I was thinking about all the pregnancy symptoms and what-not and I thought I'd make a list :)
Good
- The Bump - still the best thing ever. I am still fascinated with mine and stare at it every day, so much so that I'm late every. single. day. Yes, really.
- baby movements - I love, love, love getting to know them and their personalities through their movements. The boy is a typical boy and moves whenever but the girl only moves when I am still, either when I'm in bed or sitting at the computer or TV, being very quiet :)
- no morning sickness - I realise more and more what a blessing this was. First of all, I don't do the vomiting thing very well. The last time I vomited was in 2004 before my second laparoscopy - had to drink some salty solution to get my stomach cleaned out for x-rays and I think I was totally empty at one point because I just started vomiting. Horrible!
Bad
- no symptoms in the beginning = paranoia
- constipation - oh the constipation. The doc told me what I could take but I really don't like using medication for what should happen naturally (i know, me, IVF girl!) so I've been eating grainy cereals, drinking lots of water, and having at least 3 fruits daily. Even so, I only go every 2 days.
Ugly
incontinence. Dear Lord, where should I start? I'd had a few drips here and there so started wearing pantyliners. Problem solved, right? Wrong!
Then one day I wiped, pulled on my clothes, washed hands and started walking away. About 30 seconds later I feel a whoosh and think, "what was that?!" and lo and behold, it was a gush of pee. So fortunately I was at home so changed my clothes.
After it happened the second time, I realised this is here to stay. So now I'm wearing pads!!!! Pads! I thought once you're pregnant you stop wearing pads - how misguided can you be?!
So I feel like an old granny who can't keep it in. Of course I go the minute I feel any pressure just to make sure I'm doing my bit too.
Of course, I'm really not complaining because how can I? I've two precious babies inside me and not only that, but I really have had a very easy pregnancy.
What are your good, bad and ugly of pregnancy?
P.S. These are obviously old pics I found on the computer - 17 weeks, 4 days - I'm 28 weeks, 1 day today
I started to write it all out in your comment box and realized that I may as well write my own blog about it.
ReplyDeleteYour incontinence amuses me- only, though, because I experience it myself. It's laughter out of common misery. :-)
After having some close calls when I coughed or sneezed too hard, I bought some pantyliners too. I found that they often got all wadded up when I walked, though, and my pants would still end up wet. For now, I'm trying to just make sure I go to the bathroom frequently enough. I haven't had any gushing, but can only imagine! I've actually heard of women thinking that their water was breaking, but then finding out that they just peed their pants when the baby kicked their bladder!
I'll write my experience soon. Plus, I've been told that I need to post a new baby bump picture, so I'll try to get that with it.
To answer your questions, I'm not sure how expensive the hospital is, but it's not any more expensive than any other one. It's not a high-end hospital. It's just the local community one. We have two that offer maternity services in my town, but my doctor will only deliver at this one. I actually wanted the other one because I've heard better things about it, but since this one was just built and opened almost a year ago, everything is BRAND NEW! That's why it's so nice. They also tried to make it look more like a lodge to promote comfort and healing rather than like a hospital.
ReplyDeleteAt my hospital, I work in the food services department as a secretary. I type up all of the menues and flyers that go into the cafeteria. I troubleshoot any register problems. I answer phone calls and do general office work like copying and laminating. We just had a lot of layoffs so that means that everyone who is left has to pick up the slack for those who are missing. So, even though I'm the secretary, I now also work in the coffee shop so that the employee can have his/her break, and I run the registers in the cafeteria during lunch rush. I work hand-in-hand with the food services staff at the new hospital too, so I'm hoping I can use this to my advantage and get some yummy food while I'm there as a patient!
I'm 24 weeks into my 9th pregnancy (though I miscarried 5 in the first trimester). I've ran across some "helpful" advice over the years - at least it worked when I tried it - no promises here.
ReplyDeleteFor constipation: Eat lots of leafy green veggies, avoid sugars and greasy food (coconut oil best to cook with as it is easiest to digest), take Psyllium Husks (totally natural), eat yogurt, eat/drink kefir (make sure the yogurt and kefir have live cultures.) And take a nice walk (don't go to far) to loosen things up and get it moving. And drink more water.
For Incontenance: Do kegal exercises, and sit an extra minute doing a sort of rock (push out tummy and arch back and then reverse it) and twist (rocking your hips slightly), nothing too major, while doing the kegals and spreading your legs further apart - this sort of unkinks things allowing the "whoosh" to happen before you stand up and walk away, sometimes I'm quite shocked a how much more comes out. You may still have dribbles, but hopefully they will be pretty minor.
You'll probably know if your water breaks ... first you won't be able to stop or slow it at all, though if the baby is well engaged, you might only seep, then the doctor can test the fluids (looks like a ph paper) to see what they are ... second, there is a LOT of it, there was way more for me than my bladder could possibly hold. I thought my water had a spicy salty smell to it too, not overpowering, but subtelly there.
Of course they will probably scedule the C-Section way before your water has a chance to break.
I can't wait to see them!
No bump pictures here - my mom always remembered to take them ... sigh. You can kind of see it in the AWANA picture at our Awards night. I do the Cubbie club.
I just LOVE pregnant belly bumps, and always have.
Rachel, I've been doing the Kegels for 2 weeks now and I think they're working - I haven't had so much leagage (thank the Lord). I'll add your extra bit of exercise and see how that works :)
ReplyDeleteLet your daughter or hubby take some pics of your belly!