So there you have it. I am BIG. And I feel it too. I'm bulky and awkward and everything feels heavy. I notice it a lot more when I'm walking, which is putting a bit of a dent in my treadmill time. Even just walking around the campus at work, my belly starts to get really heavy and I feel all sorts of weird tugs and grabs and twinges. I don't have a lot of back pain, fortunately. But I do get uncomfortable being in any one position for very long, including in bed at night. Sitting feels awkward unless I can sort of lounge back. And forget about being "ladylike." Good thing it's winter and I've given up on shaving and/or wearing skirts! Whenever possible, I try to sit cross-legged or "Indian-style" as we used to call it. It allows the baby to rest lower instead of being shoved up under my ribs. And it actually feels good to stretch my hips apart a bit. Maybe I am learning something from my prenatal yoga DVDs after all!
I do have some pain in my shoulders/neck, and my ribs hurt a lot because Flash really likes to scrape his/her foot along them. I think the shoulder/neck pain comes from holding myself up at a weird angle in an attempt to lengthen my torso and get those little feet out from under my ribs! Last night I was startled by something that caused me to tense up and twist rather suddenly. Today, I feel like I gave myself full-body whiplash or something. I woke up and could barely move. I'm going to stretch a lot tonight and hope that it goes away. If not, it may warrant a trip to the chiropractor!
And then there's the swelling. I've been lucky to not have much of it so far this pregnancy (aside from the OHSS), but that seems to be changing. It might be partly due to the unseasonably warm weather we've had this past week. I tend to notice it in my fingers and toes more when I'm really warm. But last night it cooled down quite a bit and my feet were still noticeably swollen when I got up to pee around 3:30 or so. My fingers also felt weird and stiff at work today. I guess we'll see if this newest symptom is here for the duration or if it gets better as long as it stays cooler.
Aside from the swelling, some pain, and general feelings of discomfort, I'm still battling bouts of heartburn and insomnia. The heartburn seems a little better than last week though. And I think the insomnia is mostly related to a) waking up multiple times to shift positions due to discomfort, and b) waking up multiple times to pee. I'm also CRAZY thirsty all the time. Like, I actually crave water. I know you're supposed to be well-hydrated when pregnant, but I didn't expect to constantly feel the urge to hydrate. I'm also hungry a lot. Unfortunately, between Flash and all the extra water I'm drinking, there doesn't seem to be much room in my stomach. I fill up quickly but still feel hungry, so I'm having to really pay attention and try to eat something small every couple of hours. Otherwise, my blood sugar gets too low and I feel like crap. So basically, I eat off and on all day long!
I think I'll switch gears now and list some other updates/to-do's because I just realized that this post is starting to sound kind of whiny. I'm not actually trying to complain, I just find it interesting to catalog and explore my symptoms on here. And I still have a vague goal of maybe someday writing a book or memoir of sorts about this whole experience of infertility, pregnancy, and (eventually) parenting :)
So, on to other updates... I'll try to keep this brief. This week is crazy busy, but If I get a chance, maybe I will elaborate more on some of these in another post:
UPDATES
- Had my last OB check yesterday. Everything sounded and looked or measured well. The doctor said Flash is head-down (yay!). My next appointment in 2 weeks begins the final phase of once-a-week appointments and exams, including more of the internal stuff (measuring my cervix, swabbing for strep B). Hard to believe this is the start of the home stretch!
- Started my maternity leave paperwork. Most obnoxious process EVER. Seriously. This is one of the updates that might have to become a separate post. Anyway, hoping to wrap that up tomorrow so I can cross that off my to-do list.
- Got the paperwork for the cord blood donation today. I haven't read through it very thoroughly yet, but I think I just need to fill out the forms and bring them to the hospital when I deliver. The collection and supplies kit is supposed to be there already. I don't know that I've posted about it on here before, but we've chosen public donation over private banking. Lots of reasons for this. Might have to do a separate post on this topic as well.
- The nursery is really coming together. Paul and I spent a lot of time working on it over the weekend. I'm really happy with how it is turning out and will definitely have to post pictures soon! My biggest concern right now is the crib. I know they said 8-12 weeks for delivery, but this is week 11 and I was really hoping it would be closer to 8 weeks. I'm trying to resist calling the store every other day to ask for updates :) We also need to order the rocker-glider, but I'm waiting to use our registry completion discount for that. That goes into effect next week I think, so we should be fine still. Even if Flash comes early, the website says the rocker-glider is in stock and leaves the warehouse within 1-2 days of ordering.
- Tomorrow afternoon we are doing a meet-and-greet with the pediatrician. We've had a hard time deciding on one. We'd like one near where we live, but none of our friends who have children live near enough to us to offer a referral. Furthermore, no one we would see out here would have hospital privileges where we are planning to deliver in the city. As a result, we would still need to find someone who could do the pre-discharge hospital visit. Rather than just picking someone from a list, I asked around to see if any of my co-workers had used any of the practices on campus. The one we're meeting with was referred to me by 2 of my former co-workers, so I'm hoping it'll be a good fit. Worst case scenario, we have him do the hospital visit and the first few early visits, then we switch later down the road if it isn't working out or if we find someone we like closer to home.
- Pack the hospital bag. All of the classes we've taken have stressed the importance of doing this by about 32 weeks, which means we are about 2 weeks overdue. Personally though, I think 32 weeks is a bit early, unless you've been told you are at risk for pre-term labor, which I have not. In any case, my plan was to do this after we were done traveling for the last time at Thanksgiving. I've started collecting things already, so I just need to actually put stuff in the bag and maybe make a list of last minute stuff we might have to grab on the way out.
- Start washing/organizing baby clothes (and blankets and towels and stuff like that). I'm planning to work on this over the weekend. My office is throwing me a work shower on Friday. After that, I should have a pretty good idea of what we have and what, if anything, we still need. We got a big thing of detergent last weekend (thanks to a coupon!) so we should be good to go on that for a while!
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