So, here we are, in the third trimester! It seems really hard to believe. My belly is growing more every day, and I am feeling Lexi move more and more. Now I can very clearly tell the difference between a kick and a roll. And one day, I was even able to feel what was either an elbow or a knee or a heel through my belly. Every once in a while, I can tell she has the hiccups, but they never seem to last long. It is so much fun to feel all this stuff! I can now tell you that her most active times of day are from around 8am to noon, and from about 11pm until sometime after I fall asleep. Odds are, she'll keep that schedule up until after she's born, which is just GREAT news for my sleep! (Sarcasm) But, it'll be okay. I will adjust.
It is harder and harder for me to move around. I get short of breath easily, and if I curl my legs up too far, or bend down too far, the pressure on my tummy forces stomach acid into my throat...pleasant. I can't really cross my legs any more. Some other third trimester symptoms I've already got would include the never ending back ache, occasional leg cramps that aren't too severe yet, heart burn like crazy, peeing like crazy, and a returning lack of energy.
A couple days ago, I got stitches for the first time in my life. I had grown what was either a mole, or a third nipple. My OB called it a third nipple, because it grew along the mammary gland. It was really just a small pink mole, with a divit in the center of it. In any case, it had grown right where the wire of my bra sits, and that was causing it to be quite uncomfortable. My OB said that sometimes after pregnancy, things like that will go away on their own, but since it was causing me pain, she made me an appointment to have it removed. It was a fairly simple process. They numbed up the area, cut the mole thingy off, and put in three stitches. I go back on the 28th to have them removed. The stitches have caused me a little discomfort, mainly because there is no way to keep my boob from resting on them. I am also a little worried about all the sweat in that area, which I cannot avoid. Occasionally, I've been holding my boob up with my hand for a minute or two, to let that area air out. I know that sounds weird, but it's what I've had to do. They are itching really bad, which I guess is a sign they're healing. Can't wait for them to be gone, so I don't have to worry about pain in that area any more. That was the whole point of having the mole thingy removed.
Some things I have been thinking about, in regards to my upcoming labor: I don't know if I'll be able to have an epidural or not. I am highly, highly sensitive to opiates....like, half a dose of morphine would KILL me....and I don't know what's in an epidural. Nobody seems able to tell me. I have asked my nurse practitioner, and I asked the lady who taught the childbirth preparation class Russ and I took. My nurse had absolutely no idea. The teacher said I more than likely could get one, but said I should ask my OB. I also asked a nurse at the hospital where my sister-in-law gave birth (not the hospital I'll be at), and she said they would absolutely not give me an epidural if I went there. So I have an appointment with my OB in early February. I am going to ask her and hope she can give me an answer. If she says I can get one, then I probably will. My plan is to play it by ear, and see if I can handle the contractions or not. However, I know that the contractions progressively get worse, until you are fully dilated. I am a wimp about pain, so odds are I'll be getting one if I can. If I can't....well, that will be all kinds of fun, since I can't have morphine or any other narcotics either.
I am not planned on making an official "birth plan". That seems a bit overboard to me. After all, you can't control how your labor goes. But the one thing that I would really, really like, is to have them put Lexi on my chest as SOON as possible after she's born. I want to try to breastfeed right away, because I have read over and over and over, and heard from several different sources, that within the first hour is the BEST time to start breastfeeding. I know I could probably establish good breastfeeding even if I can't do that, but I would really like to. I asked at the class, and the teacher said that if I have a healthy delivery, without complications, then they will put her on my chest all slimy if I want them to. If I don't want her slimy, they will wash her off first, and that shouldn't take very long at all. I'm thinking I might want her slimy though, partly because I'll be impatient.
Also, relating to breastfeeding, I have read over and over, and heard from several sources, that in order to establish a good breastfeeding relationship, you should not use pacifiers or introduce bottles for at least the first month. I intend to try that. Everybody I've talked to has seemed doubtful if I will be able to do that. They have told me that some babies NEED to have something to suck on in order to sooth themselves, even when they're not hungry. And that may be true. But so many sources say that you should avoid it for the first month, and I wouldn't want to do anything that would be detrimental to breastfeeding. It can cause nipple confusion, which could result in the baby rejecting the breast all together, because it is easier to suck on a bottle or pacifier. I know that countless women have successfully held off the pacifier and bottle for a month or longer. One of my best friends has two boys, one is almost two, and the other is about 7 months, and neither of them has ever had a pacifier, to my knowledge. Me and my two younger brothers didn't even WANT the pacifier when we were babies. Our mom had to dip it in peanut butter or honey to get us to take it for any length of time. So I KNOW that not all babies HAVE to have the pacifier at all, and I'm hoping Lexi is one who doesn't want it. But even aside from that....if you never give them a pacifier, how can they miss it? You can't miss what you've never had, right? I figure, if she needs to suck on something to self-sooth, she can suck on her thumb, or her fist, or I can give her some toys that are safe to put in her mouth. I really feel determined that a pacifier and bottles will not be necessary for the first month. I only wish I felt like I had a little more support on that, instead of everybody telling me it's practically impossible.
The only other thing I've been debating, oddly enough, is music. I have heard that if I were to bring a CD with me to the hospital, they could play it while I'm in labor. The idea is that you pick music that will relax and sooth you, and it will help you get through your labor more easily. That sounds like a cool idea. The problem is, I don't have very much music. I have a total of six CD's. Three of them, I just recently got for Christmas, and while they are cool music, they wouldn't really be very relaxing. I am not very familiar with those CD's yet, so it would be harder to focus on them. One of the CD's I have is my wedding music CD. That CD already has special attachment to it, and there are a couple songs on there that make me cry, so that's probably not the best idea. Of the other two CD's, one I'm not too familiar with, and the other I absolutely love, love, LOVE! It would totally be relaxing to me, and I would enjoy putting a special attachment to that CD. So the problem? Well, I am the ONLY one who likes that CD. Russ can barely stand it, and Mom and Pop don't care for it much either. Since all of them will be there, and since this is Russ' baby too, I would almost feel guilty forcing them all to listen to it for however long until she is born. So then I am thinking, "Well fine. Maybe I should just forget about playing music all together. Who needs it? I'll have so much else going on, I probably wouldn't even hear it anyway." And that's probably the way it'll end up going. But, I have thought about trying to find some music I really enjoy that WOULDN'T drive everybody else crazy, and seeing if I can get somebody to burn me a CD. I also wonder if they have any kind of satellite radio, or one of those cable stations that plays music. If they do, I could have them put that on some jazz or something like that. That would be relaxing to me. So, I don't know.
Well, it's getting late, so I think I am off to bed. Night all!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Another hospital visit
Wow! So, on the night of New Years Eve, I got really, really dizzy. It felt like all the walls and floors were moving in a wave, and I couldn't even stand up or crawl on my own, much less walk. I had to lean on Russ. I was a little bit scared at that point, but did not go to the hospital. Instead, I drank a glass of water, hoping it would help, and went to bed early. Sometime during the night, the dizziness subsided somewhat, enough that I could walk around with just the support of furniture. By morning, I was able to walk slowly on my own, and I was feeling a little nauseous, which I assumed was due to being dizzy for so long. However, since I was feeling so much better than the previous night, I felt encouraged that I was getting better. Russ needed to run to Walmart to pick up some things for dinner, and I decided that getting out of the house might be just what I needed.
Almost as soon as the car started moving, the dizziness started getting worse. I kept thinking "Okay, the car might not have been a good idea." The nausea was also getting a little worse, and I kept contemplating whether I should tell Russ to pull over, but I never did. The dizziness got worse and worse. I started seeing spots in front of my eyes. At some point, I realized I was going to faint. I told Russ that I was going to faint about one second before I did. He said that I was out for about a minute, and I was twitching. When I came to, I felt really confused. My head was hanging limply, and Russ was saying, "Hun? Hun? We're going to the hospital!" Before I could think or say anything, a wave of nausea so strong came over me, all I had time to do was clap my hand over my mouth before I threw up. Russ quickly rolled down my window, and told me to stick my head out of it if I needed to. I did. It was drizzling a little bit, and it was cold, but I didn't care. I threw up a lot more. The wind blew it all over my face, and it was all down the side of the car, and in the crack of the window. Russ said some of it even flew back into the window and hit him. When I finally stopped, and was able to look up to see where we were, we were already pulling into the hospital parking lot.
We went into the ER, and after getting me signed in, Russ took me to the bathroom and helped me wipe myself down with paper towels. When we got back out, he went to the desk and told the lady that I was 24 weeks pregnant. As soon as she heard that, she called somebody from maternity to come get me. They told me that after 20 weeks, pregnant women automatically go to maternity for all issues. I was relieved about that, because maternity is a lot nicer, and cleaner, and faster. When we got up to maternity, they got me into a room almost immediately, and a doctor was in to see me very quickly. He ordered some blood tests, and had me hooked up to all kinds of monitors. When they came in to draw my blood, they had a problem. It was easy to tell I was dehydrated, because they could not get my blood to flow. They had to poke me in four different places, and it HURT!!! Finally, they got the blood they needed, and hooked up an IV with a giant bag of saline. After the tests came back, they told me that I was also iron deficient. I was prescribed iron supplements and nausea pills, and told to drink a lot of fluids.
By the time we got back home that night, I was starving and exhausted. I had a small dinner and went straight to bed. The next day, I woke up feeling queasy. Russ went to get my prescriptions, and I tried to eat. I was feeling pretty yucky by the time Russ got back. I took a nausea pill and an iron supplement. Not long after lunch, I threw up once, but it was only a little bit. I also got diarrhea. Later that night, after dinner and another iron supplement, I got to go see my cousins, Jason and Ron, who I hadn't seen in over a year! Even though I still didn't feel too good, I was determined to see them, so I braved the car again for the first time since that episode. I made it to visit them just fine. We went to the Huddle House, and Russ asked if I wanted to order something. I really wasn't feeling hungry, but I ordered a strawberry shortcake, on the condition that Russ would help me eat it. We had a good time, and I enjoyed myself. I ate about half the strawberry shortcake. By the time we got in the car to go home, I was getting really nauseous again, but I managed to do okay for the car ride. Almost as soon as we got home, though, I hurried to the bathroom and threw up again. This time, I threw up quite a lot. I realized that it was probably the iron supplements making me nauseous, since I had been drinking plenty of water now.
The next day, after taking my iron supplement, I called my doctor and told her about everything that had happened, and about what the iron supplements were doing to me. She told me I could reduce my dose to twice a day, instead of three times a day, and that she will recheck my iron at my next appointment on Tuesday to see if she needs to alter my dose. She said, in the mean time, I could get Dramamine and take it at the same time as my nausea pills, and I could nibble on saltines or other mild foods when I am feeling nauseous. I have been doing what she said, and since then, I've felt much better. I've even gotten my never ending appetite back.
So, what else is new? Well, my belly has grown quite a lot over the last few weeks, and is now getting so big that it's really getting hard to move around very much. My back hurts constantly, and I have flexeril, but with all the other medication I'm on right now, I don't want to take it. I need back support in order to sit down for very long, and even then, I'm hurting. If I bend over too far, I get a pain in my belly, and I lose my breath. My feet are even starting to swell a little bit, but if I keep them up most of the time, they are okay. I get occasional growing pains, that go all the way up into my ribs. They feel like a gas bubble that doesn't go away for a long time.
But there's good news! After being here for seven months, and sleeping on an air mattress all that time, Russ and I FINALLY have a bed! We found it on Craigslist, and picked it up yesterday morning. Last night was the first time in a LONG time that I was able to sleep comfortably! The last air mattress we had was the worst, because for some reason, it developed a lump in the middle, so all night long, I would have to brace myself to stay in bed, and I slept on a hill. To finally sleep on a soft, flat, solid bed was like a taste of heaven! Had it not been for getting up about 20 times to pee, I probably would have slept very soundly.
I am so close to my third trimester! It's a little bit scary to be this close to the end. I have to admit, the prospect of labor still makes me shake in my boots. IT'S GOING TO HURT!!! But, I know that in the end, it will all be worth it. My next appointment is this coming Tuesday. And this is going to be a busy month. I have three classes to go to, and two appointments. I'm really looking forward to the classes. The first one is next Saturday. That's the preparation for childbirth class, so maybe after that, labor won't sound so scary. I'm also taking a breastfeeding class and Rusty is taking a siblings class. This promises to be a fun and exciting month....just as long as I keep drinking enough water!
Almost as soon as the car started moving, the dizziness started getting worse. I kept thinking "Okay, the car might not have been a good idea." The nausea was also getting a little worse, and I kept contemplating whether I should tell Russ to pull over, but I never did. The dizziness got worse and worse. I started seeing spots in front of my eyes. At some point, I realized I was going to faint. I told Russ that I was going to faint about one second before I did. He said that I was out for about a minute, and I was twitching. When I came to, I felt really confused. My head was hanging limply, and Russ was saying, "Hun? Hun? We're going to the hospital!" Before I could think or say anything, a wave of nausea so strong came over me, all I had time to do was clap my hand over my mouth before I threw up. Russ quickly rolled down my window, and told me to stick my head out of it if I needed to. I did. It was drizzling a little bit, and it was cold, but I didn't care. I threw up a lot more. The wind blew it all over my face, and it was all down the side of the car, and in the crack of the window. Russ said some of it even flew back into the window and hit him. When I finally stopped, and was able to look up to see where we were, we were already pulling into the hospital parking lot.
We went into the ER, and after getting me signed in, Russ took me to the bathroom and helped me wipe myself down with paper towels. When we got back out, he went to the desk and told the lady that I was 24 weeks pregnant. As soon as she heard that, she called somebody from maternity to come get me. They told me that after 20 weeks, pregnant women automatically go to maternity for all issues. I was relieved about that, because maternity is a lot nicer, and cleaner, and faster. When we got up to maternity, they got me into a room almost immediately, and a doctor was in to see me very quickly. He ordered some blood tests, and had me hooked up to all kinds of monitors. When they came in to draw my blood, they had a problem. It was easy to tell I was dehydrated, because they could not get my blood to flow. They had to poke me in four different places, and it HURT!!! Finally, they got the blood they needed, and hooked up an IV with a giant bag of saline. After the tests came back, they told me that I was also iron deficient. I was prescribed iron supplements and nausea pills, and told to drink a lot of fluids.
By the time we got back home that night, I was starving and exhausted. I had a small dinner and went straight to bed. The next day, I woke up feeling queasy. Russ went to get my prescriptions, and I tried to eat. I was feeling pretty yucky by the time Russ got back. I took a nausea pill and an iron supplement. Not long after lunch, I threw up once, but it was only a little bit. I also got diarrhea. Later that night, after dinner and another iron supplement, I got to go see my cousins, Jason and Ron, who I hadn't seen in over a year! Even though I still didn't feel too good, I was determined to see them, so I braved the car again for the first time since that episode. I made it to visit them just fine. We went to the Huddle House, and Russ asked if I wanted to order something. I really wasn't feeling hungry, but I ordered a strawberry shortcake, on the condition that Russ would help me eat it. We had a good time, and I enjoyed myself. I ate about half the strawberry shortcake. By the time we got in the car to go home, I was getting really nauseous again, but I managed to do okay for the car ride. Almost as soon as we got home, though, I hurried to the bathroom and threw up again. This time, I threw up quite a lot. I realized that it was probably the iron supplements making me nauseous, since I had been drinking plenty of water now.
The next day, after taking my iron supplement, I called my doctor and told her about everything that had happened, and about what the iron supplements were doing to me. She told me I could reduce my dose to twice a day, instead of three times a day, and that she will recheck my iron at my next appointment on Tuesday to see if she needs to alter my dose. She said, in the mean time, I could get Dramamine and take it at the same time as my nausea pills, and I could nibble on saltines or other mild foods when I am feeling nauseous. I have been doing what she said, and since then, I've felt much better. I've even gotten my never ending appetite back.
So, what else is new? Well, my belly has grown quite a lot over the last few weeks, and is now getting so big that it's really getting hard to move around very much. My back hurts constantly, and I have flexeril, but with all the other medication I'm on right now, I don't want to take it. I need back support in order to sit down for very long, and even then, I'm hurting. If I bend over too far, I get a pain in my belly, and I lose my breath. My feet are even starting to swell a little bit, but if I keep them up most of the time, they are okay. I get occasional growing pains, that go all the way up into my ribs. They feel like a gas bubble that doesn't go away for a long time.
But there's good news! After being here for seven months, and sleeping on an air mattress all that time, Russ and I FINALLY have a bed! We found it on Craigslist, and picked it up yesterday morning. Last night was the first time in a LONG time that I was able to sleep comfortably! The last air mattress we had was the worst, because for some reason, it developed a lump in the middle, so all night long, I would have to brace myself to stay in bed, and I slept on a hill. To finally sleep on a soft, flat, solid bed was like a taste of heaven! Had it not been for getting up about 20 times to pee, I probably would have slept very soundly.
I am so close to my third trimester! It's a little bit scary to be this close to the end. I have to admit, the prospect of labor still makes me shake in my boots. IT'S GOING TO HURT!!! But, I know that in the end, it will all be worth it. My next appointment is this coming Tuesday. And this is going to be a busy month. I have three classes to go to, and two appointments. I'm really looking forward to the classes. The first one is next Saturday. That's the preparation for childbirth class, so maybe after that, labor won't sound so scary. I'm also taking a breastfeeding class and Rusty is taking a siblings class. This promises to be a fun and exciting month....just as long as I keep drinking enough water!
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