August 24 Midwife Appt. & Other Details
Well, we had another midwife appointment on August 24th (we are now to see the midwife every 2 weeks instead of once a months).
At the appointment I discovered that my weight gain had kicked up speed yet again (gaining a whopping 9lbs in 2 weeks!) and I have made the necessary adjustments to curtail that as best I can since then. As of weighing myself this morning, my efforts seem to be working. :-D Back on track!
Also, at the appointment, I discovered the reason that my belly button was hurting so bad wasn't "growing" as I had assumed, but a mild diastasis. This is a separation of the abdominal muscles along a vertical line that happens to run just behind the belly button. Again, mine is mild (about 1-2 fingers wide) and is supposedly fairly common. It's not really of concern until it gets more severe (3+ fingers wide). However, the midwife suggested that I do sit-ups to strengthen my abdominal muscles. And here, I must have a little confession time: Up until now I have done all the prenatal yoga excercises I could find... except those that resemble sit-ups. Why? The best answer I can come up with is that I have an irrational fear of squishing my belly. I guess I spend so much time avoiding things like laying on my stomach, or falling onto my belly, or wearing super tight pants, that I just can't accept that anything which intentionally squishes my belly could be a good thing. Even though, intellectually, I know that the baby doesn't get hurt by sit-ups, and that it could even be indirectly beneficial by aiding in labor etc.......... it just for some reason scares me a little. None-the-less, I am putting these fears aside and following my midwife's directives (and the advice of most baby books out there), and doing my sit-ups now.
Other than that, we discovered that my fundal height is right on schedule and that (based on feeling the baby through my belly with 20+yrs of experience behind her) my midwife doesn't think Ethan is going to size himself out of the Birthing Center. YEAH! (If the baby is thought to be larger than 10lbs they have to be delivered in the L&D Department instead.) Let's hope this stays true! Also, unless my fundal height reveals an unusually large baby (ie. measuring 38centimeters instead of the 35 I should be at 35 weeks) there will most likely be no more ultrasounds. And that is just fine with us.
As for other details of my pregnancy status:
I can't jump out of bed these days. If I do, I inevitably experience a charlie-horse in some muscle of my body (most often my calves) which usually sends me falling back into bed with comedic drama, or patheticly to the floor from which I will not be able to rise for several minutes. Instead, before I move anything else, I begin ankle stretches and rotations to get my circulation going. Then, once I feel sufficient blood down there, I slowly ease my way to a sitting position and continue the stretches. Eventually I feel it is safe and walk gingerly to the restroom to prepare for the day.
And of course, heartburn is still my constant companion and Papaya supplements my new best friend.
Other than that, there's my "pig's feet" to deal with. Each morning I awake with perfectly normal, lovely (if I do say so) feet, and by midmorning they have somehow managed to morphe their way into pig's feet. Don't ask me how. It certainly takes no effort on my part and they definately did NOT ask my permission to perform this magic trick! None-the-less, this is my daily burden: attempting to somehow squash pig-sized feet into lady-sized shoes! Not to mention just bending over with a watermelon in your lap is no easy feat. Assuming I am successful at this, I then pay the price of tingling toes and aching bridges for any period of time greater than 30 minutes which I spend sitting with shoes on.
Another fun bit is this activity I do each night that one might call "sleeping." See, first I get into bed and painstakingly arrange my legions of pillows so that Luke will still have at least 12 inches of sleeping space to call his own. Then I settle in and finally get comfortable just in time for my previously still-as-a-statue son to begin his nightly exercises. (Anyone tried to sleep with a rambunctious puppy bouncing on their stomach???) This of course brings on the heartburn. So I get up and go to the bathroom for some Papaya supplements to take the edge off the burn. Back in bed, Ethan eventually runs out of steam and I drift gratefully into a slumber which (as typical of the last 5 months) is filled with one nightmare followed by another until I wake up about 2 hours later to use the restroom. Not because I actually have anything to leave in the toilet, but because Ethan's return to exercising makes me think I do. More papaya, and back to bed. Waiting again for him to run out of steam, I eventually drift off about a half hour later for another 2 hours of nightmares and..... REPEAT for the remainder of the night.
All in all, though, my pregnancy has been nothing to complain about. I've read many, many stories of horrible pregnancy issues (ie. 3 trimesters of full blown morning sickness, or months of bedrest) and thank my gracious Lord for the "easy" pregnancy which I have had. And most importantly, I thank Him for the continued health and growth of our son.
At the appointment I discovered that my weight gain had kicked up speed yet again (gaining a whopping 9lbs in 2 weeks!) and I have made the necessary adjustments to curtail that as best I can since then. As of weighing myself this morning, my efforts seem to be working. :-D Back on track!
Also, at the appointment, I discovered the reason that my belly button was hurting so bad wasn't "growing" as I had assumed, but a mild diastasis. This is a separation of the abdominal muscles along a vertical line that happens to run just behind the belly button. Again, mine is mild (about 1-2 fingers wide) and is supposedly fairly common. It's not really of concern until it gets more severe (3+ fingers wide). However, the midwife suggested that I do sit-ups to strengthen my abdominal muscles. And here, I must have a little confession time: Up until now I have done all the prenatal yoga excercises I could find... except those that resemble sit-ups. Why? The best answer I can come up with is that I have an irrational fear of squishing my belly. I guess I spend so much time avoiding things like laying on my stomach, or falling onto my belly, or wearing super tight pants, that I just can't accept that anything which intentionally squishes my belly could be a good thing. Even though, intellectually, I know that the baby doesn't get hurt by sit-ups, and that it could even be indirectly beneficial by aiding in labor etc.......... it just for some reason scares me a little. None-the-less, I am putting these fears aside and following my midwife's directives (and the advice of most baby books out there), and doing my sit-ups now.
Other than that, we discovered that my fundal height is right on schedule and that (based on feeling the baby through my belly with 20+yrs of experience behind her) my midwife doesn't think Ethan is going to size himself out of the Birthing Center. YEAH! (If the baby is thought to be larger than 10lbs they have to be delivered in the L&D Department instead.) Let's hope this stays true! Also, unless my fundal height reveals an unusually large baby (ie. measuring 38centimeters instead of the 35 I should be at 35 weeks) there will most likely be no more ultrasounds. And that is just fine with us.
As for other details of my pregnancy status:
I can't jump out of bed these days. If I do, I inevitably experience a charlie-horse in some muscle of my body (most often my calves) which usually sends me falling back into bed with comedic drama, or patheticly to the floor from which I will not be able to rise for several minutes. Instead, before I move anything else, I begin ankle stretches and rotations to get my circulation going. Then, once I feel sufficient blood down there, I slowly ease my way to a sitting position and continue the stretches. Eventually I feel it is safe and walk gingerly to the restroom to prepare for the day.
And of course, heartburn is still my constant companion and Papaya supplements my new best friend.
Other than that, there's my "pig's feet" to deal with. Each morning I awake with perfectly normal, lovely (if I do say so) feet, and by midmorning they have somehow managed to morphe their way into pig's feet. Don't ask me how. It certainly takes no effort on my part and they definately did NOT ask my permission to perform this magic trick! None-the-less, this is my daily burden: attempting to somehow squash pig-sized feet into lady-sized shoes! Not to mention just bending over with a watermelon in your lap is no easy feat. Assuming I am successful at this, I then pay the price of tingling toes and aching bridges for any period of time greater than 30 minutes which I spend sitting with shoes on.
Another fun bit is this activity I do each night that one might call "sleeping." See, first I get into bed and painstakingly arrange my legions of pillows so that Luke will still have at least 12 inches of sleeping space to call his own. Then I settle in and finally get comfortable just in time for my previously still-as-a-statue son to begin his nightly exercises. (Anyone tried to sleep with a rambunctious puppy bouncing on their stomach???) This of course brings on the heartburn. So I get up and go to the bathroom for some Papaya supplements to take the edge off the burn. Back in bed, Ethan eventually runs out of steam and I drift gratefully into a slumber which (as typical of the last 5 months) is filled with one nightmare followed by another until I wake up about 2 hours later to use the restroom. Not because I actually have anything to leave in the toilet, but because Ethan's return to exercising makes me think I do. More papaya, and back to bed. Waiting again for him to run out of steam, I eventually drift off about a half hour later for another 2 hours of nightmares and..... REPEAT for the remainder of the night.
All in all, though, my pregnancy has been nothing to complain about. I've read many, many stories of horrible pregnancy issues (ie. 3 trimesters of full blown morning sickness, or months of bedrest) and thank my gracious Lord for the "easy" pregnancy which I have had. And most importantly, I thank Him for the continued health and growth of our son.
posted by KMD | 5:16 PM
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