Back pain & Belly support

I've been wearing a belly support belt for about three weeks now. Unfortunately, it also irritates my skin because it attaches to itself with velcro, and it doesn't line up perfectly. So I have a couple of open sores on my belly now. I know, totally gross. So for the last two days I've been skipping the belt to give my poor skin a chance to heal. Now my back is killing me. So I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. And I'll also probably put the support belt back on because the sores don't hurt very much, but my back does. Oh, the things nobody warns you about when you get pregnant! However, since my back pain is caused because I carry 99% in my belly (ie: you cannot tell from behind that I'm pregnant), I cannot complain about that. Only about seven weeks to go. I can deal.

Braxton-Hicks

While I am thrilled to bet getting them, and have for the past few weeks, something I was not told prior to this pregnancy is that they are more painful and start earlier the second time around (or can be). So it kind of freaked me out the first few times. I had them for the last two months of my first pregnancy and it was really neat to have proof that my body was getting ready. This time, if I have a couple in a row, I start getting a little freaked out, too. But, I'm trying to consciously choose instead to concentrate on relaxing and breathing through them: they're practice contractions, so I'm practicing my method of dealing with the real deal. It's all about staying in the moment.

End note: so a little part of me is also freaked out that if the Braxton-Hicks are more uncomfortable this time, will I know for certain when the real deal starts? I had another dream of a super-fast labor, 23 minutes, but this one didn't go as well as my previous pregnancy dreams. Just that the midwives were really blasse about coming and then I had major breastfeeding issues.

Sick

Ugh, my sniffley toddler has given me his cold. It probably didn't help that I didn't stop getting his slobbery kisses or eating off of his plate, but I'm usually still immune. It's just a sore throat and a little stuffy nose, but I'm miserable. And limited for relief. I'm drinking copious amounts of tea with honey, but that's about it. Hopefully this will only be for a couple of days. I just wish it had started on Friday, instead of Sunday, so my husband could help a bit more. Ah, c'est la vie.

Swollen ankles

Ugh, they're back (imagine in little girl's voice from Poltergeist). I have not been good about putting my feet up the last few days and I am now paying the price for it. My feet and ankles are one mass of swollen flesh, it looks like I just have stumps at the end of my legs, from really old trees. This is a lovely reminder to me to STAY OFF OF MY FEET! Or at least rest for a reasonable amount of time every day. Part of the problem is that I use a laptop, and I am loath to have the computer actually on my lap, close to my baby. Well, I don't have a choice right now, if I want to be on-line at all. (although, I must interject: I went six days without my computer while we were on vacation and didn't really miss it. But if it's plugged in, I feel like I must be checking things!!) So back to the basics: rest, fluids, and listening to my body. Maybe a bath with some salts in the water.

Relaxin

Fun, fun, fun. Your pregnant body comes up with all sorts of hormones to keep you on your toes. My latest development is that I've noticed my joints are looser. Relaxin is the hormone released by your body to help it stretch: your cervix, your pelvis, your hips. Too bad it can't just target those areas. As you go later in your pregnancy, heavy exercise is usually discouraged, and this is why. You don't want to be running heavily (unless you already do regularly), or any other jarring activity (tennis, for example) when your joints are a bit wobbly. The last two mornings I've woken up feeling like a rag doll, as though my limbs are a bit looser. Then I remembered.

Today I also broke out my belly support. It's almost like a weight-lifting belt, but to support your stomach instead of your back. I carry ALL in my belly, so this was essential last time. My husband has been asking me about it for a few weeks now, but it's annoying to put on, so I was resisting. I figure it's time now. Overall, my body is still doing better at this point than it was with #1. Who says girls are more difficult??

The things we take for granted . . .

The other day I was taking something out of the oven when I realized that I didn't have to bend over for it. Since I can barely bend anymore, and I can only squat so much in one day, this is a huge deal. My kitchen was designed by me and I have a double oven. Which means that the top one is just at the right height for me to reach in without having to bend at all. And my countertops are high enough that everything is at a perfect level (I'm not super tall, but I am 5'9" and regular countertops are a little low for me). I might be standing away from my sink, but it's still at a good level. Even the banister on our stairs is two inches higher than normal, which makes it at a better height for me. All of these little things add up to less back strain for poor pregnant me. I had realized that although my lower back is starting to get a little achey on me, this is a good three or four months later than back pain started with #1. It might help that I'm not sitting at a desk all day, or that I've already done physical therapy for back problems once this pregnancy (plus last pregnancy), or that I'm much more aware and careful, but whatever it is, I'm grateful for it! So here's to the little things in life that make pregnancy less miserable!

Sleep conundrum

I am exhausted. #1 has been thankfully sleeping through the night on a regular basis again and sleeping past seven in the morning, and I am still exhausted. I was taking naps nearly every day, but I then it was taking me forever to fall asleep at night. Like up to two hours. Which kind of negates the nap. So I'm back to skipping naps, although I still take it easy in the afternoon while my son takes his. I function a little better in the evenings with the nap, but since I don't seem to actually get any more sleep overall, I'd rather have the free time in the afternoon. Fortunately, my next midwife appointment includes some bloodwork to determine if maybe I'm deficient in D or iron. It would be kind of nice if it were that simple. In the mean time, my husband is on work travel. Again. (but for the last time until after birth at least)

Can't bend over anymore

One of the most difficult things about this pregnancy is having a toddler. Things that I avoided last time I cannot this time around. Like bending over. I'm trying to limit it as much as possible, but really, I can't squat for everything (plus squatting always requires a readjustment of pants afterward). The worst is that my angelic (hahahaha!) twenty-month-old fully realizes that Mommy is impaired, and is taking full advantage of that. I cannot always chase him around his room every time I need to change his diaper, so unfortunately, that results in me sitting down and waiting for him to come over to me when he's good and ready. Not the type of discipline I really wanted. Sigh. Even simple things like putting groceries away result in lasting pain. At least for laundry I've learned to prop up the laundry basket while I'm putting things into the washer for less bending.

Another issue is that my babygirl is sitting really, really low. Most people think it's an old wives tale that boys are high and girls are low, but both of my babies have been obviously one or the other (with my son, older women used to come up to me at the store or wherever and tell me I was having a boy, regardless of whether I actually wanted to know this, which I didn't). It means that I have to move differently than I did with #1. I can't explain it, exactly, it's just very different. And a lot more pressure on my cervix. Which will happen anyway. But, at least for me, it has held true that every pregnancy is different.

Embarassing stuff that WILL happen

First, let's talk about wet sneezes. No, I don't mean when you spray saliva and mucus everywhere, I'm talking about when the sneeze causes you to lose control of your bladder for a moment. Even if you are the Kegel queen, they can still happen toward the end when you've got a 6,7,8 lb baby pushing his/her head down on your bladder. There is only one thing that you can do to have minimal damage: pressure in the opposite direction (ie: mainly sitting down). If you can, try to sit, or at least cross your legs if you're standing (like in an elevator), this can help a lot. The other thing is to always wear a pantiliner. While plenty of pregnancy books will advocate letting as much air circulation as possible, and only cotton underwear, I've got to admit, I'd rather save my clothes/furniture/rug. Plus, I'm already so wet from discarge that I really can't go without. One of my favorite quotes is from the Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy saying it's like a tropical rainforest between your legs. Truer words were never writ.

Second, we've got hemorroids. Even if you avoid them during your pregnancy because you're great about getting enough fiber and being regular, there's a very good chance you will get them during labor because of all that fantastic pushing you will do. They're gross, mildly uncomfortable and can be itchy. So, add the hemorroids from my first pregnancy (which, by the way, can apparently be taken care of with an easy laser procedure that nobody told me about until I was pregnant again) with my all-to-frequent intenstinal distress and my poor bottom is a mess. One of my midwives suggested diaper balm. Not a bad idea, but my son's makes his bottom smell like lavender. A treat when changing his diapers, but not what I wanted for me. So I'm using belly balm. Oh, my, goodness, it is working so well to soothe! But in general, if it's good enough for baby's bottom, it should be good enough for yours as well.

My arms are too short!

Washing dishes this evening, I was incredibly uncomfortable. It took me a minute to realize it was because I was standing about five feet from the sink and reaching. Yep, the belly is big enough that I can no longer stand close to things. Fortunately, I have long arms, unfortunately, I still have a big belly. This will get much worse before it gets better. I think my husband was doing all clean-up at this point last time around. Oh, well, I'll deal. Oh, and the belly is also regularly getting wet (when dish-washing) and food on it. Although sometimes I'll attribute that to my son, not me. Not that I can blame him for smearing me with food, since my lap is increasingly getting smaller and smaller (although he still hasn't noticed that he gets kicked on a regular basis).

Cankles update: as long as I stay off of my feet, they're not as bad. Too bad that doesn't happen frequently. I also suspect that I have low blood pressure like last time. Which means a suggestion of consuming more salt. Which doesn't help much with the swelling, but I'd rather have swollen ankles than faint!

Burping

My lovely topic of conversation tonight is on one of the side effects of having less room for your stomach: more burping. I didn't really experience this last time, but, oh, now I am. Since dinner is usually my largest meal, even when I'm not overdoing it, this is when I feel it the most. I'm not really having heartburn most of the time (thank goodness!), but I'll just start burping nearly non-stop as I'm digesting. I start feeling a little bit of acid in the back of my throat. Then the worst: the burps start bringing up bits of food, too. (This is probably not helped at all by me spending a significant amount of time after dinner hunched over my computer, but this is my ONLY free time of the day, so I'll deal.) I'm sure that there are some fixes, eating less would probably be one of them, but if I stretch out the snacks (which would then be needed) too late, they interfere with my sleeping anyway. Going for a walk after dinner would be a good idea, if I didn't have a sleeping toddler upstairs. So I'm going to just leave it as a complaint and hope I'm not alone with my new development.

Cankles

The swelling has begun. Not as bad (yet) as last time, but not quite pretty, either. So, back to remembering what helped last time. For early ankle swelling (not third trimester, which is pretty unavoidable) that is not caused by hypertension or other serious problems there is a relatively easy fix (and I guess if the easy fix doesn't work, then it's time to check again for a more serious problem): make sure you're getting enough protein and fluids. The fluids are more intuitive since the less water you're drinking, the more likely your body is going to hold on to what you do drink. (too bad this doesn't work with fat too: your body says, oh, you have enough fat now, so any more that you eat we'll just flush out, and probably reduce your stores too, since this isn't going to be a problem) Drinking more lets your body know that you don't need to hold onto fluids. I'm not sure how the protein works, but last time my Bradley Class instructor told me to try it and it worked almost immediately. The swelling in my ankles went down in a couple of days. I noticed my lovely cankles on Saturday (which doesn't mean that they weren't there before, I'm not always the most observant person). It has been warmer outside, but I also haven't been eating as much protein. For some reason, the warmer it is, the lighter the food I eat and that means cutting out some proteins, too. Which isn't good! My staples from pregnancy #1 were cheese & hummus to snack on every afternoon (not together), which are the two things that I have an aversion to right now. So I really, really need to get my Bradley workbook out (tomorrow maybe?) for some suggestions and to actually track my food intake again. It's always a process.

Sensitive noses

While not as bad as last time around (when grocery shopping made me nauseated), my sense of smell is still much keener than normal, which leads to some problems. I'm fortunate enough that strong smells aren't causing nausea, but it's still not fun. Which leads to today's gripe: husbands who just don't get it. Last time, every time we went out for (turkey) burgers and fries, I wouldn't let my husband order garlic fries because the smell was just too overpowering. He'd grumble every time, but he'd comply. So I'm trying to be nicer this time, which has just resulted in misery for me. We went out last night. He ordered garlic fries. This morning I still couldn't kiss him. Which made him mad, but sorry, that's the price you pay for twenty minutes of garlic-eating. To be fair, I also can totally smell the garlic on my son's breath when he's been eating garlic, too, but at nineteen months, his breath isn't that bad and I can only smell it when we're nose to nose, instead of across the room, or all night long in bed. Ugh. Ironically, perfumes I kind of like being able to smell more, it helps to hide all of the people in a movie theater who have BO or similarly stinky breath.

Second trimester=better than the first

I've been so caught up in my back and leg problems that I hadn't even noticed that other things are better. So today is a thankful post. My nausea seems to be gone, unless I let my blood sugar dip too low (so I bought some ice cream). I finally noticed about a week ago that I wasn't nauseated, it had actually stopped about the same time my back problems started. Hurray, hurray for that!! Also, despite my fears, my skin has hardly broken out at all! My forehead has some spots, and one or two on my back, but no flashback to adolescence. I'm not quite as exhausted, although I wake up a lot from the pain, but still not as bad as a month ago (#1 also has been sleeping fairly well, which has a lot to do with it). I think once my back and leg are better, I might actually have a good pregnancy (knock on wood).

A little less pain

As if the normal pregnancy symptoms aren't enough, pregnancy has a way of doing stuff to your body to aggravate anything that should have been taken care of years ago, like my back. Last Thursday was my first appointment with my physical therapist (whom I now love, she made it so I could at least drive to her nearly pain-free). Here I thought I had just pulled a hamstring, nope, the sciatic nerve runs down your leg and if you hurt your back, the pain can localize in your leg. I'd heard of this, but I was SO CERTAIN that all I had was a pulled hamstring. Ha!

Anyway, so seven years ago when I originally hurt my back, instead of the dr. I went to telling me to go home and take some ibuprofen, he should have requested an MRI. Yes, I might have a slipped disk. Aggravated by pregnancy and my body loosening up. Since I had issues last time around, but nothing since then, I had figured my back was fine. Nope! When I showed up on Thursday, I was a mess. Several days of pain had lead me to baby my right leg, which meant that not only was my back injured, but I was all out of alignment from walking funny and my right hip was two inches higher than my left. (When the PT asked if I had noticed I just told her that in my day, I tend to look in the mirror for less than 15 seconds, so it would take a whole lot more for me to notice.) Anyway, postpone the back treatment, first I had to fix my hips. Fortunately, this was a simple exercise, which worked! Today I went back to start treating my back. And a little relief.

I know a lot of people will go to a chiropracter for back issues. For me, I prefer physical therapy. For two reasons. The first is that I feel as though I am in command of my healing. I am responsible for, and am able to do SOMETHING and it helps. Plus, once you know the exercises, if things start going a little wonky again, you have the tools to hopefully prevent anything worse. Second: my mother has had back problems my whole life, and has been going to a chiropracter on and off my whole life. Yeah, still has back problems. I've never seen them ever get much better, which could have a lot to do with my mother, but isn't a ringing endorsement. I have problems with any treatment that requires you to keep going back for an indefinite time. Oh, and PT still spends some time on massage, so yay for that! (My husband may give great massages, but he's still not a professional)

More of the same

Made it to my GP, the first appointment available with the physical therapist is Thursday morning. I'm not sure what I'm going to do until then. I'm sorry this blog is now so awful and boring. When I can sit again I promise to write about breastfeeding!

Still in pain

Didn't sleep much last night, I was tossing and turning too much. I did, however, have an easier day today. The family met some friends at the zoo for the day and walking around for hours left me painless. Until I sat down again. Oh, and I'm thoroughly exhausted. So I'm back in pain this evening. The yoga pose Child's Pose also helps a bit, but because I've broken both of my feet, I can't stay in it for very long. C'est la vie. I love babies, I love babies, I love babies.

Pain!

Back in 2003, when my husband and I were in the early bliss of our relationship, we were horsing around in the pool one day. He was tossing me around and, deceived by the weightlessness of the water, I attempted to throw him. Big, big, BIG mistake. I wrenched my back and tweaked my hamstring. For the most part I'm fine, but every once in a while I have a flare-up for a couple of days. Add in pregnancy and I've been in excruciating pain much of today with limited mobility. I managed to hold it together to host a community meeting this morning, but then I took a nap and could barely get out of bed. I would normally get in the jacuzzi tub, but not while pregnant!

So, what can I do? When I had back pain (unrelated) during my last pregnancy I went to physical therapy and it helped 100%. Monday morning I will be calling my GP first thing to set up an appointment to get a referral (don't you love all of the hoops you have to jump through for insurance?) to a physical therapist. In the mean time, I'm using a heating pad and getting massages from my husband. And just biting my tongue since I refuse to take any pain meds.

Socializing while Pregnant

Going out with your friends during your first trimester can be anywhere from slightly uncomfortable to downright miserable if you're holding back telling people until the second trimester. At the very least, you have to discretely hide that you're not drinking, if you normally do. I remember starting from when my husband and I got engaged, if I were out with friends and didn't order a drink, I'd get asked if I were pregnant (wow, that really makes my friends and me all sound like alcoholics!). Depending on where you normally eat, that might have to change as well, no more sushi nights! Heartburn, nausea and or vomiting might cause you to eschew all socializing that includes food. I remember one night out with a friend where we had dinner and then went to the ballet. For dinner I ordered an innocuous-sounding vegetable tart, which turned out to be half peppers. I spent most of the ballet miserable and the whole intermission in the bathroom. Our favorite place for happy hour was a Pan-Asian restaurant with super cheap drinks. Everything was raw (sushi), spicy or alcoholic. I felt bad for not socializing, but it was better than trying to explain why I was only eating edamame.

Once everyone knows that you're pregnant and (hopefully) the morning sickness has subsided, things do get much easier. The second trimester is generally the easiest: tummy behaves, energy levels are higher and it finally hits home that, Oh My Goodness, There's a Life Inside of Me! Now you just have to worry about finding appropriate clothing. Which will be tomorrow's post.

Pillows

Comfort, it's the hardest thing to obtain during pregnancy, particularly once your stomach starts sticking out and has its own gravitational pull. Sleep is the worst. Before my first pregnancy I was a back sleeper. That's how I was most comfortable and as an added plus, it's the position least likely to cause wrinkles. Then my back went all out of wack because of the thirty pounds of belly and nothing has ever been the same. This pregnancy my belly popped super early, so I've already been dealing with sleep discomfort (besides the excessive peeing and general nausea). My first pregnancy I resisted as long as possible (what can I say, I was dumb), but for several weeks now I've been adding pillows. So far I'm up to three additional. As soon as I got pregnant (before I even had a positive test) I had added a pillow under my head to help with the extra mucus in my head. A few weeks later I added a pillow between my knees for side-sleeping. It makes turning over a pain, but it definitely adds to the comfort level. Last week I added my belly wedge. This is a $15 half-moon wedge that helps support the belly. It hasn't made a huge difference, but it does help. Last time this made a world of difference, why I waited until about seven or eight months, I'll never know. A lot of women swear by the body pillows, but I didn't want to go there and I also feel like the bed is just too small for one. Although, I will keep adding pillows, so that really might be a wash. Just wait, I'll be up to about seven additional pillows by the end :).