had plans to finish my book and take a bubble bath. But since Autumn and Ben were in town and I didn't hate the previous baseball game I'd gone to, I decided to join the group instead. The game got off to a bit of a slow start, but it didn't end up lasting too long. I'm glad I went. The last several times we've seen Ben and Autumn I feel like we've barely hung out with them. I was busy with my sister-in-law's pre-wedding events or packing or moving or cleaning or just staying in a different part of the city. So it was nice to have a chance to catch up.
That led in to a Sunday spent playing board games with everyone down at Zach and Sarah's. Again, it was nice to throw responsibilities out the window. I'm not going to be able to do that for too much longer. But it did mean that I was starting to fall behind on housework with no plan for catching back up.
Monday night, Washington was playing their opening game of the football season. And since Monday Night Football isn't broadcast on local channels, we went to a bar to watch the game. This is where things really began to fall apart. I have a touch of insomnia and I'm exhausted all the time seemingly no matter what I do. So I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to stay out until 10:30 to watch the football game. It's not like I was going to be using that time to sleep anyway. It turns out I would have been using that time to relax and get ready for bed, and everything get pushed back farther because we were out late. It would have been worth it if we hadn't been destroyed so completely by the Steelers.
On Tuesday, I had the monthly ladies night with my neighbors. I was still feeling alright, and these are new relationships that I want to form and nourish. So even though these people aren't exactly my people, I joined them all for dinner and small talk. They're all nice and they're all moms, and it's good to be around other mothers when I'm so close to being one. It's nice to complain about some of the pregnancy stuff with the other pregnant women. But I also spend these evenings envisioning myself becoming a completely different person, and I'm never sure how I feel about that. On the surface, I don't have anything against becoming a "Suburban Wine Mom". I've been halfway there for years now. But I'm also not entirely ready for conversations about nannies and insane first birthdays.
The next evening I was supposed to go downtown for an alumni event. This was actually the first of all of these events to show up on my schedule, and I hadn't even committed to it until I scheduled 9:00 am doctor's appointment for Thursday. I figured that would give me a chance to sleep in and recover from staying out. But I hadn't quite counted on doing that for so many nights in a row. So when 2:00 rolled around and I was contemplating my second cup of tea to make it through the evening and Kevin expressed a lack of interest in going, I decided I wouldn't go either. Instead I went home and sat on the couch and finally started recovering from my whirlwind social life.
I did manage to sleep in on Thursday. And since I didn't have to go back to work after the doctor's appointment, I managed to bounce back from all this craziness pretty quickly. I even made a dent in the housework I hadn't done on Sunday, though I mostly just watched TV. I need to remember to balance my life and not push myself to exhaustion just because I'll be exhausted anyway. I only have a few precious weeks of relaxation left before the kid shows up, and I shouldn't waste them.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Baby Shower
The weekend after Labor Day, Zach and Sarah threw us a baby shower. We had originally thought to do it back in August, but between moving and various other family and friend events, we weren't at all sure we'd be able to get a registry put together in time, let alone find a weekend for the party. So it got pushed back a bit, which ultimately worked well.
Zach and Sarah made all sorts of brunch food and Jen provided a couple of juices that were delicious with or without champagne added. We skipped over the typical baby shower games in favor of just visiting with everyone, which is much more our speed. And we even got a surprise visit from Ben and Autumn, who came down from NYC to attend.
It was a lot of fun to eat delicious food I didn't have to cook and sit in a chair and chat with people. We got a bunch of cute baby stuff with a decidedly Star Wars theme. I may have to work to balance that out with some Star Trek gear. It was nice and low-key and a whole lot of fun.
Zach and Sarah made all sorts of brunch food and Jen provided a couple of juices that were delicious with or without champagne added. We skipped over the typical baby shower games in favor of just visiting with everyone, which is much more our speed. And we even got a surprise visit from Ben and Autumn, who came down from NYC to attend.
It was a lot of fun to eat delicious food I didn't have to cook and sit in a chair and chat with people. We got a bunch of cute baby stuff with a decidedly Star Wars theme. I may have to work to balance that out with some Star Trek gear. It was nice and low-key and a whole lot of fun.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Falling Behind
It is astounding to me how easy it has become to fall behind on this blog. I used to get antsy if I went a week without posting. Now every time I turn around it seems like another month has gone by. I'm hoping this is a temporary thing. I'd hate to have this blog fall by the wayside completely. Especially because I enjoy going back and reading old entries and reminiscing about vacations and such. This is probably going to be the best record of the beginning of my kid's life, and if I fail to update it I'm worried that I'll just lose a lot of those memories.
But for now, the lack of updates is definitely due to my pregnancy, which is sapping all of my energy. It doesn't really help that I've also had a really busy social life lately on top of a weird work schedule that's leaving me more exhausted and stressed than normal. I find myself having to choose between walking the dog and washing the dishes or cooking dinner, because I literally only have the energy to do one thing after work before I just collapse on the couch and fall asleep.
Luckily Kevin is around to pick up a lot of the slack. His final work trip got pushed back far enough that he couldn't go. Which means that he's home to cook dinner and walk Kina and just generally do everything that involves standing and walking.
Today, though, I have the day off work. And I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night. And the house is almost clean (I'm about halfway through a sink full of dishes, but I had to sit down). So I'm devoting the day and my limited brain power to getting as caught up on this blog (and my book reviews) as I can.
My work schedule has been crazy. Well, not that crazy. But stressful. Especially for someone running on 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Which I know doesn't sound that bad, but I fall apart pretty quickly without 8 hours. The problem is that I don't have any PTO left that isn't devoted to maternity leave, and my company (well, HR) has been very resistant to me taking unpaid leave. So to deal with all the doctors appointments, both planned and unplanned, I've been working 9 hour days to build up as much of a buffer as I can. This pay period it happened to work out that I was able to use that time to get an extra day off. More typically though I've been working til 7 one night so I can leave at 4 another day. And since my commute takes anywhere between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours, (and sitting in the car is murder on my back lately), it's hard to get anything else done on work days. I try to use the weekends to catch up, but that doesn't always work out either.
The pregnancy itself is going alright. The kid is moving and there aren't any major health complications. I've been sleeping on the couch for weeks now, because it's easier on my back. I really miss the bed. But every time I try to sleep there, I wake up with my back muscles so tight that I'm having trouble breathing. Someday I'll be able to sleep in the bed again. In the meantime, I'm just moving slowly and trying to remember to eat healthy and counting down the weeks until I can finally put the kid down for five minutes.
And then the rest of my life has also been crazy busy. But that's the subject of another blog entry.
But for now, the lack of updates is definitely due to my pregnancy, which is sapping all of my energy. It doesn't really help that I've also had a really busy social life lately on top of a weird work schedule that's leaving me more exhausted and stressed than normal. I find myself having to choose between walking the dog and washing the dishes or cooking dinner, because I literally only have the energy to do one thing after work before I just collapse on the couch and fall asleep.
Luckily Kevin is around to pick up a lot of the slack. His final work trip got pushed back far enough that he couldn't go. Which means that he's home to cook dinner and walk Kina and just generally do everything that involves standing and walking.
Today, though, I have the day off work. And I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night. And the house is almost clean (I'm about halfway through a sink full of dishes, but I had to sit down). So I'm devoting the day and my limited brain power to getting as caught up on this blog (and my book reviews) as I can.
My work schedule has been crazy. Well, not that crazy. But stressful. Especially for someone running on 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Which I know doesn't sound that bad, but I fall apart pretty quickly without 8 hours. The problem is that I don't have any PTO left that isn't devoted to maternity leave, and my company (well, HR) has been very resistant to me taking unpaid leave. So to deal with all the doctors appointments, both planned and unplanned, I've been working 9 hour days to build up as much of a buffer as I can. This pay period it happened to work out that I was able to use that time to get an extra day off. More typically though I've been working til 7 one night so I can leave at 4 another day. And since my commute takes anywhere between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours, (and sitting in the car is murder on my back lately), it's hard to get anything else done on work days. I try to use the weekends to catch up, but that doesn't always work out either.
The pregnancy itself is going alright. The kid is moving and there aren't any major health complications. I've been sleeping on the couch for weeks now, because it's easier on my back. I really miss the bed. But every time I try to sleep there, I wake up with my back muscles so tight that I'm having trouble breathing. Someday I'll be able to sleep in the bed again. In the meantime, I'm just moving slowly and trying to remember to eat healthy and counting down the weeks until I can finally put the kid down for five minutes.
And then the rest of my life has also been crazy busy. But that's the subject of another blog entry.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Baby Registry
Once we got settled in the new house, it was time to start focusing on the next big change in our lives: the baby. We've sort of been ignoring the whole thing up to this point, figuring we'll deal with all the details once we got in the new hosue. And now that we're finally thinking about the kid, it seems like it's all happening way too fast. It doesn't help that there is an overwhelming amount of stuff to think about.
The biggest casualty of this whole procrastination has been the childbirth class. By the time we got around to signing up for one, there was only on possible date before my due date. A six-hour Saturday class on a day that Kevin only has a 50/50 chance of being in town. Luckily, this is the age of the internet. We found an online course that we can do at our own pace in our own time. Now we just have to remember to do it.
The other big thing is the baby registry. We had to pick out everything from a crib and a stroller to bottles and a thermometer. It ended up taking a couple of weeks to research everything and figure out what we wanted and what we felt like we actually needed. The store recommended an absurd number of blankets. After we put them all on, we ended up taking about half back off. We figure that if we really end up needing them, we can buy them after the kid shows up. And at the recommendation of the store, we didn't end up putting any clothes or toys on the registry at all. Apparently people just buy what they want in those categories, and we can always go back and fill in what we need when the due date gets closer.
It's nice to have this all taken care of. Now we just need to wait and see what people want to gift us and what we'll have to buy ourselves. Hopefully we manage the timing well enough that we have everything by the time the kid actually gets here. That could be the trickiest part of the whole thing. Maybe we shouldn't have waited so long to get our act together.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Aching Back
My rash has thankfully cleared up. At this point I think it was a heat rash, exacerbated by the fact that we were moving. Lifting things, even light things, in hot, humid weather is no good. But shortly after we were settled in the new house (and with the liberal use of cortizone) it cleared up and I'm back to the more typical summer itchiness caused by a million mosquitos.
However, that means it's time for the next pregnancy symptom to rear it's ugly head: lower back pain.
I'd been anticipating this one. I've struggled with back pain since I injured myself in a dance class in high school. I'd done a good job, in recent years, of building up those muscles. But with the pregnancy I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was laid low with an aching back.
What I didn't expect was the cause of the aching back. It turns out that I'm actually mostly fine when I'm sitting or standing. If my back does start hurting at work, a five minute walk will clear it up. If I've been standing for too long, it's easy enough to sit down for a while. I quickly learned not to go barefoot on hardwood floors, since that makes my back hurt more quickly. And I rediscovered the joys of epsom salt baths.
No, what took me by surprise is my inability to lie down for more than three hours. This is probably true of any position, actually. I'm constantly fidgeting and moving around to get more comfortable. But it's especially noticeable when you're trying to sleep for a typical 8 hours and you find yourself physically incapable of lying down.
It took a lot of trial and error and 3 AM internet research, but I've finally figured out something that seems to be working. I start the night off with a pillow between my legs, curled up as close as I can manage to the fetal position. I hate curling up like that to sleep, especially with this bowling-ball shaped thing in my middle. But it does allow me to get a few precious hours in the bed on my right side while my cell phone/alarm clock charges. Sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning I'll wake up with the aching back and tight hamstrings. That's when I move to the couch in the living room. It's lumpy in the right places to support my back, and it allows me to stretch out completely, but it does require me to sleep on my left side (head near the table with the precious water and hated alarm clock).
Nothing is 100% comfortable, but between these two positions, I'm managing to eke out a solid 7 hours of sleep on a good night. There are still plenty of nights when I'm only getting 3 or 4 hours, whether because of hot flashes or stress or Kevin stealing my pillow. To be fair, the ball position leads to me taking up more than half the bed, so it's not that surprising when I wake up with him crowding my space.
It took a couple of weeks to hit this rhythm that's allowing me maximum sleep. Seven hours still isn't quite enough, and I can feel myself dragging come Thursday or Friday. But there were a few weeks there when I was starting to distrust my ability to drive and was wondering if I might have to stop working a lot sooner than I'd intended. When I alternated between being a zombie, and being a cranky, grumpy, crying mess. I've found another equilibrium finally, and I'm hoping it lasts for a while.
However, that means it's time for the next pregnancy symptom to rear it's ugly head: lower back pain.
I'd been anticipating this one. I've struggled with back pain since I injured myself in a dance class in high school. I'd done a good job, in recent years, of building up those muscles. But with the pregnancy I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was laid low with an aching back.
What I didn't expect was the cause of the aching back. It turns out that I'm actually mostly fine when I'm sitting or standing. If my back does start hurting at work, a five minute walk will clear it up. If I've been standing for too long, it's easy enough to sit down for a while. I quickly learned not to go barefoot on hardwood floors, since that makes my back hurt more quickly. And I rediscovered the joys of epsom salt baths.
No, what took me by surprise is my inability to lie down for more than three hours. This is probably true of any position, actually. I'm constantly fidgeting and moving around to get more comfortable. But it's especially noticeable when you're trying to sleep for a typical 8 hours and you find yourself physically incapable of lying down.
It took a lot of trial and error and 3 AM internet research, but I've finally figured out something that seems to be working. I start the night off with a pillow between my legs, curled up as close as I can manage to the fetal position. I hate curling up like that to sleep, especially with this bowling-ball shaped thing in my middle. But it does allow me to get a few precious hours in the bed on my right side while my cell phone/alarm clock charges. Sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning I'll wake up with the aching back and tight hamstrings. That's when I move to the couch in the living room. It's lumpy in the right places to support my back, and it allows me to stretch out completely, but it does require me to sleep on my left side (head near the table with the precious water and hated alarm clock).
Nothing is 100% comfortable, but between these two positions, I'm managing to eke out a solid 7 hours of sleep on a good night. There are still plenty of nights when I'm only getting 3 or 4 hours, whether because of hot flashes or stress or Kevin stealing my pillow. To be fair, the ball position leads to me taking up more than half the bed, so it's not that surprising when I wake up with him crowding my space.
It took a couple of weeks to hit this rhythm that's allowing me maximum sleep. Seven hours still isn't quite enough, and I can feel myself dragging come Thursday or Friday. But there were a few weeks there when I was starting to distrust my ability to drive and was wondering if I might have to stop working a lot sooner than I'd intended. When I alternated between being a zombie, and being a cranky, grumpy, crying mess. I've found another equilibrium finally, and I'm hoping it lasts for a while.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Itching
At my 24-week appointment, I'd intended to ask my doctor if it was normal to have as many stretch marks as I did. They essentially covered my belly at that point, though I didn't have any on my thighs or breasts. But then we started talking about my elevated risk for gestational diabetes, and the stretch marks flew right out of my mind. Besides, she'd looked at my belly in order to measure it. She'd have said something if it was abnormal, right?
A few days later, my belly started itching. I poked around on the internet, like I do with every new symptom, and found out that this was fairly common. Skin dries out more easily when it stretches, so it gets itchier. I upped my moisturizing regimen and tried to power through. Over the weekend I bought some cocoa butter, hoping that using it in addition to the shea butter would help.
At the glucose test, I was concentrating on giving blood. I've been dizzy in the mornings, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't faint. Besides which, I saw a technician instead of the doctor. And the internet had assured me that the itching was normal. So even though my stretch marks had become inflamed, turning my entire stomach red and angry, I didn't think to bring it up.
The next morning the itchiness and apparent stretch marks had spread to my thighs. I thought it was strange for the stretch marks to appear all at once overnight, but what do I know? They were supposed to be there all along, maybe it just took a while for my body to catch up.
The itching was bordering on unbearable at this point. I was putting on shea butter in the morning and cocoa butter in the evening. I have regular old body lotion at my desk at work, which I was applying 2 or 3 times during the day. And every time I woke up to pee in the night I was putting on more lotion, lest the itchiness keep me awake. Even then, it was managing to wake me up on all it's own. So I did what any millennial would do in my situation.
I complained on Facebook.
A friend of mine who had recently been pregnant herself and is a doctor to boot asked if I had the rash. I responded no, but it got me thinking. So I looked it up and started learning about PUPPP, or pregnancy rash. (I can't for the life of me remember what all those Ps stand for). It matched. The symptoms were the same and all the pictures looked familiar.
Of course, an internet diagnosis isn't a real diagnosis, even if having an answer made me feel better. So I called my OB and described my symptoms. She asked me to come into the office, which required shuffling my work schedule around, but I made it work. And then she told me that it's too early for the rash to be pregnancy-related and that I should make an appointment with my regular doctor. It felt like a complete waste of a morning, though she did give me permission to start using a cortisone cream.
The good news is that I am feeling better now. The rash has vanished from my stomach and it's become less itchy elsewhere. The last couple of weeks were rough, and I still have no idea what caused the rash. But it seems that it wasn't PUPPP, since the only cure for that is to give birth. My best guess at this point is that it was heat-related and the cortizone (and aloe and cocoa butter and shea butter) helped clear it up. At least I'll know what to try if it does come back.
A few days later, my belly started itching. I poked around on the internet, like I do with every new symptom, and found out that this was fairly common. Skin dries out more easily when it stretches, so it gets itchier. I upped my moisturizing regimen and tried to power through. Over the weekend I bought some cocoa butter, hoping that using it in addition to the shea butter would help.
At the glucose test, I was concentrating on giving blood. I've been dizzy in the mornings, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't faint. Besides which, I saw a technician instead of the doctor. And the internet had assured me that the itching was normal. So even though my stretch marks had become inflamed, turning my entire stomach red and angry, I didn't think to bring it up.
The next morning the itchiness and apparent stretch marks had spread to my thighs. I thought it was strange for the stretch marks to appear all at once overnight, but what do I know? They were supposed to be there all along, maybe it just took a while for my body to catch up.
The itching was bordering on unbearable at this point. I was putting on shea butter in the morning and cocoa butter in the evening. I have regular old body lotion at my desk at work, which I was applying 2 or 3 times during the day. And every time I woke up to pee in the night I was putting on more lotion, lest the itchiness keep me awake. Even then, it was managing to wake me up on all it's own. So I did what any millennial would do in my situation.
I complained on Facebook.
A friend of mine who had recently been pregnant herself and is a doctor to boot asked if I had the rash. I responded no, but it got me thinking. So I looked it up and started learning about PUPPP, or pregnancy rash. (I can't for the life of me remember what all those Ps stand for). It matched. The symptoms were the same and all the pictures looked familiar.
Of course, an internet diagnosis isn't a real diagnosis, even if having an answer made me feel better. So I called my OB and described my symptoms. She asked me to come into the office, which required shuffling my work schedule around, but I made it work. And then she told me that it's too early for the rash to be pregnancy-related and that I should make an appointment with my regular doctor. It felt like a complete waste of a morning, though she did give me permission to start using a cortisone cream.
The good news is that I am feeling better now. The rash has vanished from my stomach and it's become less itchy elsewhere. The last couple of weeks were rough, and I still have no idea what caused the rash. But it seems that it wasn't PUPPP, since the only cure for that is to give birth. My best guess at this point is that it was heat-related and the cortizone (and aloe and cocoa butter and shea butter) helped clear it up. At least I'll know what to try if it does come back.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
My Body is Teaching Me Patience
I'm moving a lot slower lately. It's not because I'm hurting. The aches and pains have finally subsided. Either that or they've become so omnipresent that they've just faded into the background. That happens. It's not exhaustion either. I'm actually achieving something close to 8 hours of sleep a night. My sleeping habits are close to what they were pre-pregnancy. It appears that I've reached a sort of equilibrium. And I think it's partly due to the fact that I've slowed down.
This started when I was tired and aching all the time. Which was at least partially due to a cold. I was so exhausted I managed to forget I was sick until I started feeling better. I hadn't realized that could happen. It left me shambling around the office like a zombie, taking twice as long to climb a flight of stairs or get to the metro. I was being forced into longer and more frequent breaks. And now that I'm feeling better, I'm continuing with that. It's helping me sustain my energy levels farther into the evening.
It's a little amazing how easy to has been to take a little extra time. I've been waking up earlier so my mornings aren't as stressful. I've been ambling around the office when I need to go to the bathroom or refill my water bottle (hourly occurrences at the moment). It's also amazing how little I care when someone I'm walking with starts to go faster or someone behind me starts grumbling. I'm moving at my own pace, and the rest of the world gets to deal with it, however they want.
I think this springs from the same part of my personality that enjoys a good blizzard. I'll take any excuse to slow down and look at the world around me. Right now pregnancy is providing me with that excuse. It's not forcing the world to come to a screeching halt like snow so often does. But it's helping a bit. Especially with how busy we've been lately and how busy we will be soon, it's been nice to move at my own pace for a while. I'm glad my body is forcing this on me.
I'm less glad about some of the other things that have been forced on me. My stomach is itching like crazy, apparently a side-effect of the skin being stretched out. If I spend too much of the day upright, I get a nice upper back pain, thanks to my newly weighty boobs. And I'm still getting up to pee every three hours at night.
On a bigger level, my vitals aren't exactly what they should be. My blood pressure is on the low side, which results in some dizziness and light-headedness, especially in the mornings. I haven't fainted yet, though. And the sugar content of my pee was high enough that the doctor decided to move my gestational diabetes test up three weeks. It doesn't seem like there's anything to be really worried about yet, but it's stuff to keep an eye on.
All in all I'm in a good place at the moment. I don't feel as big as I did a week ago. Probably because I've adjusted to this size and have yet to grow even bigger. My belly button switches between innie and outie a few times a day, which is fun. And the kid is moving around a ton. I'm still the only one who can feel it, though I don't know if that's just because he does most of his moving while I'm at work. When the doctor went to measure the heartbeat yesterday, he did kick the mic a few times. I'm definitely carrying Kevin's kid.
I don't how long these good feelings will last. I'm going to get bigger. Things are going to hurt more. I may have to be a lot more careful with my diet in the coming weeks. For now I'm trying to enjoy what feels like a bit of a reprieve. I hope it isn't the last one.
This started when I was tired and aching all the time. Which was at least partially due to a cold. I was so exhausted I managed to forget I was sick until I started feeling better. I hadn't realized that could happen. It left me shambling around the office like a zombie, taking twice as long to climb a flight of stairs or get to the metro. I was being forced into longer and more frequent breaks. And now that I'm feeling better, I'm continuing with that. It's helping me sustain my energy levels farther into the evening.
It's a little amazing how easy to has been to take a little extra time. I've been waking up earlier so my mornings aren't as stressful. I've been ambling around the office when I need to go to the bathroom or refill my water bottle (hourly occurrences at the moment). It's also amazing how little I care when someone I'm walking with starts to go faster or someone behind me starts grumbling. I'm moving at my own pace, and the rest of the world gets to deal with it, however they want.
I think this springs from the same part of my personality that enjoys a good blizzard. I'll take any excuse to slow down and look at the world around me. Right now pregnancy is providing me with that excuse. It's not forcing the world to come to a screeching halt like snow so often does. But it's helping a bit. Especially with how busy we've been lately and how busy we will be soon, it's been nice to move at my own pace for a while. I'm glad my body is forcing this on me.
I'm less glad about some of the other things that have been forced on me. My stomach is itching like crazy, apparently a side-effect of the skin being stretched out. If I spend too much of the day upright, I get a nice upper back pain, thanks to my newly weighty boobs. And I'm still getting up to pee every three hours at night.
On a bigger level, my vitals aren't exactly what they should be. My blood pressure is on the low side, which results in some dizziness and light-headedness, especially in the mornings. I haven't fainted yet, though. And the sugar content of my pee was high enough that the doctor decided to move my gestational diabetes test up three weeks. It doesn't seem like there's anything to be really worried about yet, but it's stuff to keep an eye on.
All in all I'm in a good place at the moment. I don't feel as big as I did a week ago. Probably because I've adjusted to this size and have yet to grow even bigger. My belly button switches between innie and outie a few times a day, which is fun. And the kid is moving around a ton. I'm still the only one who can feel it, though I don't know if that's just because he does most of his moving while I'm at work. When the doctor went to measure the heartbeat yesterday, he did kick the mic a few times. I'm definitely carrying Kevin's kid.
I don't how long these good feelings will last. I'm going to get bigger. Things are going to hurt more. I may have to be a lot more careful with my diet in the coming weeks. For now I'm trying to enjoy what feels like a bit of a reprieve. I hope it isn't the last one.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Trading the Bs for Ds
Every year, we go to the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival at National Harbor. It's a fun day with unlimited tastings of beer, bourbon, and bacon (the bbq costs extra). The earlier you buy your ticket, the cheaper it is. So back in January I didn't hesitate to buy mine, forgetting for a moment that we were about to start trying for a kid.
I got pregnant and ended up giving my ticket to my brother. But I agreed to be the designated driver for my friends. Dealing with the metro+taxi is difficult enough when the metro is running reliably, which it definitely isn't lately. So having a driver made the entire thing smoother.
I didn't actually attend the festival this year. It's held in a parking lot, which gets super hot under the June sun. Instead I wandered around National Harbor. I found lunch and ice cream and looked in a few of the stores. I had planned to find an air-conditioned cafe to read my book in, but the weather was actually gorgeous. Down by the water there was a nice breeze and a bunch of benches under the shade, so I ended up spending most of my time there.
After the festival, we went back to Zach and Sarah's to play games and nap and eat pizza. Once people had recovered somewhat, we went to a party at Jen's. I was actually feeling surprisingly good for the entire day and even stayed out later than I'd initially intended. But boy did I pay for it the next day.
I did a bit of shopping on Sunday and did my best to help Kevin continue to pack and clean our house. Before long I basically collapsed, though. By early evening my entire body ached and it was all I could do to move from the bed to the toilet when I had to pee. Monday was no easier, and I essentially collapsed as soon as I was home from work. On Tuesday I finally started to feel better, but I'm going to have to remember not to push myself so hard in the coming months. The recovery time is just too long, and there's too much to do between now and when the kid arrives.
I got pregnant and ended up giving my ticket to my brother. But I agreed to be the designated driver for my friends. Dealing with the metro+taxi is difficult enough when the metro is running reliably, which it definitely isn't lately. So having a driver made the entire thing smoother.
I didn't actually attend the festival this year. It's held in a parking lot, which gets super hot under the June sun. Instead I wandered around National Harbor. I found lunch and ice cream and looked in a few of the stores. I had planned to find an air-conditioned cafe to read my book in, but the weather was actually gorgeous. Down by the water there was a nice breeze and a bunch of benches under the shade, so I ended up spending most of my time there.
After the festival, we went back to Zach and Sarah's to play games and nap and eat pizza. Once people had recovered somewhat, we went to a party at Jen's. I was actually feeling surprisingly good for the entire day and even stayed out later than I'd initially intended. But boy did I pay for it the next day.
I did a bit of shopping on Sunday and did my best to help Kevin continue to pack and clean our house. Before long I basically collapsed, though. By early evening my entire body ached and it was all I could do to move from the bed to the toilet when I had to pee. Monday was no easier, and I essentially collapsed as soon as I was home from work. On Tuesday I finally started to feel better, but I'm going to have to remember not to push myself so hard in the coming months. The recovery time is just too long, and there's too much to do between now and when the kid arrives.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Anatomy Scan
A couple of weeks ago we had the second trimester ultrasound, also known as the anatomy scan. This is the exciting appointment when you find out whether you're carrying a boy or a girl. That's what I knew going in. What I didn't know is that this is also the appointment where you get poked and prodded and rolled around for an hour while a technician measures every conceivable part of the fetus. This is made even more uncomfortable by the fact that you have to start off the appointment with a full bladder which you can't empty until they've gotten all their pictures and measurements.
We got the fun part of the appointment out of the way quickly. The kid was upside down, which meant that the initial image was right between his legs. And there was a rather obvious penis, front and center in the ultrasound. We are definitely having a boy.
From there, the technician pointed out various bones and organs. The bones were much more obvious than the organs. The kid has a nicely formed spine and arm and leg bones. Less obvious were the stomach and the brain, which looked the same. The heart was at least beating, but we had to take the technicians words about the kidneys.
Throughout all of this I was rolled to my side, then my back, then my side again. I had to get up and walk around at one point in an effort to make the kid flip head up. And they kept putting more and more goo on my belly. Just when I thought we were done, she had to come back and take additional measurements of the heart.
By every measurement, we had a totally normal kid. So that's something to be excited about. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the head remains reasonably sized. Just a few more months until we can actually see him without the aid of a sonogram!
We got the fun part of the appointment out of the way quickly. The kid was upside down, which meant that the initial image was right between his legs. And there was a rather obvious penis, front and center in the ultrasound. We are definitely having a boy.
From there, the technician pointed out various bones and organs. The bones were much more obvious than the organs. The kid has a nicely formed spine and arm and leg bones. Less obvious were the stomach and the brain, which looked the same. The heart was at least beating, but we had to take the technicians words about the kidneys.
Throughout all of this I was rolled to my side, then my back, then my side again. I had to get up and walk around at one point in an effort to make the kid flip head up. And they kept putting more and more goo on my belly. Just when I thought we were done, she had to come back and take additional measurements of the heart.
By every measurement, we had a totally normal kid. So that's something to be excited about. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the head remains reasonably sized. Just a few more months until we can actually see him without the aid of a sonogram!
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Halfway
I'm a little more than halfway through this pregnancy, and things are starting to get rough. Where the first semester involved me sleeping a lot and forgeting that I was even pregnant because nothing seemed to be happening, the second semester involves being tired but never getting enough sleep and feeling bigger and bigger with every passing day.
My belly is beginning to get in the way of my life. It's hard to get out of bed. If I sit on the floor or somewhere else low, it's even harder to get up. I'm trying not to do that, but the packing and cleaning involved with moving sometimes makes that impossible. I'm tired and achy in a way that I didn't think would happen for several more decades. By 8'o'clock most evenings I'm completely spent. But then I lie there for hours trying to fall asleep.
My belly is also covered in stretch marks despite the fact that I'm using shea butter religiously. I don't know if the shea butter is completely ineffective or if my pale skin means that it would be evn worse if I stopped using it. I don't really want to know either. So I continue to use the shea butter and track the growth of the kid by the stretch marks that are slowly climbing up my torso. They're just past my belly button now.
I'm sure the most of this isn't just the prgnancy. The misery is being compounded by the summer heat and humidity and the fact that we're getting ready to move. There's always something to do, and I'd always rather just be lying on the couch. Maybe it will get easier next month when we're settled in the new house. Then again, maybe it won't. At least I won't have to take the metro anymore after we move. I always arrive at the office lightheaded and shaky, needing to sit and drink water for ten minutes before I can think about starting work. The evening commute isn't quite as bad, since the train is emptying rather than filling, but it still sucks.
I realize that this is a lot of complaining. I expect it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm going to get bigger and hungrier and more tired. Hopefully my blood pressure will stabilize and the dizziness will fade.
At this point, I'm just excited to get the kid out of me so I can finally put it down. Even if it's only for an hour at a time. I can't belive I'm only halfway through this thing.
My belly is beginning to get in the way of my life. It's hard to get out of bed. If I sit on the floor or somewhere else low, it's even harder to get up. I'm trying not to do that, but the packing and cleaning involved with moving sometimes makes that impossible. I'm tired and achy in a way that I didn't think would happen for several more decades. By 8'o'clock most evenings I'm completely spent. But then I lie there for hours trying to fall asleep.
My belly is also covered in stretch marks despite the fact that I'm using shea butter religiously. I don't know if the shea butter is completely ineffective or if my pale skin means that it would be evn worse if I stopped using it. I don't really want to know either. So I continue to use the shea butter and track the growth of the kid by the stretch marks that are slowly climbing up my torso. They're just past my belly button now.
I'm sure the most of this isn't just the prgnancy. The misery is being compounded by the summer heat and humidity and the fact that we're getting ready to move. There's always something to do, and I'd always rather just be lying on the couch. Maybe it will get easier next month when we're settled in the new house. Then again, maybe it won't. At least I won't have to take the metro anymore after we move. I always arrive at the office lightheaded and shaky, needing to sit and drink water for ten minutes before I can think about starting work. The evening commute isn't quite as bad, since the train is emptying rather than filling, but it still sucks.
I realize that this is a lot of complaining. I expect it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm going to get bigger and hungrier and more tired. Hopefully my blood pressure will stabilize and the dizziness will fade.
At this point, I'm just excited to get the kid out of me so I can finally put it down. Even if it's only for an hour at a time. I can't belive I'm only halfway through this thing.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Insomnia Amnesia
So this is a fun new symptom. Initially I just thought I was reverting back to some of the exhaustion from earlier in my pregnancy. And, to be fair, I just had an incredibly busy weekend. Between the pregnancy, trying to sell our house, and negotiating the contract on the new house I haven't had a ton of down time lately.
But then I checked my fitbit and discovered that I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night. I thought the fitbit must be malfunctioning until Kevin confirmed that I was still awake when he woke up from a weird dream at 1 or 2 in the morning.
So it appears that I'm going to bed at 10, tossing and turning until 2 when I finally fall asleep and then getting up at 6:30 or 7 (complete with a trip or two to the bathroom) and then completely forgetting about the part where I toss and turn.
This past weekend I gave myself a day off. While Kevin and Connor were getting bookcases to the storage unit, I slept in until 10 for a grand total of 7 1/2 hours of sleep. It was sort of like catching up.
I'm sort of adjusting to it now. Things are calming down a bit with the house buying, and we're going on vacation this weekend which should help a lot. Also, I'm very glad I managed to cut caffeine out of my diet, which is a little weird to say. The truth is that I only actually managed to go 3 or 4 days without caffeine. But now that I've kicked the habit, a little goes a long way. I'm able to survive on the small amount of sleep I'm getting and within the 200mg/day restrictions I'm under.
The problem is that I know it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'll just have to keep taking advantage of lazy weekends and find my rest when I can. I'd honestly feel a bit better about this whole thing if I could remember my insomnia or use that time for something useful like reading or writing. Instead of it just getting wiped from my life without the benefit of rest.
But then I checked my fitbit and discovered that I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night. I thought the fitbit must be malfunctioning until Kevin confirmed that I was still awake when he woke up from a weird dream at 1 or 2 in the morning.
So it appears that I'm going to bed at 10, tossing and turning until 2 when I finally fall asleep and then getting up at 6:30 or 7 (complete with a trip or two to the bathroom) and then completely forgetting about the part where I toss and turn.
This past weekend I gave myself a day off. While Kevin and Connor were getting bookcases to the storage unit, I slept in until 10 for a grand total of 7 1/2 hours of sleep. It was sort of like catching up.
I'm sort of adjusting to it now. Things are calming down a bit with the house buying, and we're going on vacation this weekend which should help a lot. Also, I'm very glad I managed to cut caffeine out of my diet, which is a little weird to say. The truth is that I only actually managed to go 3 or 4 days without caffeine. But now that I've kicked the habit, a little goes a long way. I'm able to survive on the small amount of sleep I'm getting and within the 200mg/day restrictions I'm under.
The problem is that I know it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'll just have to keep taking advantage of lazy weekends and find my rest when I can. I'd honestly feel a bit better about this whole thing if I could remember my insomnia or use that time for something useful like reading or writing. Instead of it just getting wiped from my life without the benefit of rest.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Wiggling
I'm fairly certain that I felt the baby move for the first time a few nights ago. I've been half waiting for this for a couple of weeks now, even though I knew it was likely I wouldn't feel anything for a couple more weeks. But as we were going to bed on Sunday, I'm pretty sure I got feel the first kicks or flips or wiggles or whatever it is the kid is doing.
On ultrasounds and the doppler it's been clear the the kid is moving quite a bit. It was really cool to finally feel that for myself. It was a bit like the rumble you get in your stomach when your hungry, but lower than the stomach. I'm excited for it to become more definite, and to get to the point where other people can feel it, too. For now, I'm going with it: 18 weeks is when I first felt the kid move.
More updates in two weeks, by which time we should know the sex!
On ultrasounds and the doppler it's been clear the the kid is moving quite a bit. It was really cool to finally feel that for myself. It was a bit like the rumble you get in your stomach when your hungry, but lower than the stomach. I'm excited for it to become more definite, and to get to the point where other people can feel it, too. For now, I'm going with it: 18 weeks is when I first felt the kid move.
More updates in two weeks, by which time we should know the sex!
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Second Trimester
During the first trimester, it seemed like I was coming up against a new symptom or strange thing every day. But now that I'm in to the second trimester, I seem to have settled into pregnancy. My belly is starting to grow, which is exciting. And I'm definitely moving slower and have less energy towards the end of the day. For the most part, this whole pregnancy thing remains pretty easy.
The never-ending butt pain I was dealing with towards the end of the first trimester seems to have finally cleared up entirely. It will reappear if I have a particularly active day (> 15,000 steps), but I've mostly cut back on those, too. I've got some new aches and pains - round ligament pain is, surprisingly and specifically, a round pain. Those are mostly only triggered by sudden movements, though. So long as I move slowly and deliberately, everything is fine.
Of course that means that I'm moving a lot slower. Getting off the couch at the end of the night has become a process. Regular chairs, and even my bed, are still fine though. That may be because I can more or less roll out of my bed and catch myself. That's harder to do on the couch, especially when the cat and dog decide to get in my way.
I'm falling deeply in love with our bed. Even moreso than when we first got it. This is the point where I'm supposed to start to have difficulty sleeping, but it hasn't happened yet. I get up once or twice a night to pee, but other than that I'm sleeping soundly. I credit the Sleep Number bed entirely with this. It's like sleeping on a combination of a cloud and a hug. It perfectly cradles and supports me so I'm not tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. And when it stops, I can adjust to a different number and get my support right back.
The other, related symptom I'm supposed to be experiencing is particularly weird and vivid dreams. Which has half happened. When I wake up to pee it's often in the middle of a dream, and I'll think that dream was weird or frightening. But by the time my alarm goes off in the morning I'll have forgotten all about it.
And then there's the lightheadedness, but that's mostly past, too. For a couple of weeks, I'd start to feel dizzy right after Kina's morning walk. It could continue for an hour or two, until I'd been sitting at my desk at work for a while. It made metro rides particularly uncomfortable, especially when they decided to turn the heat back up. But now Kevin's home and I'm not walking Kina in the morning, so this has basically gone away. Metro rides still aren't my favorite, but as long as I get a seat everything is fine. With my growing belly, I basically always get a seat. We'll see if that's still the case when single-tracking leads to over-crowded trains in a few weeks.
All in all, this whole pregnancy thing has basically been a breeze so far. I'm excited for the next couple of week. I should start to feel the kid moving around pretty soon. And we're going to find out the sex in a few weeks, which means we'll finally be able to nail down a name. In the meantime, I need to do another run for some work-appropriate maternity clothes. Everything is so exciting while still feeling not entirely real.
The never-ending butt pain I was dealing with towards the end of the first trimester seems to have finally cleared up entirely. It will reappear if I have a particularly active day (> 15,000 steps), but I've mostly cut back on those, too. I've got some new aches and pains - round ligament pain is, surprisingly and specifically, a round pain. Those are mostly only triggered by sudden movements, though. So long as I move slowly and deliberately, everything is fine.
Of course that means that I'm moving a lot slower. Getting off the couch at the end of the night has become a process. Regular chairs, and even my bed, are still fine though. That may be because I can more or less roll out of my bed and catch myself. That's harder to do on the couch, especially when the cat and dog decide to get in my way.
I'm falling deeply in love with our bed. Even moreso than when we first got it. This is the point where I'm supposed to start to have difficulty sleeping, but it hasn't happened yet. I get up once or twice a night to pee, but other than that I'm sleeping soundly. I credit the Sleep Number bed entirely with this. It's like sleeping on a combination of a cloud and a hug. It perfectly cradles and supports me so I'm not tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. And when it stops, I can adjust to a different number and get my support right back.
The other, related symptom I'm supposed to be experiencing is particularly weird and vivid dreams. Which has half happened. When I wake up to pee it's often in the middle of a dream, and I'll think that dream was weird or frightening. But by the time my alarm goes off in the morning I'll have forgotten all about it.
And then there's the lightheadedness, but that's mostly past, too. For a couple of weeks, I'd start to feel dizzy right after Kina's morning walk. It could continue for an hour or two, until I'd been sitting at my desk at work for a while. It made metro rides particularly uncomfortable, especially when they decided to turn the heat back up. But now Kevin's home and I'm not walking Kina in the morning, so this has basically gone away. Metro rides still aren't my favorite, but as long as I get a seat everything is fine. With my growing belly, I basically always get a seat. We'll see if that's still the case when single-tracking leads to over-crowded trains in a few weeks.
All in all, this whole pregnancy thing has basically been a breeze so far. I'm excited for the next couple of week. I should start to feel the kid moving around pretty soon. And we're going to find out the sex in a few weeks, which means we'll finally be able to nail down a name. In the meantime, I need to do another run for some work-appropriate maternity clothes. Everything is so exciting while still feeling not entirely real.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
First Trimester Wrap Up
Not that my pregnancy has been hard so far. I've had no morning sickness, and only one morning of nausea. I came close to fainting a couple of times, but I was always able to sit down and recover. Even my dreaded aversion to eggs ended up lasting less than a month.
It was funny, actually, how the aversions and cravings came and went. I learned early not to buy anything in bulk. I'd find something I liked one week, but then my tastes would change and I couldn't stand to eat it the next. I still have a few half finished things in my fridge (seltzer, yogurt) that I'm hoping to develop a taste for before they spoil.
At this point, though, I'm mostly just eating everything in sight. I've got a decent routine down at work, and I'm bringing extra food to fill in the holes in the day. Cereal and fruit have become my go-tos, though I still spring for the occasional breakfast sandwich, or go out for a second full meal in the afternoon. Weekends are easier, because I can just graze all day long. And with Kevin away on business, there are always plenty of leftovers in the fridge.
My fatigue is finally starting to go away, too. I'm still going to bed a little earlier than I did pre-pregnancy, but that's mostly because I can't rely on caffeine to wake me up in the morning. So I really need to make sure I get a solid eight hours of sleep every night.
As for new symptoms, the most annoying one so far is my sore butt. By the end of every day it feels like I've done ten sets of squats or climbed a mountain or something. I'm having trouble figuring out what this is on the internet. There's a lot of talk of nerve pain in the butt and thighs, which is described as sharp, but nothing about sore muscles. I almost wonder if it could be related to walking so much more than normal - with Kevin gone I'm walking Kina twice a day instead of once - but the pain is getting worse rather than better. I just hope it doesn't last too much longer.
There's a lot of good news, too. We're starting to get some test results back. We know that the kid doesn't have Cystic Fibrosis - I'm not a carrier. And my first trimester screen went well. Everything looks excellent and I'm super low risk for all of the genetic disorders they screen for: Down's Syndrome, trisomy 13, and trisomy 18. So no more tests on that front, and it looks like smooth sailing for the time being.
The best part of that screen was the ultrasound. I didn't react very strongly to hearing the kid's heart beat, but I did tear up a little when I saw the kid. Ultrasounds are often fuzzy. When I see one on Facebook, I often have to squint for a while to figure out what I'm looking at. But from the second the tech brought up the image, I was able to make out my kid. It was so cool to see a little humanoid inside of me. I also got some cool pictures to take home.
 |
| A good image of the kid's head |
 |
| I like this one because the kid looks like a demon |
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Early Pregnancy: Ten Weeks!
Written 3/30/16
I'm officially a quarter of the way through the pregnancy, and things continue to be weird. On the one hand, it feels like I've been pregnant forever. All I do anymore is eat and sleep. On the other hand, I barely feel pregnant at all, mostly because my body isn't really changing. I've gained some weight, but not a lot. And most people (especially people at work) have no idea. I'm looking forward to hitting the second trimester for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I suspect that this will finally start to feel real.
I'm also eager to put this fatigue behind me. It's getting better. Lately I can go two or three days on a mere 8 hours of sleep a night and I feel normal. But then I crash hard. Yesterday I spent the last couple hours at work fighting the desire for a nap. The exhaustion inevitably brought on a headache (and I can't even take Advil), which landed me in bed by 7:30. I would have been there earlier, but I had to wait for Connor to come over after his class to scoop the litter box. Which I still find absurd and silly. Maybe I'll get better at asking for help in the coming months. Or maybe I'll still feel silly, but I'll suck it up and do it anyway.
Other than feeling more awake generally, if not constantly, my favorite part about week 10 came from my pregnancy app. It's common to have a tracker that tells you how big the embryo/fetus is throughout the pregnancy, usually in terms of fruit. But I found a nerdier one that's more aligned with my interests and knowledge. So this week kicked off with this notification:
I'm pretty excited to have a lego-sized person inside of me. It's also officially a fetus now, which is a nice milestone to hit. Though it's still more than half head.
I'm hoping that this increase in energy will translate into a renewed motivation to write. (It seems to be working at the moment). I've completely abandoned my blog recently because I've been too tired to write. But everything says that should be ending soon, and I'll be able to get back to my normal life for a few months. I may even have a surplus of energy, which I'm really hoping for. So long as the insomnia stays away for as long as possible.
I'm officially a quarter of the way through the pregnancy, and things continue to be weird. On the one hand, it feels like I've been pregnant forever. All I do anymore is eat and sleep. On the other hand, I barely feel pregnant at all, mostly because my body isn't really changing. I've gained some weight, but not a lot. And most people (especially people at work) have no idea. I'm looking forward to hitting the second trimester for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I suspect that this will finally start to feel real.
I'm also eager to put this fatigue behind me. It's getting better. Lately I can go two or three days on a mere 8 hours of sleep a night and I feel normal. But then I crash hard. Yesterday I spent the last couple hours at work fighting the desire for a nap. The exhaustion inevitably brought on a headache (and I can't even take Advil), which landed me in bed by 7:30. I would have been there earlier, but I had to wait for Connor to come over after his class to scoop the litter box. Which I still find absurd and silly. Maybe I'll get better at asking for help in the coming months. Or maybe I'll still feel silly, but I'll suck it up and do it anyway.
Other than feeling more awake generally, if not constantly, my favorite part about week 10 came from my pregnancy app. It's common to have a tracker that tells you how big the embryo/fetus is throughout the pregnancy, usually in terms of fruit. But I found a nerdier one that's more aligned with my interests and knowledge. So this week kicked off with this notification:
I'm pretty excited to have a lego-sized person inside of me. It's also officially a fetus now, which is a nice milestone to hit. Though it's still more than half head.
I'm hoping that this increase in energy will translate into a renewed motivation to write. (It seems to be working at the moment). I've completely abandoned my blog recently because I've been too tired to write. But everything says that should be ending soon, and I'll be able to get back to my normal life for a few months. I may even have a surplus of energy, which I'm really hoping for. So long as the insomnia stays away for as long as possible.
Friday, April 15, 2016
Early Pregnancy: The First Appointment
Written 3/14/16
It's a relief to have the first doctor's appointment behind me. Mostly because it feels like it wiped away some of the uncertainty I'd been feeling.
First off, I didn't actually feel pregnant for the first several weeks. Sure, I was sleeping all the time and steadily growing hungrier. But there was no morning sickness to speak of and my one day of nausea could probably have been chalked up to over-heating slightly on the metro while I was heading to work. Between the lack of symptoms and my lack of a really conclusive pregnancy test (I had two faint positives followed by two tests where the control line didn't even show up) my only real hint that I was pregnant was my lack of period. It was one big lack.
I also didn't entirely know what to expect from the first doctor's appointment. My regular gynecologist is in the process of retiring, which means he's no longer working as an obstetrician. He referred me to two other practices, and I did a fair amount of online research before picking one. I made the appointment, but I didn't think to ask any questions at the time. And then the internet started feeding me all sorts of conflicting information. I had no idea whether they would do an ultrasound or a blood test. Whether they'd find or even look for a heartbeat. Whether there'd be any physical examination at all or if this would just be a meet and greet and a chance to ask questions.
It turned out that I landed with a group of OBs who do everything, which ended up being a relief. The more information the better, as far as I'm concerned. We went over both mine and Kevin's family history, and then I got a trans-vaginal ultrasound, which was not at all traumatic for me, though I can see how it could be. It was exciting to get to see the kid and it's heartbeat, although the heartbeat is still weird to me. At 7 weeks, 3 days, the embryo doesn't even have a heart or a brain. It was what will eventually become heart chambers, and those are spasming at a rate of about 150 beats per minutes. Still, that's called the heartbeat and after the doctor finds out, the chance of miscarriage drops from 20% to 3%, which is heartening.
We got our first baby pictures and went over the dos and don'ts. I'm absolutely not allowed to scopp cat litter, which will be interesting when Kevin's in Hawaii for 6 weeks. I may just invest in some rubber gloves and a pumice stone, because it seems silly to ask someone to come over and empty the litter box for me.
Then I got blood drawn, and that's being sent out for all sorts of tests. They're even doing an additional level of tests because Kevin's uncle had cystic fibrosis and why not check to see if I'm a carrier. I also got a referral for a first trimester genetic screening. At that point I'll get more blood drawn and have an ultrasound that will determine the likelihood that the kid has Down's Syndrome, trisomy 18 and all sorts of other things that I may have learned about in 10th grade biology. Part of me feels like this is overkill, but a bigger part of me would rather know. And I'm happy to put myself in the hands of trained professionals.
I still don't feel very pregnant, but the ultrasound picture on the fridge is a nice reminder that I do have a parasite growing in my uterus. For the next few weeks I'll mostly just be hoping that I don't miscarry. Then I've got another round of doctor's appointments. This whole thing is a lot of waiting around punctuated with floods of information. It's nice to have time to absorb everything, but it's also already hard to wait. Maybe it will get easier when I pass into the second trimester and I can be a bit freer with telling people about the pregnancy. And when my belly actually starts growing.
In the meantime, I'll continue to eat and sleep more than I've ever ate or slept before in my life.
It's a relief to have the first doctor's appointment behind me. Mostly because it feels like it wiped away some of the uncertainty I'd been feeling.
First off, I didn't actually feel pregnant for the first several weeks. Sure, I was sleeping all the time and steadily growing hungrier. But there was no morning sickness to speak of and my one day of nausea could probably have been chalked up to over-heating slightly on the metro while I was heading to work. Between the lack of symptoms and my lack of a really conclusive pregnancy test (I had two faint positives followed by two tests where the control line didn't even show up) my only real hint that I was pregnant was my lack of period. It was one big lack.
I also didn't entirely know what to expect from the first doctor's appointment. My regular gynecologist is in the process of retiring, which means he's no longer working as an obstetrician. He referred me to two other practices, and I did a fair amount of online research before picking one. I made the appointment, but I didn't think to ask any questions at the time. And then the internet started feeding me all sorts of conflicting information. I had no idea whether they would do an ultrasound or a blood test. Whether they'd find or even look for a heartbeat. Whether there'd be any physical examination at all or if this would just be a meet and greet and a chance to ask questions.
It turned out that I landed with a group of OBs who do everything, which ended up being a relief. The more information the better, as far as I'm concerned. We went over both mine and Kevin's family history, and then I got a trans-vaginal ultrasound, which was not at all traumatic for me, though I can see how it could be. It was exciting to get to see the kid and it's heartbeat, although the heartbeat is still weird to me. At 7 weeks, 3 days, the embryo doesn't even have a heart or a brain. It was what will eventually become heart chambers, and those are spasming at a rate of about 150 beats per minutes. Still, that's called the heartbeat and after the doctor finds out, the chance of miscarriage drops from 20% to 3%, which is heartening.
We got our first baby pictures and went over the dos and don'ts. I'm absolutely not allowed to scopp cat litter, which will be interesting when Kevin's in Hawaii for 6 weeks. I may just invest in some rubber gloves and a pumice stone, because it seems silly to ask someone to come over and empty the litter box for me.
Then I got blood drawn, and that's being sent out for all sorts of tests. They're even doing an additional level of tests because Kevin's uncle had cystic fibrosis and why not check to see if I'm a carrier. I also got a referral for a first trimester genetic screening. At that point I'll get more blood drawn and have an ultrasound that will determine the likelihood that the kid has Down's Syndrome, trisomy 18 and all sorts of other things that I may have learned about in 10th grade biology. Part of me feels like this is overkill, but a bigger part of me would rather know. And I'm happy to put myself in the hands of trained professionals.
I still don't feel very pregnant, but the ultrasound picture on the fridge is a nice reminder that I do have a parasite growing in my uterus. For the next few weeks I'll mostly just be hoping that I don't miscarry. Then I've got another round of doctor's appointments. This whole thing is a lot of waiting around punctuated with floods of information. It's nice to have time to absorb everything, but it's also already hard to wait. Maybe it will get easier when I pass into the second trimester and I can be a bit freer with telling people about the pregnancy. And when my belly actually starts growing.
In the meantime, I'll continue to eat and sleep more than I've ever ate or slept before in my life.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Early Pregnancy: Hunger
Written 3/8/2016
I'm up to four meals a day.
I knew I'd be eating more. It's that old joke: eating for two. But everything I read said you're not actually eating that much more. Only about 300 additional calories in the first trimester, which is practically nothing. I certainly didn't expect to be adding an additional meal. But it turns out that I've become completely unable to go six hours between meals, like I did pre-pregnancy. I'm hard pressed to go four hours, which leads to an extra meal.
Instead of breakfast (7 AM), lunch (12:30 PM), dinner (6:30 PM), my schedule now includes a meal at 10:30 or 11 and a second one around 3 in the afternoon. And even then I'm starving by the time dinner rolls around. Although my meals have been smaller. The simple fact is that I just can't eat as much in a single sitting. I get full much more quickly. So I probably am only eating 300 extra calories. I guess the uterus starts pushing on the stomach (and the bladder and everything else), which makes it smaller.
This actually started a couple of weeks ago. On the train home from work I was suddenly hit by such a strong sense of hunger that I was almost worried I'd faint during the walk home. Instead of the meal I'd planned to cook that night, I barely had the patience to heat up leftovers. And so I learned that I needed to start planning around my new appetite better.
The problem with this is that I'm not a snacker. I eat three meals a day, and that's all I eat (unless I'm continuously grazing at a party or something). But I've had to start buying snack foods, like granola bars and yogurt. I've had to remember that I have those snacks, so that when I get hungry I'm not just flopping around in misery. Even harder is remembering to take those snacks to work. And I'm honestly a little surprised that none of my coworkers have commented on the fact that my eating schedule has shifted so dramatically.
I'm also figuring out smaller meals. Peanut butter and apple sandwiches are fast becoming a staple. As are quesadillas, stuffed with onions or spinach or whatever veggies happen to be in the fridge. I'm trying to get into yogurt, but it just doesn't sit in my stomach right. Smoothies, however, seem to be working. Maybe because they have less dairy?
This has been the biggest and most deliberate change in my life since I found out I was pregnant. I'm hoping it calms down somewhat in the coming months, though I'm not terribly optimistic about that happening. It's more likely that I'll be eating 6 meals a day by the time this is all over with. I'm mostly worried about how this will affect me during travel. We're going to NYC in April and Las Vegas in June, and it's harder to find healthy snack food on the road. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for some decent sandwich places.
I'm up to four meals a day.
I knew I'd be eating more. It's that old joke: eating for two. But everything I read said you're not actually eating that much more. Only about 300 additional calories in the first trimester, which is practically nothing. I certainly didn't expect to be adding an additional meal. But it turns out that I've become completely unable to go six hours between meals, like I did pre-pregnancy. I'm hard pressed to go four hours, which leads to an extra meal.
Instead of breakfast (7 AM), lunch (12:30 PM), dinner (6:30 PM), my schedule now includes a meal at 10:30 or 11 and a second one around 3 in the afternoon. And even then I'm starving by the time dinner rolls around. Although my meals have been smaller. The simple fact is that I just can't eat as much in a single sitting. I get full much more quickly. So I probably am only eating 300 extra calories. I guess the uterus starts pushing on the stomach (and the bladder and everything else), which makes it smaller.
This actually started a couple of weeks ago. On the train home from work I was suddenly hit by such a strong sense of hunger that I was almost worried I'd faint during the walk home. Instead of the meal I'd planned to cook that night, I barely had the patience to heat up leftovers. And so I learned that I needed to start planning around my new appetite better.
The problem with this is that I'm not a snacker. I eat three meals a day, and that's all I eat (unless I'm continuously grazing at a party or something). But I've had to start buying snack foods, like granola bars and yogurt. I've had to remember that I have those snacks, so that when I get hungry I'm not just flopping around in misery. Even harder is remembering to take those snacks to work. And I'm honestly a little surprised that none of my coworkers have commented on the fact that my eating schedule has shifted so dramatically.
I'm also figuring out smaller meals. Peanut butter and apple sandwiches are fast becoming a staple. As are quesadillas, stuffed with onions or spinach or whatever veggies happen to be in the fridge. I'm trying to get into yogurt, but it just doesn't sit in my stomach right. Smoothies, however, seem to be working. Maybe because they have less dairy?
This has been the biggest and most deliberate change in my life since I found out I was pregnant. I'm hoping it calms down somewhat in the coming months, though I'm not terribly optimistic about that happening. It's more likely that I'll be eating 6 meals a day by the time this is all over with. I'm mostly worried about how this will affect me during travel. We're going to NYC in April and Las Vegas in June, and it's harder to find healthy snack food on the road. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for some decent sandwich places.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)