Pregnancy

I'm 28 weeks pregnant, and I still look in the mirror at times and just shake my head with a smile.  This is really happening!  I'm carrying a child.  There is a little life inside of me.  I'm still amazed that God has given us this gift!

Because this pregnancy is such a gift, I would never want to complain about any sickness or pain.  At the same time, I wanted to document my pregnancy.  This may be the only pregnancy I ever experience, and I'm sure I'll forget a lot of the little details as time passes. For this reason, I chose to write about the good, bad, and (I don't think there are any uglies).  I give a truthful account of the up's and down's that I've experienced during this time. 

My heart:
During my second trimester my heart rate was noticably faster.  One Wednesday I left school late from a faculty meeting.  It was pounding out of my body, and I had just been sitting there for an hour and a half.  Scared and panicked, I went to my neighbor's, Sandra's, house.  She is an adoptive mother herself (her boys both now grown), and she did our home study for us when we got Rocco.  Sandra is one person who has been praying and rejoicing with me during this pregnancy.  I was a basket case thinking the worst with my heart.  I held my cell phone just waiting for the on-call doctor to call me back.  She prayed with me on her porch.  I went home in tears to an empty house.  It was church night, and I wasn't going to make it.  The doctor said that increased heart rate is normal during pregnancy.  I felt more at ease, but it wasn't until a few days later when I saw Dr. Pearson, my cardiologist, that I relaxed.  Thank the Lord my heart checked out okay.  I could feel my heart pounding because I had come off of my atenolol (beta-blocker) a few months ago.  My blood pressure was great, and an increased heart rate is normal.  I was so relieved!  

My back:
When I was a teenager I was hit from behind while sitting at a stop sign in my car.  Ever since then I have a spot in the middle of my back that will tighten up from time to time.  Most of the time I'm fine.  Toward the end of my second trimester this spot has given me fits.  Jason even bought me a back massager for my birthday.  I've tried heat, a muscle relaxer, the massager, and even having Rocco and Jason rub it for me.  It tenses up and really hurts.  It especially hurts after I've graded papers or worked on the computer for a while.

Round ligament pain:
You have a pain, you ask the doctor, this is the answer you get...round ligament pain.  I suppose that's what I'm feeling under my left breast.  If I'm on my left side and I roll over a little too fast, OUCH!  A sharp pain goes shooting in my chest and almost takes my breath.  I just go back to my left side and try it again.

My mental state:
They say your mood is affected when you are pregnant.  Add to that that I came off of an antidepressant early in the first trimester and I admit I've been a mess at times.  Thankfully I have been able to stay off of this medication.  That was an answer to prayer.  I do cry sometimes...for no reason or for silly reasons.  I can see a baby on  TV and start crying.  Rocco got upset at first with this, but the other day Baby Story was on TV and he said, "Hey mommy! There's a baby!"  I think he wanted to see how I would react.  He's a stinker!  I remember coming home from our family vacation to Cancun back in October.  WAlking through the airport I saw a picture of a soldier hugging his parents.  It was a welcome home type/appreciation banner for our military.  I just broke down and cried!

My activity level:
I know you should be active when you are pregnant to stay healthy, but I remember my first trimester I wanted to be so careful not to overdo it that I would come home each day and lie down.  I took naps a lot; I was tired more then, too, so I went to bed early (like 8pm).  I'm usually a night owl. 
By the time the energy returned the second trimester I began to have lower pubic pain.  This was in my lower pelvic region.  I noticed if I was on my feet a lot at school that I hurt more.  I remember right before our Thanksgiving break I was hurting.  I though tto myself, If I'm hurting this bad now I'll be on bedrest by December.  Thankfully that didn't happen, and surprisingly the pain got better.  Then again by January my belly began to get  bigger and the weight of the baby pushing down got me to hurting more.  I called the nurse to double check.  With this being my first pregnancy I didn't know what was overdoing it and what was normal.  I just tried to sit more at work.  They said as long as I wasn't spotting and the baby was active I should be fine. 

Side effects:
If pregnancy gave me two side effects, they would be heartburn and being nauseous.  I was nauseous a lot the first trimester, and I threw up a good bit.  I threw up before work some mornings, and I would often vomit again around 7 or 8 at night.  After I got it out, I felt better.  Once the "morning sickness" left (and the smell of Jason's soap or something in our bathroom was sure to make me sick), heartburn set in.  Of course spicy foods were not good to me, but then again I could drink water and get heartburn.  In fact, one of the reasons I went to my heart doctor was the pain in my chest and the weird sensation I was feeling.  They said it was something like acid reflux and that I could take Zantac.  I took it once or twice and it helped.  I've tried to take as little medicine as possible.  TUMS has been a good friend of mine for months now. 

Blood levels:
Big blessing...I passed my glucose tolerance test.  No gestational diabetes.  Praise the Lord!  One test came back that my iron level was low.  They said this was normal, so I'm still on an iron supplement.

My weight:
I've gained about 25 pounds since I got pregnant.  This is the only time in my life when I've weighed this much.  It's also the only time I've gotten big and so many people tell me, "You're glowing!" or "You're so cute!" or even "You look so beautiful!"  Something about pregnancy makes you gorgeous even when you're fat!
I think my circumference has grown around my chest because my bras dig into my chest.  That hurts.  I found some hook extenders and these have helped a lot.  I also bought a bra with no underwire and that helped some.  With my growing belly I've found that my old bras don't fit so well.  They make red marks on me as my body extends. 
The fun part has been shopping for maternity clothes.  Motherhood has been my favorite store.  I also got a lot of clothes for my birthday and Christmas.  When I first started getting big my parents found a load of clothes for me at a consignment sale.  That was a budget saver!  Maternity clothes can be expensive and hard to find.  We don't even have a maternity store in our town. 

Insomnia:
I don't sleep as well any more.  Before pregnancy I would go to sleep and not wake up until the morning.  Not so much so now!  I go to the bathroom two or three times a night.  I toss and turn- left side, right side, left side, right side, left side, etc.  They say not to lie on your back so much because the weight of the baby can affect your circulation as he puts pressure on your vena cava.  Laying on your right side can do this, too.  I bought a pregnancy body pillow, but I took it back because it gave me the worst crick in my neck.  I was crying on the phone with the on-call doctor Thanksgiving night at my parents' house because I was in extreme pain.  They called me in a muscle relaxer.  I finally went to sleep around 2 or 3am that night. 
    Rocco saw an infomercial for some product one afternoon.  They were saying, "Do you toss and turn at night?"  He quickly called out to me, "Mommy, you need that!"  Bless his heart, he knows I don't sleep well because he's right next to me all night (in between Jason and me).  I didn't order the product, but I do sleep with about 4 or 5 pillows.  I took Benadryl a night or two to help me rest, but as I stated before I don't want to take any medicine if I can keep from it.  It is still a miracle that I'm not on aspirin or heart medicine. 

Quickening:
That's what they call it when you can feel the baby move inside of you.  I remember when I first felt our little baby boy.  It was a Thursday night at 10:30pm.  I'd just put Rocco to bed, and I was sitting on the couch with Jason.  He was watching Burn Notice.  And then it happened.  Three little knocks.  One.  Two.  Three.  I was thrilled!  I was about 20 or 21 weeks along.  I had waited on this since week 16.  I told Jason what had happened, and he quickly came over to feel it. Of course, he couldn't.  The baby was still too small.  But I felt it!  In the coming weeks I would soon see my stomach pulse out with a little thump.  I could actually see the baby.  It only lasted a second, but it was priceless. 

Rocco:
So far  Rocco has felt the baby the most.  He comes up to me and puts his sweet hands on my belly.  The first time he felt a good bump he looked at me excitedly and said, "I felt it mom!"   I told him that his brother could hear him, so during the second trimester he would come up to my womb and roar like a dinosaur. He's already started aggravating his brother.   I also told him that he might be able to hear the baby's heart beat.  I let him listen one time and I asked him what he heard.  "I heard him talking,"  he said.  
     We haven't decided on our baby's name yet, but Rocco has come up with some unusual names.  So crazy that I'm sure if we went with those names little brother would try to beat up on his big brother one day.  Luigi Nitro.  Lego Duplo.  Yeah, those are just a few.  The only name that has stuck is Nitro.  To this day we call him "Baby Nitro."

Ultrasound:
When we first saw the baby on the screen I was a little more than 6 weeks along.  The technician congratulated us on our grain of rice.  He was so tiny.  The last ultrasound I had showed that he was about 2 pounds 10 ounces - a little bigger than average for me to be 27 weeks.  We were thrilled! 

Regardless of any sleepless nights, heartburn, round ligament pain, gained weight, bras that dig into my skin, nauseousness , or moodiness - I'm thankful for all of it.  I always wanted to experience pregnancy and it's been such a blessing.  I'd take it all again - this little boy is so worth it!