So I was laid up with an unexpected issue last week...
Everyone says that some constipation is normal during pregnancy, and I've been doing what I can to manage it. But something happened last week - or rather, things stopped happening... Tuesday I was uncomfortable. Tuesday night I couldn't sleep more than an hour or two at a time, for the pains in my abodomen. Wednesday, I called my midwife and she suggested another remedy in addition to what I was already taking. She also agreed with my step-mom that cheese and bananas are to be eliminated. Sigh. Done.
Thursday, I wasn't progressing and sometimes literally doubled over in pain. My midwife had me call the GI specialist I had seen last year to see if I could get in to see her for a consult. The GI didn't want to see me - when she heard my situation, pregnant, no bowel movement, she sent me off to the ER.
At the ER, I got sent to Obstetrics, where for a few hours, DH and I waited around, drank ice water, and answered the same questions over and over. Nothing since Monday. Pain, intermittent, sharp, here and here. Baby's fine, 22 weeks. Sure, let's listen to her heart just to be sure. First baby. The tenth or so person to see us essentially said you're pregnant and no spring chicken, take another remedy, you're going to be fine.
That wasn't what I wanted to hear, but she was right. At least in as far as the final remedy pushed things through, and when I saw my midwife on Saturday, she agreed that I might just be in for a somewhat uncomfortable (that is, painful) pregnancy. Things seem to be back to pregnancy-normal with regard to my digestive system now, and I'm still in some pain. We figured that there are a couple other causes for that pain: round ligament pain and fibroids. (My ultrasounds have shown that I have a couple of fibroids, and I think everyone with a uterus is supposed to have round ligaments.)
So there we go - I'm fine and looking sparkly again (said one of my staff, thank you!) and I'm working on redefining what feeling good means...
Monday, March 23, 2009
new belly photo
Well 22 weeks almost slipped by without a photo. I think this photo looks a lot like the 18 week photo, but I know the belly is bigger. I think in the 18 week photo, I was putting my hands on my hips and throwing my elbows back, thus pushing my belly out more... whereas these photos, I'm in a more neutral position.
I'm wearing maternity clothes pretty much full time, and that's good and comfy for sure. And our little futbolista is kicking like she's going for the prenatal world cup!
No one else (except my chiropractor who was just in the right place at the right time!) has felt her kicking yet, but I think that's just because I've got this *ahem* extra layer of padding that maybe not all the other pregnant ladies have...
I've rejoined freecycle and found a babycycle for this area too - fingers crossed for some kind of decent rocking/glider chair. I can't find one online that I like at all, for any price!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Lemonade Award
I've been nominated for a Lemonade Award - aww, thank you Mel!
Unlike dear Mel, I've actually been having a great week. I am feeling good. Er, that is, most of me. I'm trying to just ignore my digestive system as it clearly isn't on board with the whole second trimester is wonderful thing concept. Maybe it misplaced the memo? But no matter, my energy level is generally pretty good, and the baby is moving around a lot - I've been joking about her being a little futbolista with DH (that'd be a soccer player to y'all).
I had lunch yesterday with a newly met colleague who is pregnant with twins due a couple weeks after my due date. We had a great time talking about our pregnancies and comparing the side effects and whatnot.
So, these are the rules for the Lemonade Award - they are for blogs showing great attitude or gratitude...
1) Put the logo on your blog or post.
2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude, (i.e. turn lemons into lemonade)
3) Link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5) Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.
~~~Here are my nominees for the Lemonade Award, in no particular order~~~
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Selfish Reasons to Choose Natural Childbirth
I've not started drafting my birth plan yet. I mean, to be honest, it's almost completely written in my head (no drugs, yes tub, no bright lights, yes massage, no episiotomy, etc) but it feels too much like homework, and I'm in school until May. So, I probably won't put pen to paper (or whatever) until sometime after that.
However, it's definitely coming together in my mind. One thing that surprised me when I changed my mind about it was my decision to not take drugs to manage pain. Apparently, it's even more of a surprise to everyone else I talk to, based on the reactions I get.
Don't get me wrong, I like being an outlier sometimes, but I've also grown to feel strongly about this. Childbirth is something that most of us who haven't done it know most about through fictional depictions of it in TV and movies. So we don't have a very balanced view of how we can and do come into the world. Ironically, from the (non-fiction) childbirth movies I've previously mentioned, plus one my doula shared with me, I've decided there is a better way that I want to try. Further reading has confirmed that I think I'm doing the right thing for me. Not for everyone, but definitely for me.
My doula also gave me a copy of this article on The Purpose and Power of Pain in Labour. I've reread it several times and I'm still not very good at summarizing why this makes sense to me. However, it explains it more or less.
Essentially, being in pain during labour cues the mother to prepare to give birth, stimulates hormones needed for birth and a bunch of other good things. If you miss some of the good things, some of the later good things around breastfeeding and bonding might be more difficult or delayed, etc.
So all of this sounds good, bonding, breastfeeding, happy baby, etc. However, the inquisitive reader may ask, may we assume these are the reasons why BB is choosing natural childbirth? Oddly enough, no.
BB is choosing natural childbirth out of - wait for it - selfish reasons. Does that sound ironic? Maybe initially, but then:
Also, I have great friends who have adopted a baby born by c-section and the baby is happy and healthy and bonded like glue, so all that good baby stuff - I think the way the baby is delivered can be impactful but overall, it's a whole parenting picture thing for me.
Finally, yes, I am thinking (and reading and listening to podcasts) a lot about parenting and what we'll be doing when little kickypants is out. But I'll leave that (terrifying) topic to another post and thank the good folks at The Parents Journal for their foresight in putting their program on iTunes.
However, it's definitely coming together in my mind. One thing that surprised me when I changed my mind about it was my decision to not take drugs to manage pain. Apparently, it's even more of a surprise to everyone else I talk to, based on the reactions I get.
Don't get me wrong, I like being an outlier sometimes, but I've also grown to feel strongly about this. Childbirth is something that most of us who haven't done it know most about through fictional depictions of it in TV and movies. So we don't have a very balanced view of how we can and do come into the world. Ironically, from the (non-fiction) childbirth movies I've previously mentioned, plus one my doula shared with me, I've decided there is a better way that I want to try. Further reading has confirmed that I think I'm doing the right thing for me. Not for everyone, but definitely for me.
My doula also gave me a copy of this article on The Purpose and Power of Pain in Labour. I've reread it several times and I'm still not very good at summarizing why this makes sense to me. However, it explains it more or less.
Essentially, being in pain during labour cues the mother to prepare to give birth, stimulates hormones needed for birth and a bunch of other good things. If you miss some of the good things, some of the later good things around breastfeeding and bonding might be more difficult or delayed, etc.
So all of this sounds good, bonding, breastfeeding, happy baby, etc. However, the inquisitive reader may ask, may we assume these are the reasons why BB is choosing natural childbirth? Oddly enough, no.
BB is choosing natural childbirth out of - wait for it - selfish reasons. Does that sound ironic? Maybe initially, but then:
- In natural childbirth, contractions are less painful and less likely to cause a ruptured uterus than contractions in induced labour.
- Without an epidural, I will feel the contractions more intensely than without, but I will be able to get up and move around (well, without an epidural and without constant fetal monitoring to tie me to a bed) and that moving around can help me manage the pain.
- Epidural = paralysed from the waist down. Not good.
- With an epidural, labour can slow down to a speed unacceptable to an obstetrician, often leading them to push for chemically inducing faster contractions or a c-section.
- C-sections are major abdominal surgery. There's a reason why I'll get 8 weeks paid leave after a c-section instead of 6 weeks after vaginal birth - I really won't be able to get up and move around for ages. Not to mention scaring, potential infection, etc.
- I feel that in a birth attended to by midwives and doulas, my desires are more likely respected, and medical interventions only initiated for true emergencies rather than convenience.
- I've mentioned this before, but I just don't like painkillers. Oddly, I keep a lot around the house, but I almost never take them. When at the dentist, if they need to drill my teeth and expect not to have to go too deep, I'll usually ask them to start without numbing/freezing my mouth. I guess I can handle some pain.
Also, I have great friends who have adopted a baby born by c-section and the baby is happy and healthy and bonded like glue, so all that good baby stuff - I think the way the baby is delivered can be impactful but overall, it's a whole parenting picture thing for me.
Finally, yes, I am thinking (and reading and listening to podcasts) a lot about parenting and what we'll be doing when little kickypants is out. But I'll leave that (terrifying) topic to another post and thank the good folks at The Parents Journal for their foresight in putting their program on iTunes.
Neti Pots
Thank you for your thoughts on cleaning out the sinuses - definitely a good thing (tm).
I ended up buying one of the *ahem* new neti pots on amazon and took delivery of it just before a long weekend trip to visit my grandmother.
DH and I got home last night with time to unpack, get dinner, move the car to a place we won't be ticketed... and try out the neti pot. It's grand.
And as (I believe) Faye had mentioned, it has a rather impressive diameter on the spout. I tried it out on my schnoz, and it was perfect - a little weird at first, there was a sensation of water in my nose that causes panic at the pool, but once I told me brain "hey brain, you're breathing through the mouth, it's all fine", my brain said oh, ok and calmed down. Oh yeah, I have huge nostrils apparently.
I washed it thoroughly and then called DH into the loo for him to try. His response was something along the lines of "do you think I've never used one of these before?" as I'm explaining the historical significance and traditional uses, etc, and he gave his sinuses a good cleaning out too.
I think he snored less last night. Not sure, but I think so... I sure feel like I had to blow my nose less today.
I ended up buying one of the *ahem* new neti pots on amazon and took delivery of it just before a long weekend trip to visit my grandmother.
DH and I got home last night with time to unpack, get dinner, move the car to a place we won't be ticketed... and try out the neti pot. It's grand.
And as (I believe) Faye had mentioned, it has a rather impressive diameter on the spout. I tried it out on my schnoz, and it was perfect - a little weird at first, there was a sensation of water in my nose that causes panic at the pool, but once I told me brain "hey brain, you're breathing through the mouth, it's all fine", my brain said oh, ok and calmed down. Oh yeah, I have huge nostrils apparently.
I washed it thoroughly and then called DH into the loo for him to try. His response was something along the lines of "do you think I've never used one of these before?" as I'm explaining the historical significance and traditional uses, etc, and he gave his sinuses a good cleaning out too.
I think he snored less last night. Not sure, but I think so... I sure feel like I had to blow my nose less today.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Crazy things you see online
One of the fun side effects of pregnancy which I have been blessed with is sinus congestion. All the time. Or rather, since inauguration (January 20th for the non-American audience).
The only decongestant that I'm allowed to take while pregnant is Sinutab, which the pharmacist looked at me sternly after I told him that and said are you very sure? I doublechecked and both the handouts from my OBGYN and midwife gave the big OK to Sinutab. But he seemed perplexed, and went to his documentation and found that Sinutab is a class C drug during pregnancy. I think class C means probably OK. Whereas Tylenol (acetaminophen) is a class A drug - totally OK. I think the letter scale goes to G or something, where a class G drug essentially shouldn't ever been taken while pregnant, or perhaps only to save the mother's life... So class C isn't so bad but probably not great.
At any rate, I tried Sudafed when I was actually sick and not just congested, and it made me really dopey, and it didn't seem to affect my congestion. So I've been thinking about what else I can do to reduce my congestion. And I thought now is the time I should try using a neti pot. I've thought it sounded like a good idea for a long time, but needed the little kick in the pants to go try it. I also still have some credit left over from Amazon.com gift certificates sent at Christmas, so I thought I'd go a searching for a neti pot on Amazon. Well, the search returned a bunch of promising results... what skeeved me right out though was that almost every single model presented had an option to buy used.
Would you buy a used neti pot from a stranger? I wouldn't. Maybe I should, in the interest of being a conservationist or something. But I think I won't be going that far.
I haven't bought one yet. I just remembered I'm supposed to be shopping for jeans for DH as well. Jeans and a neti pot. What doesn't Amazon sell?
The only decongestant that I'm allowed to take while pregnant is Sinutab, which the pharmacist looked at me sternly after I told him that and said are you very sure? I doublechecked and both the handouts from my OBGYN and midwife gave the big OK to Sinutab. But he seemed perplexed, and went to his documentation and found that Sinutab is a class C drug during pregnancy. I think class C means probably OK. Whereas Tylenol (acetaminophen) is a class A drug - totally OK. I think the letter scale goes to G or something, where a class G drug essentially shouldn't ever been taken while pregnant, or perhaps only to save the mother's life... So class C isn't so bad but probably not great.
At any rate, I tried Sudafed when I was actually sick and not just congested, and it made me really dopey, and it didn't seem to affect my congestion. So I've been thinking about what else I can do to reduce my congestion. And I thought now is the time I should try using a neti pot. I've thought it sounded like a good idea for a long time, but needed the little kick in the pants to go try it. I also still have some credit left over from Amazon.com gift certificates sent at Christmas, so I thought I'd go a searching for a neti pot on Amazon. Well, the search returned a bunch of promising results... what skeeved me right out though was that almost every single model presented had an option to buy used.
Would you buy a used neti pot from a stranger? I wouldn't. Maybe I should, in the interest of being a conservationist or something. But I think I won't be going that far.
I haven't bought one yet. I just remembered I'm supposed to be shopping for jeans for DH as well. Jeans and a neti pot. What doesn't Amazon sell?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sonograms the second ... and news..
So I went for the second sonogram on Friday and it was great. It actually wasn't as neat as the first one - it seemed like the technician couldn't get a low enough resolution to see the whole baby at the same time... she kept saying oh look here's the left ventrical of the heart, and here's the bladder.
Click through to see this and a bunch of others, including some cute feet shots.
Apparently my daughter (yes we think it's a girl, or at least the tech and the doctor do) has a bladder and left ventrical within the normal parameters for a babe her age.
But between not being able to see the whole baby bouncing around doing her kickypants thing, and then she just looks kinda funny, it wasn't as amazing for some reason, as the first one was. The technician also did some other kind of scan which I've not posted which I guess the point of which was to show us what her face looks like. But apparently she's upside down and the placenta is right in front of her face. So the placenta in this particular colour scan makes her face look weirdly bumpy, and it's just a weird looking image anyway. I didn't immediately love the image, and kind of forgot about it. I took it home and showed it to DH, who was slightly horrified and asked if I was growing some kind of alien in there or something.
I realize I sound like one of those spoiled modern people whining about the miracle of air travel and mobile phones that was some late night talk show clipped to youtube and IM'd to me the other day. Unfortunately, I just watched the video without bookmarking it. The guy clearly didn't understand how mobile phones work (apparently he thinks your regular average mobile phone involves satellites or something else in space, but whatever). The sonogram technology is amazing and wonderful. I guess I was hoping for a look at the whole baby, but she's maybe too big now to get a good gander at all at once.
The baby kicking feels like a second heartbeat, like I've just done a quick sprint or run up a few flights of stairs. But my alien heart in my abdomen. She's wonderful.
UPDATE: the whining about the miracle of air travel is this video: Everything's amazing, nobody's happy.
 |
| From Sonograms |
Click through to see this and a bunch of others, including some cute feet shots.
Apparently my daughter (yes we think it's a girl, or at least the tech and the doctor do) has a bladder and left ventrical within the normal parameters for a babe her age.
But between not being able to see the whole baby bouncing around doing her kickypants thing, and then she just looks kinda funny, it wasn't as amazing for some reason, as the first one was. The technician also did some other kind of scan which I've not posted which I guess the point of which was to show us what her face looks like. But apparently she's upside down and the placenta is right in front of her face. So the placenta in this particular colour scan makes her face look weirdly bumpy, and it's just a weird looking image anyway. I didn't immediately love the image, and kind of forgot about it. I took it home and showed it to DH, who was slightly horrified and asked if I was growing some kind of alien in there or something.
I realize I sound like one of those spoiled modern people whining about the miracle of air travel and mobile phones that was some late night talk show clipped to youtube and IM'd to me the other day. Unfortunately, I just watched the video without bookmarking it. The guy clearly didn't understand how mobile phones work (apparently he thinks your regular average mobile phone involves satellites or something else in space, but whatever). The sonogram technology is amazing and wonderful. I guess I was hoping for a look at the whole baby, but she's maybe too big now to get a good gander at all at once.
The baby kicking feels like a second heartbeat, like I've just done a quick sprint or run up a few flights of stairs. But my alien heart in my abdomen. She's wonderful.
UPDATE: the whining about the miracle of air travel is this video: Everything's amazing, nobody's happy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
