I returned to my doctor's office last week for my 38 week visit with an attitude that it was a great waste of my life to even show up. The night before I'd set up in my mind that I was not going to go so that I could hear more bad news that I'm no closer to delivering the body snatcher inside of me. Instead I woke up that moring and decided to go. What else was I going to do with my day?
At this point in pregnancy you get used to checking in, getting weighed, blood pressure being taken and then asked everytime to pee in a cup. No biggie, off to the bathroom I go. What happens? I pee in the cup, wipe, and behold.....my mucus plug! I got super excited! Certianly that has come out, I must be significantly dilated and OMG labor must be on it's way right?!?!?! WRONG! Once again!
I head in to my doctor only to be told i'm hardly dilated and it means nothing. JOY! Once again I'm super shot down feeling like this is never going to happen. Even though at this visit I'm informed that I'm having contractions that I'm not feeling. Start of contractions?! Plug gone?! And yet it means nothing? My emotions are certainly being toyed with. He made sure to let me know that these are nothing but fake contractions getting my body prepared for childbirth.....at some point down the line....whenever that may be....sigh.
That appointment was on a Thursday and I went the rest of the weekend without being aware of the contractions unless I was touching my belly and could feel it harden because they were not hurting at all. Sunday arrives and I'm having some discomfort with things, trouble walking because I'm certain at any moment my pelvis is goin to split in half, and at times a little back pain. I spent most of my day in and out of the stores getting errands and last min baby things finished. I layed down that night at bed time only to shoot up at 10:30pm with cramping, pain, contractions, sick, running to the bathroom and thinking wtf is going on?! I calmed down, took a shower, and put my aunt and husband on alert. I then sat up the next few hours counting contractions, the ones that still didn't hurt, until they were pretty consistent with every 4min 30 seconds. At 1:30 am we're loaded up and headed to labor and delivery with me banking on being sent back home.
OF COURSE I WAS SENT HOME! Why wouldn't I be? How incomplete would this series of events be if it wasn't another opportunity for my emotions to be played with like a cat playing with a poor insect before eventually killing it, but not before pulling all of it's legs off? I was hooked up to monitors, had an ultrasound, and then a physical. Nothing! Contractions have stopped, physical revelaed nothing, baby is fine and plenty of fluid still around him. Back home we go after hours wasted. Hit the bed at 5am and up for work at 9:30am- 4.5 hours later.
39 Weeks Check Up
I worked my normal work week and left early the last day of my shift becuase I was having trouble walking with a few of the contractions because they were causing "back labor". These were then 13mins apart for a while. I get home and they virtually stop.
I walk in for my doctor appointment this morning and NOTHING! I promise you my cervix has managed to super glue itself closed again! At this point I'm emotionally devistated. I started to cry right in the office. I didn't want to hear any of it. I then asked what could I do to help this along? Could I please be induced? Anything?! I was told nothing would be done until I was 41 weeks pregnant. That is then when they would, "...throw in the towel". Until then I would have to deal with running to the bathroom twice an hour in the night now, burning hips, and the ever increasing pelvic pain that is now causing me to take baby steps because any stride longer that that made the pain worse. I would swear to you at the point if i took a larger stride my leg would certainly just dislocate and fall off. Either way I had to come back again in a week. A week? For more bad news? To endure this emotional abuse? HA! And I stormed out in tears without another appointment.
What do I do now??
Prepare for the baby? Mani Pedi? Go some place? Yeah right! I have all the baby things finished, I just had a mani pedi and walking is just painful. My options are limited. In fact after writing this that'll be even less things I'm able to do. Sigh.....I guess they'll see my face at work on Monday.
I apologize that I have not updated in such a long time. So here we go from 20-35 weeks.
20 week 2 day Ultrasound!!
It's a boy for sure! The doctor placed the tranducer on my belly and as soon as he did it was clear that we were having a baby for for sure! He had his butt facing us and we had a clear view of his man parts. If you are a person that does not want to know the sex, I advise that you look away as they are doing your ultrasound.
I will be honest with you and say it wasn't very eventful through those weeks. My eating was on and off, I never had any cravings, and still don't, I was seeing my doctor every 2 weeks, and steadily gaining weight, in an apporpriate way. I didn't really start showing until I was 28-30 weeks in. Infact at 6 months I even participated in a photoshoot and you could not tell at all that I was pregnant. I was excited for that!
At 28 Weeks I went in for a rhogam injection. It wasn't that bad, but burned a lot. That same day I also had my routine appointment and a glucose test (sugar tolerance test). They have you drink a drink, to me it tastes like just a very surgary juice, wait 1 hour and pull your blood exactly an hour after you finished your drink. I was scheduled for this test 2 weeks prior, but due to flooding here and traffic I was 3 blocks away from the hospital at the time I should have been sitting to have my blood drawn. It's very time sensitive so if you don't get there in time, then plan on rescheduling your appointment.
Also at 28 weeks was my first baby shower and the same weekend I got married! I traveled from Philadelphia to North Carolina for my baby shower and small wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful weekend and I'm so pleased at my dear friend that pulled it all off for me. Of course our trip was not complete without being delayed one day due to a blown out tire just as we were getting on the highway.
Again, up until this point the most things that changed were just the weight gain, being able to feel the baby move more, finally some belly growth, and I've continued working as a vet tech. I was moved off the night shift close to 6 months pregnant and placed on day shift as I could not be in radiology or be around for gas anesthesia procedures. Now on day shift I handle in/out patient things, in house treatments, and training. It works for me, but there are days I feel like a beach ball rolling around the clinic getting things done.
30 weeks
I woke up one morning and suddenly my belly had changed?! I walked up to my husband and he looked and agreed something had changed with my belly. I had no pain, no fluid leaks, nothing like that going on just a dropped sort of look. I called my dr's office and was asked to come in that afternoon, but I would have to see a different doctor. She stated that I'd only dropped to (-4), the scale starts at (-5), but that I measured smaller than she would like.
32 weeks
I went in for a growth ultrasound and the baby measured just fine. There was plenty of fluid around him and he was appropriate weight for how far along we were, which was about 4lbs.
The following day I went in for my doctor visit. He was okay with my pregnancy progress, did a routine check, and everything was good. That day I did start to have some of my swelling start early in the morning and both my legs were super swollen. He was not concerned becuase the swelling was even in both legs lol. My doctor is so funny at times. He's very open, matter of fact, not an alarmest, answers my husbands silly questions, wants pregnancy to progress without help unless there is a real risk to mom and/or baby, and always willing to teach. At this point he feels as though my baby is going to be about 7lbs give or take a little, but not much bigger than that. Thank goodess for my vagina!
35 weeks
Now we are up to date. I keep gaining steady weight and it's very hard on me. I've gone from 175 to 200lbs and it's rough. I don't know how people can carry around so much weight on a regular basis. After long 12-14 hour shifts at work My legs are swollen, my feet feel sore and even my knees hurt. Sleeping at night is very hard now. Up to maybe 3 weeks ago I could sleep on my back with no problem and now sleeping on my back takes my breath away. I sleep on my side, but my hips begin to burn and I rotate sides about every hour. The baby stays on my right side so imagine what my shifting uterus feels like when i switch back to my left. Painful! I'm also up just as often to pee. I swear I hate running to the bathroom. Getting up and down is such a chore and so is getting in and out of the car and jeep. I feel like a rollie-pollie. My breasts have also started to grow AGAIN! How is this possible?! I'm at the point where I'm over being pregnant and ready to just have this baby already. I'm also very tired all the time again. Where is this nesting energy people talk about? Hasn't happened over here. Thankfully, knock on wood, I haven't gotten any stretch marks anywhere. I lube up daily with coconut oil and palmers cocoa butter. I'm not sure if that saved me or not because according to my genetics I should have had a crap load of them by now. I've even gone out and sported a bikini several times at the pool.
Other changes- Now that the baby is super head down he presses on the nerves in my vagina quite frequently and I like to compare this to sciatica of the vagina. It sends sharp shooting pains down there and wills top you in your tracks! He also has a great way of rolling up under my rib cage on the right side constantly. Seems like we are both running out of room here. Of course my stomach is displaced so the heartburn is horrible! Tums are my best friend at this point. Eating isn't as easy becuase I can only eat but so much at once. Most of the time my pasta order for lunch lasts for 3 meals for me. Oh, how could I forget.....I walk around frequently with my right hip out of place. This is a feeling that I know for sure because I caused this injury when I was younger in gymnastics. Not fun at all when it's out. I can also hear it pop when that never used to happen. I would have thought that I'd have rip roaring sciatica at this point due to my back problems, but thankfully my lower back has felt pretty good over the last several months. It's my mid back that hurts now due to proper posture and every growing boobs!
Follow me on Instagram if you want to see more - @alonnajames
19 Weeks....Where to begin?
For the most part I feel like a normal person again. I will say that I have to pee ALL THE TIME! The smallest amount feels like a gallon is sitting there. I'm assuming this is mainly because the baby is growing inside of me rather than towards the outside. I'm hardly showing at all. I posted a picture last week of what I considered a baby bump and my friend said it looked more as if I had missed a week's worth of crunches. After looking again, I agreed. lol Hopefully this baby actually pops soon and then maybe it will take some pressure off of my insides.
I have no cravings, which I'm assuming is a good thing. My weight has pretty much stayed the same as I was pre-pregnancy. This surprises me because my boobs have really gotten larger, my waist has expanded, I have a slight bump, and of course the baby is growing. I had to break down this past weekend and order in new bras because I can no longer comfortably fit any of my sports bras or regular bras anymore. And due to the growth and looming potential growth I've been really good at lotioning up really well every day.
Sleeping. That's a Joke!
Sleeping has been hard. I can't tell whether my insomnia is back or if it's truly the hormones that have caused the change in my sleeping pattern. Either way I don't really sleep much day or night. I'm awake just about every hour on the hour and it's no fun. Getting in a comfortable position is also harder now because my hips hurt when I lay on my side. I have all kinds of pillows lined up on the bed in attempts at comfort. There's practically no room left on the bed for my fiance. The back pain that I was having from a larger chest has started to subside since I'm beginning to get used to the extra weight and am doing my best to practice proper posture as well.
Toxoplasmosis?
I've worked with animals just about my entire life including having worked in a shelter with lots of cats for about a year. Once pregnant I made sure that I requested a test pulled to check my antibody level. I also own a cat, but I've had him his whole life, he's indoor only, and does not catch gross creatures, and again never steps foot outside. Even with me not being concerned about my cat my fiance has been on litter box duty since day one. My doctor called yesterday morning and surprisingly my results were negative! Negative? Yes, negative meaning I have ZERO exposure to it at all. I was shocked. I guess that just means I've been a very good girl in this field and am very vigilant about washing my hands and not putting things in my mouth. This just means that I will continue to practice with the same precautions and not handle the cat litter at work if at all possible, and if unavoidable, continue doing it with gloves and washing my hands afterward.
Genetic Screening
Typically genetic screening should be done on both mom and dad during the planning phases of pregnancy to screen for any potential unknowns that your child may be effected by. My screening was done in 2 phases a month apart and another part of my doctor call yesterday was the good news that I'm clear of any genetic defects! That makes us a happy camper when it comes to the baby. He didn't really need to be tested. Let's say he did have something we would have to carry the same gene in order for it to have the potential of effecting our child.
What happens next?
Next week I'm scheduled for an ultrasound to check the development of the baby. Luckily I can look in on it because I have access to an ultrasound and work. It's amazing how quickly the baby is growing, moving, and shaping in to looking like a person week by week. At this point I can feel some motion. I was really stressed a few days ago and could really feel the motion. My stress placed a lot of stress on the baby and I have now learned my lesson. I thought we knew what the sex of the baby was at our 12 week ultrasound, but after looking a few other times I could no longer say 100% whether it was a boy or a girl, so hopefully next week that debate will be put to rest by the doctor.
Well I'm pregnant! (13.5 weeks) It was totally unplanned, but it's happening now.
I'm the type of person that could live the rest of their life without a child and be totally happy, but I knew when I decided to get married that this would mean having at least one child; I was okay with that. I just expected this to happen in late 2014 or early 2015.
My Experience thus far?
The first 5-6 weeks were okay, I didn't feel pregnant, no hormonal changes, nothing. I was working out and doing everything I had been doing before. I was even proud of my gains in the gym and was lifting better and better every week. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Around 6 weeks I all of a sudden had a major migraine that lasted for about 5 days. From there I just started feeling like crap. I started to get really tired, I was so nauseated that eating was not an option for me and I was coming to work sick for every shift with a massive headache (not migraine). I was really unable to consume anything due to the nausea, I was hypersalivating, dry heaving, and hardly able to get out of the bed without feeling motion sick or the need to run for the toilet. At 8 1/2 weeks I found myself in the ER. I woke up that morning, I hadn't eaten much in days nor been able to hydrate much, I showered and all of a sudden felt very week and then my body began to hurt all over. I felt like I was shutting down. I called my other half home and we went to the emergency room where I was hooked to IV fluids and given IV zofran to calm down the nausea. I stayed for several hours, it wasn't fun and I had no intentions of returning. From there I was put on anti-nausea oral meds so that I could at least eat. Although I was not vomiting much substance they still said that I had hyperemesis. I lost 10+ lbs by my 12 week doctor visit. I was also unable to take any vitamins because they cause me to want to puke.
Crackers? That's a Joke!
Crackers don't solve anything (in my case) and believe me, if the little person inside of you wants to send their order back up to you, it will happen no matter what you eat! Believe that! It didn't matter when I ate, or what I ate, if I was nauseated food was not an option and if I forced myself to eat it was all going to come back up even if it took a few hours.
13.5 weeks - My current situation
My 24/7 nausea is finally starting to get a little better, not much but a little bit. I'm no longer sleeping 12-14 hours or more a day. I'm starting to have small spurts of energy between sleeping hours and am out of the bed more. I am still not able to run errands alone. I can't depend on my energy levels so if I venture out alone it has to be a short grocery store trip. I've come borderline to passing out or just puking in the middle of a store because I either reached my energy limit or needed to eat something right away.
Yes, I had an ultrasound done at 12 weeks and well.....I'm not telling what it's supposed to be :-) I'll wait for my visit at 20 weeks to confirm the sex a bit better at that time. I'm just happy that I have access to an ultrasound, I took a peek early this morning and I'm almost certain of the sex at this point.
What do you think it is? Hope it is?
How Have I Made It This Far So Sick?
Thankfully my wonderful other half has been my saving grace. He has had to wait on me 24/7. Remember, for most of this I was unable to even get out of the bed and get food for myself. I'm no longer able to eat fast food, because I want to vomit just thinking about it, so that means quick meals like that are no longer an option and food has to be cooked at home. There were days where I thought I had energy, would pull things out to do, and without fail be unable to finish. Things were constantly left all over the house for him to clean up. I don't know how the house would have gotten cleaned, my laundry done, errands, food cooked, the cat taken care of, groceries etc. without him. I didn't expect such a major blow to my system. I'm thankful everyday I have such a supportive person by my side.
The Emotional Toll
This is life changing for me. I'm super INDEPENDENT! I don't ask for help or expect help in the least bit. This experience rendered me so helpless for such a long period of time that it has been a super blow to my ego and confidence.
What Have I Learned So Far?
I've learned that I'm in it for the long haul with the right person. The demands I've placed on him, the amount of things I need, followed by the lack of attention I give to him because I'm either too sick or asleep......some men would have just thought that this was all way too much to deal with. He's in it for the long haul. Never once did I hear a complaint or once did I hear him say, "will this be over soon" or "how much longer will I have to do this for you". His focus was on making sure I was as healthy as I could be in my condition.
I just pray that the following weeks to come allow me to get back to normal and that I continue on with a healthy pregnancy.
Pictures to be posted soon. Not much going on with my tummy just yet.
