Body Blahs; Teenage Victories

Elder Son and I wound down a busy day watching fireworks from our front yard, which is two blocks away from the town park. Haven't figured out the occasion for the fireworks, but it was fun, even if I think we startled Bunky half to death several times. But he's still kicking, so we're now prepared for next year's Fourth.

Elder Son got registered for his new school today. He's taking Astronomy, Latin 2, World History I Honors, AP US History, Advanced Phys Ed, Driver Ed/Fitness, English 11 Honors, and Algebra II. I'm proud of him for not shirking away from the challenges and hope I can help him with the motivation, confidence and organizational issues he had while living with his dad. We also got a state ID card for him and picked up the manual for him to get his learner's permit. Fingers crossed that he'll be a licensed driver come spring, and I've been joking that I'll have him trained on the stick shift in enough time for him to drive me to the hospital when I go into labor but I won't be capable of being his "supervision" that he has to have to drive with a learner's permit. Ha!

I'm still a couple of weeks shy of third trimester but two of its unpleasantries that I remember from Elder Son have already started to set in: my ankles have swollen up twice, although I suspect it's the heat and the struggle to stay hydrated, and at my checkup this week my blood pressure was 135/85, which is higher than the midwife would like--mostly because she "doesn't want the OB to steal" me away from her. A little mindful meditation later, we ran it again and got 124/66. This just reinforces for me how important it is for me to stay in touch with my body.

I just wish I had air conditioning, now that it's muggy, or at least more fans in the house. But it's only been bad for a week or so, and it's just a few more weeks of dog days. One thing today made me realize is that I don't have any shorts, much less shorts I can wear pregnant! So I went down to the local Evil Box Store and got two pairs of extra-large, elastic waistband workout shorts that I will never wear in public but am so glad I have for wearing around the house and under dresses, now.

As for my ankles, I looked up compression stockings and my GOD, they are expensive, and I have no idea whether they will fit! Where does one find affordable ones, and how does one know what size to get? (I have heavy thighs, to the point that being nearly 6 mos. pregnant mostly just makes my belly look proportional to them, so sizing is difficult even when I'm not pregnant--size 12 waist with a size 20 thigh. ugh.) Finding maternity clothes in stores is impossible anymore, too. I'm sick of Target's offerings, but can't seem to find maternity sections anywhere else. There used to be one at my local Kohl's, buried in a corner behind the infants section, but as they've remodeled, the section has vanished. And I hate paying boutique prices, having enough trouble keeping up with the mortgage.

So cheap workout shorts it is. At least I feel a bit cooler now.

One last weird symptom, because I seem to have all of them: geographic tongue. The little bumps are falling off my tongue, leaving strange creases and white borders around patches of weirdness that almost look like outlines on a map, and are different each day (hence the name "geographic tongue"---partly because it looks like a map and partly because the lines 'wander'). Not much is known about this disorder, but apparently it's hormonal in nature, mostly harmless (stings a bit with hot or cold), and should go away after my hormones come back into balance.

Week 24 - More Bzzting, and the Dreaded Glucose Test

Starting to worry about the vibrating sensation. It almost feels like I'm gestating a _cat_, it's so rumbly and purry. But then it feels like a shivering feeling. And then it goes back to just feeling like I swallowed a cellphone. So I called the midwife, and she got right back to me and confirmed that it was probably a pinched nerve causing a muscular tremor, sort of like the throbbing one occasionally gets under one's eye. But it also reminds me of the tremor that happens when you clench down really hard, and since I can't tell whether I'm feeling it from my own body or from the baby, I'm worried my baby is shivering.

But by the same token the baby is active and I can definitely tell that the baby changes position several times throughout the day, whereas this sensation is always toward the bottom back of my uterus. So it has to be me, but that doesn't stop me from being a worry-wart, because I never experienced this sensation in my previous pregnancy and so falls into the "wtf is that?" category.

Tomorrow is my glucose tolerance test. I've already done one of these, at the beginning of my pregancy, so I already know it's not as bad as it was the first time I was pregnant. But still, you wind up having some anxiety over these things.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

Around mid-day, I realized that Bunky has been given a cellphone, turned the ringer off and started texting back and forth with his friends all day, especially tonight.

Alternatively, I swallowed a cellphone in my sleep, and someone's calling me every 30 seconds.

So I was relieved to find out that this is probably the result of pressure on one of my nerves. Although honestly, I'd rather have sciatica. I know how to handle pain better than I know how to handle vibrating.

Not the Best Day

Last night, I started having weird cramps in my lower left abdomen. Not contraction-like cramps, but not particularly intestinal-like cramps. In fact, they reminded me of cramps I've had while ovulating, and as I was trying to describe my symptoms down to the nurse on the phone, I got to that one, and she said, "Ah. Chances are you have an ovarian cyst." It's either that or something going on in that specific part of the intestine, and either way is _probably_ not serious and needs to just pass on its own.

The pain is enough to distract me from working, so I go take a nap that winds up lasting four hours. So here it is 7 pm and I'm working again.

They told me if the pain got worse or if there was blood to go to the ER (severe pain can trigger a miscarriage, apparently), but otherwise drink plenty of fluids and keep them updated if it doesn't get any better.