Saturday, February 12, 2011

more pregnant

Here I am at, I think, 27 weeks. I'm 30 weeks now - less than 3 months to go. By the way, my midwife group is now using April 28th as my estimated due date, instead of May 1st (it moved up after my 20 wk ultrasound). 3 days doesn't make all much difference, but I guess I should start considering that date since it's the one I'll be early/on-time/late against.

I chose this picture because my legs look skinny - but I promise that not all the weight gain is restricted to my belly, nor can it all be blamed on a growing baby (the sweets, large portions, and too many carbs share that blame). A lot of days I'm glad that I can show my belly in all it's glory, since it's always been my "trouble" spot that I tried to hide.

When I first got pregnant I tried reading a handful of pregnancy books, but it seemed like the majority of the content was dedicated to complaining about or explaining the hormonal changes. And I didn't have any. I know, I'm lucky, and I also know my luck might not carry through future pregnancies. There are a few, though, that I've only recently experienced or recently identified as, "yeah, I guess I have had pregnancy symptoms." For some reason I feel compelled to record them here, most of them have just appeared in the last couple of months:

- allergies. Thank goodness this only lasted a few months, ending a few months ago. My midwife group confirmed that, yes, my insane allergy symptoms were probably due to my pregnancy. It was miserable, but left me pretty amazed at the allergens my body had been fighting all along, before it got too busy growing a baby.
- bloody noses. When I read about this symptom I assumed it meant a "running" bloody nose, but instead I just always have dried blood in my nose, and bloody tissue when I blow my nose. Sorry, that's gross.
- heart burn. Mild, though, and not recently. I've tried to cut down on drinking caffeinated soda so maybe that helped, but it's not like I drank much before so I don't know.
- Braxton-Hicks contractions. I wish someone would have told me sooner that these feel like menstrual cramps, then I would have understood what was happening and been less concerned early on. And I did feel them early on, earlier than what most women I've talked to experienced. They've ranged from mild (since about month 4) to a couple of times when they were pretty intense.
- a growing bosom. And I didn't need that.
- fatigue. I doubt there's anyone that doesn't feel ultra tired at different points in the pregnancy. The fatigue has definitely returned in my third trimester. I'm not someone who easily takes a nap, so the fact that I have intense longings to lay down and sleep means that I'm crazy-tired. Also, I get more tired after working out, when pre-pregnancy working out invigorated me.
- edema in the feet and ankles. this is recent, just in the last couple of weeks. I'm nervous to see how far it's going to go. It doesn't seem to be indicating pre-eclampsia.
- curly hair. Actually, I don't know if that's due to the pregnancy. I've heard it's common for hair to go curly or straight, but I guess it's just as likely that my curlier hair these days is due to a recent haircut:)

My favorite thing is feeling the baby move. Who doesn't love this? It really is fun to be reminded of his existence all throughout the day. He's recently begun kicking me in places that hurt - I pretend it's my kidney but I have no idea. Last night, for the first time, I felt one of his body parts on a part of my belly - not a kick, but a body part just sitting there near the surface. It freaked me out because I didn't know if it was a foot, an elbow, his head, or what and so I felt weird about pressing down on it, so I turned on my side so he'd change positions.

Anyway, that's my pregnancy to-date. It's been fun. We're anxious for his arrival but trying to, instead, relish in this time we have with just the two of us.

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Last week Emily, Esther and I got together—and discussed, among other things, how excited we are for you! We're very excited!

Also, I had BH contractions all through both my pregnancies. Like, the whole pregnancy, both times. That's why I was never really sure I was in labour because I was always like, "Well, if I have one more then MAYBE they're rhythmic...okay...they're supposed to be longer, stronger, closer together and that was certainly closer together but was it longer or stronger? Let me think? Oh! There's a baby!"

Okay, so it wasn't quite that easy. But it was difficult for me to recognize when the BH turned into working contractions, if that makes sense. So good luck with that! :)

scuz said...

I Love hearing details, and I love feeling the baby move too! I really liked it when you could see him wiggle on the inside by looking from the outside! I am so excited for you guys!

Laurel said...

You are adorable!! I'm so excited for you guys!

Kendra said...

I read this when you posted and forgot to comment!

Being pregnant is the most amazing thing - enjoy as much of it as you can - you'll be being looking into tiny eyes before you know it:)

Eva / Sycamore Street Press said...

You look great! I can't believe you're this far along already... although I'm sure it fees like you've been pregnant forever. :) I had all of those same symptoms.. except for curly hair. Plus I felt nauseated all day every day during the first trimester. Oh yeah, and right at the end -- I got stretch marks. Fun! But feeling the baby move inside of you is the best. I still miss it sometimes.

Esther Noelle said...

Love all the details. You are looking so cute too!!!!! Can't wait to see what your baby looks like!