On Thursday, my checkup revealed that I was nearly 3 cm dilated; my midwife was confident that I'd go into labor that evening. In fact, I kind of did; similar to my episode of Oct. 26, I wound up with regular, painful contractions every 7 minutes. But as 9 p.m. loomed, I became anxious: at midnight, birthday politics would kick in. My husband's daughter's birthday, over which she claims exclusive domain, is Nov. 6.
But I needn't have worried; by 1 a.m. things had calmed down enough that I went to sleep. I've had about a dozen contractions a day since then, but was ok with that, too. This feels like it should be the week. Since I've been kinda couch-ridden for most of these days, D. took me out to his parents' place for a change of scenery yesterday; we experimented with bumpy roads and spicy venison chili, but nothing happened.
Today has been mostly quiet, aside from a few contractions this morning. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed, because 11/9 happens to feel like a good day, and it was so beautiful out. I finished up a little freelance work, got out for a walk in the afternoon, and wound up just feeling exhausted, which has been the main theme of the past four days. After picking up Elder Son from school, I conked out on the couch for a couple of hours. To hell with nesting, which I have the desire to do but none of the energy--but again, that's more fodder for why the baby should have come on Thursday, because last Wednesday I was a whirlwind in the house.
I've dropped several pounds over the course of this week, however, and I'm noticing the water retention--a brief phenomenon for me this pregnancy--is abating.
Right now, I'm thinking tomorrow or Thursday. Wednesday would be an interesting day for him to show up too--numerologically, 11-11-2009 is a 33 day, plus it's Veteran's Day--but every time I show signs of labor on days when my midwife isn't available (and Wednesdays are one of them) I find myself highly anxious about anyone trying to "manage" my labor.
And that brings me to my feelings on induction. I'm carrying a big baby and I know it; big babies run in the family. But they can get rather lethargic about showing up, and often need prompting in the form of stripped membranes or broken water once the cervix is ripe, which mine is. I consider these physical interventions, and for some reason, I don't have a problem with physical interventions the way I do with chemical ones such as Cervadil or Pitocin, or surgical ones such as C-sections done when they don't need to be. I also know that in our family, once the water breaks, the labor moves *very* quickly, particularly in subsequent babies. It's nice to have my mother's recollection of her sisters' and younger brother's births as well as her birth stories of me and my brother, as well as my aunt's tales of her two big boys, in knowing how my body works and it giving me strength and faith to know what I will most likely experience having my second: that chances are, it will be as gentle a birth as I had with my first.
That faith goes a long way toward actually looking forward to childbirth and embracing the pain that comes with it.
Showing posts with label symptoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label symptoms. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Week 32: The exquisite ache
Dean keeps bees, right? Well, a couple of weekends ago they totally nailed him by diving into the pockets of his beekeeping suit and stinging the hell out of his hips. He calls the itch of a bee sting "the exquisite itch," and he had it in spades the entire weekend we were in Philadelphia.
Well, today, I took a tumble out in the yard and landed on my right hip, the one that's been giving me trouble the entire pregnancy. I know it's relaxin related; the same thing that allows the women in my family to have relatively easy labors is definitely not conducive to walking. Now I can barely walk, but the pain isn't one of injury. It's just an ache that activates whenever I move it. Not sharp, not agonizing, just enough to slow me down considerably and make it look like I'm suffering horribly. Near as I can figure things just aren't lined up right. I actually went to see my chiropractor about this earlier on in my pregnancy, and he adjusted me then--I felt better for about a day and then the ache was back.
Well, now it's worse, but I just want to keep taking it easy and running things slow. But it's not just my hip, honestly. I still have a lot of rib pain, and that's been accompanied this week by pain around my belly button (site of another scar from that surgery in 2005), and a general sense of weirdness regarding my abdominal muscles, which are now clearly separated and cause my belly to form a point when I sit up using my abs.
It's frustrating, because even when I have energy I'm too sore to do anything. I'm really glad we are spending the first few months with the baby in our room, because the nursery has become a parking lot for baby gifts but I don't have any furniture to put said gifts away into.
While I'd love the baby to come a bit early and be an October baby like me, at this point I'm hoping he comes right on time, because I'm aiming to go on leave Nov. 2, and really need that week to get ready.
Had a midwife appointment this week and we talked a bit about the soreness. She prescribed a hot soak in a bath, but I have a confession to make: I'm terrified of baths, and have been since my first pregnancy when I had no option to shower. There were several times I could not get out of the tub, and I became terrified of falling in the tub. It occurs to me, very belatedly, that I could do some tweaks on our bathtub that would make it easier for me to get in and out of it, but... there is still a psychological issue there that I'm downright phobic about baths. It makes me wonder: is that why I have absolutely zero desire to do a water birth?
Aside from that, everything is still looking great. Baby seems incredibly active and healthy, and I'm gearing up for my last six weeks of work. Hard to believe it's come to that already!
Well, today, I took a tumble out in the yard and landed on my right hip, the one that's been giving me trouble the entire pregnancy. I know it's relaxin related; the same thing that allows the women in my family to have relatively easy labors is definitely not conducive to walking. Now I can barely walk, but the pain isn't one of injury. It's just an ache that activates whenever I move it. Not sharp, not agonizing, just enough to slow me down considerably and make it look like I'm suffering horribly. Near as I can figure things just aren't lined up right. I actually went to see my chiropractor about this earlier on in my pregnancy, and he adjusted me then--I felt better for about a day and then the ache was back.
Well, now it's worse, but I just want to keep taking it easy and running things slow. But it's not just my hip, honestly. I still have a lot of rib pain, and that's been accompanied this week by pain around my belly button (site of another scar from that surgery in 2005), and a general sense of weirdness regarding my abdominal muscles, which are now clearly separated and cause my belly to form a point when I sit up using my abs.
It's frustrating, because even when I have energy I'm too sore to do anything. I'm really glad we are spending the first few months with the baby in our room, because the nursery has become a parking lot for baby gifts but I don't have any furniture to put said gifts away into.
While I'd love the baby to come a bit early and be an October baby like me, at this point I'm hoping he comes right on time, because I'm aiming to go on leave Nov. 2, and really need that week to get ready.
Had a midwife appointment this week and we talked a bit about the soreness. She prescribed a hot soak in a bath, but I have a confession to make: I'm terrified of baths, and have been since my first pregnancy when I had no option to shower. There were several times I could not get out of the tub, and I became terrified of falling in the tub. It occurs to me, very belatedly, that I could do some tweaks on our bathtub that would make it easier for me to get in and out of it, but... there is still a psychological issue there that I'm downright phobic about baths. It makes me wonder: is that why I have absolutely zero desire to do a water birth?
Aside from that, everything is still looking great. Baby seems incredibly active and healthy, and I'm gearing up for my last six weeks of work. Hard to believe it's come to that already!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Week 31: Baby, Get Out of My Ribs
...And into my pelvis.
I was in Washington D.C. last week for an event involving Government 2.0. Great conference. In the middle of one of the days there was a press conference--well, more like a press-only panel chock full of information that went above and beyond the conference topics. Being press, I showed up, and quietly found a seat in the back corner. But it was right at that moment that the baby had one of its moshpit moments atop my bladder, so I made a dash (as much as I can dash right now) for the ladies' room, up one flight.
I was worried that I'd miss the start of the panel, and sure enough, I did. So I slipped back to my seat as quietly and unobtrusively as someone 7+ months pregnant can in a crowded room, and reached down to my rolling briefcase to retrieve my laptop. I had to twist slightly to do this, and when I did, I felt a searing pain at the lower edge of my rib cage, right-hand side, right around the place that I used to have a gallbladder until its untimely demise in 2005.
It was all I could do to not scream out with that pain, but the look on my face was every bit as loud, drawing the attention of several nearby people as I clutched that narrow area between tummy and breast. I'm sure several of them must have thought I had just hit hard labor at that exact moment, but knowing labor pains as I do I know they don't start out like this and involve the whole uterus, not just the upper-right part of it. Fortunately, I was able to settle into the press conference and continue without any other problems, but the acute pain faded only into a soreness that continues to persist this week.
Believing I'd torn an adhesion from the gallbladder surgery, I called the midwife's office to see if I should be checked. They told me to call my primary care physician, so I did, again asking if I should be checked. They told me to call my OB office. Frustrated, I cut the loop off there and decided if it got worse I'd just go to the ER. It didn't.
But over the weekend, I had the pain again while putting groceries away. Same motion--just a hint of a lateral twist, and this time I did let loose with a stream of curses and cries of pain that set my husband running to my side. He made me stop, of course, and set me down on the couch while he finished the grocery-stowing. Then, later, he was massaging the area and we realized that one of my lower right ribs was actually a bit swollen.
I measured my fundal height and got the astonishing result of 40 cm. (It's settled back to a more sane 33 cm as of last night.) I swear this kid is determined to stand up in utero! And it feels like he has gone through every possible fetal position in the past week or two, including moments where he's lying transverse and his head is practically protruding out my right side. I'm convinced the placenta is on the left wall, because that is the one place I can't feel him at all, ever.
Fortunately his favorite position seems to be head-down. I'm learning the which-bump-is-which ropes pretty well, and the one thing that's consistent is that when his head is present, it's got a distinct hardness rivalled only by his back. One is round, the other is relatively flat. Limbs, on the other hand, are small enough that they are surrounded by softness.
But every now and then I can feel some part or another of him reaching up to that rib again. Argh! Baby, get out of my ribs!!
I was in Washington D.C. last week for an event involving Government 2.0. Great conference. In the middle of one of the days there was a press conference--well, more like a press-only panel chock full of information that went above and beyond the conference topics. Being press, I showed up, and quietly found a seat in the back corner. But it was right at that moment that the baby had one of its moshpit moments atop my bladder, so I made a dash (as much as I can dash right now) for the ladies' room, up one flight.
I was worried that I'd miss the start of the panel, and sure enough, I did. So I slipped back to my seat as quietly and unobtrusively as someone 7+ months pregnant can in a crowded room, and reached down to my rolling briefcase to retrieve my laptop. I had to twist slightly to do this, and when I did, I felt a searing pain at the lower edge of my rib cage, right-hand side, right around the place that I used to have a gallbladder until its untimely demise in 2005.
It was all I could do to not scream out with that pain, but the look on my face was every bit as loud, drawing the attention of several nearby people as I clutched that narrow area between tummy and breast. I'm sure several of them must have thought I had just hit hard labor at that exact moment, but knowing labor pains as I do I know they don't start out like this and involve the whole uterus, not just the upper-right part of it. Fortunately, I was able to settle into the press conference and continue without any other problems, but the acute pain faded only into a soreness that continues to persist this week.
Believing I'd torn an adhesion from the gallbladder surgery, I called the midwife's office to see if I should be checked. They told me to call my primary care physician, so I did, again asking if I should be checked. They told me to call my OB office. Frustrated, I cut the loop off there and decided if it got worse I'd just go to the ER. It didn't.
But over the weekend, I had the pain again while putting groceries away. Same motion--just a hint of a lateral twist, and this time I did let loose with a stream of curses and cries of pain that set my husband running to my side. He made me stop, of course, and set me down on the couch while he finished the grocery-stowing. Then, later, he was massaging the area and we realized that one of my lower right ribs was actually a bit swollen.
I measured my fundal height and got the astonishing result of 40 cm. (It's settled back to a more sane 33 cm as of last night.) I swear this kid is determined to stand up in utero! And it feels like he has gone through every possible fetal position in the past week or two, including moments where he's lying transverse and his head is practically protruding out my right side. I'm convinced the placenta is on the left wall, because that is the one place I can't feel him at all, ever.
Fortunately his favorite position seems to be head-down. I'm learning the which-bump-is-which ropes pretty well, and the one thing that's consistent is that when his head is present, it's got a distinct hardness rivalled only by his back. One is round, the other is relatively flat. Limbs, on the other hand, are small enough that they are surrounded by softness.
But every now and then I can feel some part or another of him reaching up to that rib again. Argh! Baby, get out of my ribs!!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Week 29 - Hello, sciatica, my old friend
Had to let the buckles out on my Berks and I get gimpier as the days go by. I'm getting twinges of sciatica, which was so bad during my first pregnancy I had to quit working during my seventh month. And here we are on the eve of a new seventh month, and those painful flashes shooting out of my hip are bringing back those memories. My belly is heavy, and sadly, I am not avoiding stretch marks after all, their jagged red streaks appearing along my under-navel belly region to join their silvered cousins from another pregnancy long ago. But my total weight gain so far is only 22 pounds. Will I explode during my last three months, though, or will I continue to gain sanely?
The napmonster has returned, but isn't as debilitating as it was first trimester. Now it's 1-2 hour naps instead of 3-4 hour naps. And I seem to have made it through the worst of the heat wave, but not without some blowback to the rest of the population. I'm still taking everything personally, finding myself irritated when I don't have the money to do something when it used to be I'd just accept it and move on, or finding myself insulted when people make light of how far out in the country I live. A huge busload of people that includes some professional friends of mine are a scant 8 miles down the road at a winery I've been meaning to visit, but knowing I could go there and get the tasting/tour for less than $10 really made me question whether I should shell out $40 to go spend a couple of hours there with the busload when... I don't need the bus. As it was, the napmonster attacked me right around the time everyone would have gotten there, so... I'm lame. Again. But also annoyed that it takes a $40/head special event to get people to come out to my neck of the woods. It would be lovely if a couple of people would organize some carpools to come back out here during the prettiest season of the year, since it's been really difficult for me to get out of the valley even just to get to work since getting pregnant. Whine, whine, whine. I know. I should get used to the changing dynamics of my social life. It's going to be this way for a while.
We did get out for a spell last night to hang out with some friends of ours who are getting ready to move to Alaska. I think I'm more wired for those smaller, more intimate meetups these days anyway. The 46" waist is very heavy hanging off that back, you know.
The baby feels awesome, even if I wish he weren't digging into my ribs and my bladder at the same time. Every now and then, he'll rotate such that the head is right in the pocket where my gallbladder used to be. It hurts a lot, but is also funny to feel his head right there, as if I could cradle him right off. He never stays there for long, though. He seems to be settling toward more head-down stuff. I just hope he stays there.
The napmonster has returned, but isn't as debilitating as it was first trimester. Now it's 1-2 hour naps instead of 3-4 hour naps. And I seem to have made it through the worst of the heat wave, but not without some blowback to the rest of the population. I'm still taking everything personally, finding myself irritated when I don't have the money to do something when it used to be I'd just accept it and move on, or finding myself insulted when people make light of how far out in the country I live. A huge busload of people that includes some professional friends of mine are a scant 8 miles down the road at a winery I've been meaning to visit, but knowing I could go there and get the tasting/tour for less than $10 really made me question whether I should shell out $40 to go spend a couple of hours there with the busload when... I don't need the bus. As it was, the napmonster attacked me right around the time everyone would have gotten there, so... I'm lame. Again. But also annoyed that it takes a $40/head special event to get people to come out to my neck of the woods. It would be lovely if a couple of people would organize some carpools to come back out here during the prettiest season of the year, since it's been really difficult for me to get out of the valley even just to get to work since getting pregnant. Whine, whine, whine. I know. I should get used to the changing dynamics of my social life. It's going to be this way for a while.
We did get out for a spell last night to hang out with some friends of ours who are getting ready to move to Alaska. I think I'm more wired for those smaller, more intimate meetups these days anyway. The 46" waist is very heavy hanging off that back, you know.
The baby feels awesome, even if I wish he weren't digging into my ribs and my bladder at the same time. Every now and then, he'll rotate such that the head is right in the pocket where my gallbladder used to be. It hurts a lot, but is also funny to feel his head right there, as if I could cradle him right off. He never stays there for long, though. He seems to be settling toward more head-down stuff. I just hope he stays there.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Week 27: More of the strange, childbirth ed
Still enjoying the antics of my geographic tongue, which for several weeks has caused my tongue papillae to do their own doodling. If I'd had my camera, sense of humor, and decent lighting in the same place when it started, I'd have started a time-lapse montage of the doodles on my tongue just as a silly retort to all those bump time-lapses I see, tongue-in-cheek because it's taken me this long to be able to tell the difference between my pregnant belly and the fat belly I had a year ago. (Hint: the fold above one's navel finally smoothes out. I still have a crease there, though!)
Other strange symptoms that have crossed my attention: The occasional worrisome elevation of my pulse to about 120 for up to an hour at a time; the very sudden (within a week!) expansion of my rib cage by a whopping three inches (no wonder I can't breathe!), and a change in the cell-phone sensation in my lower uterus. It now pulses from time to time; shorter duration but longer intervals of sensation. So help me, Dean is going to put his ear to my belly one of these days and instead of a heartbeat, he's going to hear the T-Mobile jingle and then a mischievous giggle. I'm sure of this.
Speaking of Dean, haven't yet persuaded him to dad-blog but hoping I can soon; I'd really like to get his perspective on our childbirth education class. We're the only second-timers there, in a room of 15 other couples all on their first. It's our first together, of course, and I need a refresher after 17 years, but more importantly, I want Dean to get a better understanding of how to work with me and guide me through the experience. He gets very squeamish during the class, and when I notice this I tend to take his hand and squeeze it, or lean on his shoulder to let him know I'm there and I understand. During dinner afterward, I realized what this was. "I'm banking my positive energy with you," I told him. "So that you can feed it back to me when I'm in need of it." In other words, I'm being strong for him now, as I have been since the beginning of this pregnancy; I resented it during the first trimester but now I am enjoying it because I do see it as feeding him with the energy I will need in three months, and knowing it can be safely stored with him.
About 8 months in our relationship, I was felled by a gallbladder attack that landed me in the emergency room at about 3 in the morning. Dean didn't leave my side the entire night, even when I vomited prolifically and was howling in pain. Similarly, when Dean dislocated his shoulder earlier this year, ER staff had a hard time prying me away from his side. Glad they did though, because it was later that week I found out I was pregnant and the further I was from the X-ray machine, the better. I've realized that with both of us, when we see the other suffering we do all we can to radiate healing energy and compassion toward the other. And I sense it radiating back to me when we're practicing breathing. I feel that love and I'm just amazed by it, and know oh so well that Bunky was created out of that love.
Well, that and a generous helping of absinthe. It was a crazy Valentine's Day night, after all.
So anyhow, here's hoping I talk him into writing a post soon. I'm wagering his perspective on childbirth education will be much less mushy and much more hilarious.
Other strange symptoms that have crossed my attention: The occasional worrisome elevation of my pulse to about 120 for up to an hour at a time; the very sudden (within a week!) expansion of my rib cage by a whopping three inches (no wonder I can't breathe!), and a change in the cell-phone sensation in my lower uterus. It now pulses from time to time; shorter duration but longer intervals of sensation. So help me, Dean is going to put his ear to my belly one of these days and instead of a heartbeat, he's going to hear the T-Mobile jingle and then a mischievous giggle. I'm sure of this.
Speaking of Dean, haven't yet persuaded him to dad-blog but hoping I can soon; I'd really like to get his perspective on our childbirth education class. We're the only second-timers there, in a room of 15 other couples all on their first. It's our first together, of course, and I need a refresher after 17 years, but more importantly, I want Dean to get a better understanding of how to work with me and guide me through the experience. He gets very squeamish during the class, and when I notice this I tend to take his hand and squeeze it, or lean on his shoulder to let him know I'm there and I understand. During dinner afterward, I realized what this was. "I'm banking my positive energy with you," I told him. "So that you can feed it back to me when I'm in need of it." In other words, I'm being strong for him now, as I have been since the beginning of this pregnancy; I resented it during the first trimester but now I am enjoying it because I do see it as feeding him with the energy I will need in three months, and knowing it can be safely stored with him.
About 8 months in our relationship, I was felled by a gallbladder attack that landed me in the emergency room at about 3 in the morning. Dean didn't leave my side the entire night, even when I vomited prolifically and was howling in pain. Similarly, when Dean dislocated his shoulder earlier this year, ER staff had a hard time prying me away from his side. Glad they did though, because it was later that week I found out I was pregnant and the further I was from the X-ray machine, the better. I've realized that with both of us, when we see the other suffering we do all we can to radiate healing energy and compassion toward the other. And I sense it radiating back to me when we're practicing breathing. I feel that love and I'm just amazed by it, and know oh so well that Bunky was created out of that love.
Well, that and a generous helping of absinthe. It was a crazy Valentine's Day night, after all.
So anyhow, here's hoping I talk him into writing a post soon. I'm wagering his perspective on childbirth education will be much less mushy and much more hilarious.
Friday, July 31, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Shiny Happy Springtime
I know the moment it crossed 50 degrees outside because I finally stopped shivering. I'm having a hell of a time staying warm. My body temperature, generally, is two full degrees lower than most people's. In fact, I tracked my body temperature for a full year while I was learning NFP, so I know it's always 96.5 before ovulation, and 97.5 after, on average. Part of the reason I didn't realize I was pregnant is that I never had the temperature spike, and in fact it wasn't apparent until after I had figured out I was pregnant. Honestly, I have never had such a subtle, sneaky ovulation, and I'm convinced that Bunky is always going to be sneaky this way.
At any rate, after three days of feeling queasy, today I feel much better. Which has probably led to me eating a bit much, but I won't make a habit of that. I just wanted to celebrate being able to eat after three days of yuck.
Not holding my breath that I will be as lucky as I was with my first, where I only got sick twice and the nausea was minimal.
Also, if the words prego or preggers ever escape my fingertips in this pregnancy (other than in the context of pasta), please just put all of us down.
At any rate, after three days of feeling queasy, today I feel much better. Which has probably led to me eating a bit much, but I won't make a habit of that. I just wanted to celebrate being able to eat after three days of yuck.
Not holding my breath that I will be as lucky as I was with my first, where I only got sick twice and the nausea was minimal.
Also, if the words prego or preggers ever escape my fingertips in this pregnancy (other than in the context of pasta), please just put all of us down.
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