Oops, forgot to post this last week. Well really I forgot to finish it!!!!!!!!
How far along? 31 weeks
Baby's size? Pineapple
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 181.6 up 35lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: Lots
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Mandarin oranges
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
Saturday, November 16, 2013
32 weeks
How far along? 32 weeks
Baby's size? Squash
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 15.0 Up 36.4 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely L pants and going into XL shirts to accommodate the growing belly
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Braxton Hicks
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Mandarin oranges
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Holding this baby in my arms
Less then 2 months to go!!! I've been taken off work. My last day was Nov. 7th. I decided it was for the best because of the pains I was having. I'm not sure if they were just really painful braxton hicks but I suspect they were contractions since they'd spread around my tummy to my back and were quite painful. They'd start 45 minutes into my work day and come roughly every 10 minutes lasting for 45-60 seconds. I'd have around 6 every hour until a few hours after work when they'd start to die down. Since I've been off they've all but gone away. I'll get the occasional one when I'm stressed but otherwise just the normal braxton hicks with the painless yet uncomfortable tightening. I also started to get mild carpal tunnel. I noticed it a few months ago. I'd wake up in the middle of the night to find my left hand numb. This was odd since I was sleeping on my right side so it's not like it wasn't getting circulation. Over time it started happening randomly through the day. I'm not sure if this is normal but it's random what part of my hand goes numb. Sometimes it's just my fingertips, sometimes it's certain fingers and other times it's goes up the side of my hand to my pinky finger tip. It started happening numerous times a day and since I work with needles I thought it was best for this reason as well to go off. My doctor suggested getting a brace but is there really any point in spending that money if it should go away after pregnancy? We're going to try going off on short term disability through my work since that's 75% of my pay and if that gets denied and I can't talk them into it over the phone I'll go off my sick ei which is 55% of my pay. It sucks because while we've managed to save it would've been nice to have an extra 2 months to put some money aside. I'm not too stressed money wise at the moment. I've got 4.5 mortgage payments put aside which will last until January 17th and after that we can dip into our other savings (which I'd really rather not do). My mum has also said she's going to give us some money to put aside and use if we need. That way we don't have to ask and can pay her back when we no longer need to worry. I really appreciate this because while I would ask if we needed, it would be very hard to admit to my parents that we're struggling to pay bills and ask for help. The main issue financially with going off early is that I have to take a week unpaid from work until std kicks in and then get the forms, have the doctor fill them out and wait to see if they're approved. I expect this to take 3-4 weeks. If I'm denied I then have to go back to the doctor and get them to fill out a sick ei form, fill out that paperwork and wait anywhere up to 8 weeks to receive my first payment from the date of submission. That means we could be on one income for 3 months. With our savings in reality it's not a big deal because we'll get a portion (75-55%) back in a large chunk it's just having that money there at the time to get us by. I don't know how people who live paycheque to paycheque get by while on maternity leave and am so thankful we are able to save a little each month and have the support of our family if we need it.
This baby can stay in for another 5 weeks, then I'll start doing as much as I can to get things moving along. I would prefer not to have another 10 days past due date induction. I'd love to go into labour naturally for my final pregnancy. What a great way to end our difficult journey. I'm trying to appreciate all these little movements and moments of pregnancy while I can knowing that this will be the last time I am ever going to experience this again.
My weight has also started creeping up these past few weeks. Honestly I'm not concerned. Again because this is my last pregnancy I'm just going with it. I managed to lose it all plus extra with Lauren and fully expect to do the same this time. I've got a plan in place to train for a mini triathlon in July and have decided to just enjoy these last few weeks with as little stress as possible on the weight issue. I'll deal with that when the time comes after the baby is born.
Baby's size? Squash
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 15.0 Up 36.4 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely L pants and going into XL shirts to accommodate the growing belly
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Braxton Hicks
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Mandarin oranges
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Holding this baby in my arms
Less then 2 months to go!!! I've been taken off work. My last day was Nov. 7th. I decided it was for the best because of the pains I was having. I'm not sure if they were just really painful braxton hicks but I suspect they were contractions since they'd spread around my tummy to my back and were quite painful. They'd start 45 minutes into my work day and come roughly every 10 minutes lasting for 45-60 seconds. I'd have around 6 every hour until a few hours after work when they'd start to die down. Since I've been off they've all but gone away. I'll get the occasional one when I'm stressed but otherwise just the normal braxton hicks with the painless yet uncomfortable tightening. I also started to get mild carpal tunnel. I noticed it a few months ago. I'd wake up in the middle of the night to find my left hand numb. This was odd since I was sleeping on my right side so it's not like it wasn't getting circulation. Over time it started happening randomly through the day. I'm not sure if this is normal but it's random what part of my hand goes numb. Sometimes it's just my fingertips, sometimes it's certain fingers and other times it's goes up the side of my hand to my pinky finger tip. It started happening numerous times a day and since I work with needles I thought it was best for this reason as well to go off. My doctor suggested getting a brace but is there really any point in spending that money if it should go away after pregnancy? We're going to try going off on short term disability through my work since that's 75% of my pay and if that gets denied and I can't talk them into it over the phone I'll go off my sick ei which is 55% of my pay. It sucks because while we've managed to save it would've been nice to have an extra 2 months to put some money aside. I'm not too stressed money wise at the moment. I've got 4.5 mortgage payments put aside which will last until January 17th and after that we can dip into our other savings (which I'd really rather not do). My mum has also said she's going to give us some money to put aside and use if we need. That way we don't have to ask and can pay her back when we no longer need to worry. I really appreciate this because while I would ask if we needed, it would be very hard to admit to my parents that we're struggling to pay bills and ask for help. The main issue financially with going off early is that I have to take a week unpaid from work until std kicks in and then get the forms, have the doctor fill them out and wait to see if they're approved. I expect this to take 3-4 weeks. If I'm denied I then have to go back to the doctor and get them to fill out a sick ei form, fill out that paperwork and wait anywhere up to 8 weeks to receive my first payment from the date of submission. That means we could be on one income for 3 months. With our savings in reality it's not a big deal because we'll get a portion (75-55%) back in a large chunk it's just having that money there at the time to get us by. I don't know how people who live paycheque to paycheque get by while on maternity leave and am so thankful we are able to save a little each month and have the support of our family if we need it.
This baby can stay in for another 5 weeks, then I'll start doing as much as I can to get things moving along. I would prefer not to have another 10 days past due date induction. I'd love to go into labour naturally for my final pregnancy. What a great way to end our difficult journey. I'm trying to appreciate all these little movements and moments of pregnancy while I can knowing that this will be the last time I am ever going to experience this again.
My weight has also started creeping up these past few weeks. Honestly I'm not concerned. Again because this is my last pregnancy I'm just going with it. I managed to lose it all plus extra with Lauren and fully expect to do the same this time. I've got a plan in place to train for a mini triathlon in July and have decided to just enjoy these last few weeks with as little stress as possible on the weight issue. I'll deal with that when the time comes after the baby is born.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
cramping
I ended up going to labour and delivery on Monday evening. Since Friday I'd been getting period like cramps and an increase in braxton hicks. The cramps is what was really worrying to me. They didn't go away and the braxton hicks were occasionally painful too. I kept track Monday morning and they came every 20 minutes, give or take 5 while I was at work. I put Lauren down for her nap after lunch and she didn't wake until 4. Although they weren't as frequent I was still getting the occasional cramping. After posting on a January Facebook group and having many women say that their first signs of labour were period like cramps I decided it was best to get checked out. I packed Lauren up and took her over to my mum's, called Dan to let him know what was going on and not to come to the hospital.
I hate going to the hospital. I especially hate going when I'm unsure if it's really warranted. I knew chances are that everything was fine but I needed to suck it up and make sure I wasn't going into early labour at 30 weeks. I got there at 5 and it took about 30 minutes before they hooked me up to the monitor for an hour. Of course at this point the cramps had pretty much stopped so don't think anything was picked up on the monitor. They called the doctor on call who came in to do swabs.
They did 4 tests in total. A swab to check my water hadn't broken since I've been having an increase of clear discharge (yup gross!) the past week or so, a swab to check for infection, even though she was fairly certain there wasn't any, mine as well double check while you're down there anyway! A GBS (group B strep) which is only good for 5 weeks so if I do go full term I'll still need another but incase I do go into labour before 35 weeks they did one while they were down there. The first test swab the did was a fetal fibronectin test, which is one of the most important of the 4.
Thankfully the test came back negative which gives a 99% chance I will not go into labour in the next 7 days. I'll have to talk to the maternity doctor on Tuesday but I think I've come to realize that the pains come while I'm at work and slowly go away in frequency while resting. I'm really conflicted about if I should go off work or not. I really do feel like work is making this pregnancy harder but if I go off early I also feel like a failure for a few reasons. I worked into my 39th week with Lauren and could've continued working which is why I put my maternity leave to start on my due date. Money is a big issue too. If I go off I'll either go on employment insurance sick leave at 55% of my pay until the baby is born or go on short term disability which is 75% of my pay until the baby is born and I switch to maternity leave pay of 55%. We could survive money wise but we've managed to put some money aside the past few weeks so we'd have a buffer while waiting for maternity leave to kick in (can take 8 weeks to process) and we'd need to use this for mortgage payments. I'd like to save a little more so we don't have to struggle during the year off. My last reason is I actually enjoy work. I enjoy going to work and getting out of the house for 5 hours a day. I worry that my peri natal depression will get worse if I'm sitting at home all day.
I hate going to the hospital. I especially hate going when I'm unsure if it's really warranted. I knew chances are that everything was fine but I needed to suck it up and make sure I wasn't going into early labour at 30 weeks. I got there at 5 and it took about 30 minutes before they hooked me up to the monitor for an hour. Of course at this point the cramps had pretty much stopped so don't think anything was picked up on the monitor. They called the doctor on call who came in to do swabs.
They did 4 tests in total. A swab to check my water hadn't broken since I've been having an increase of clear discharge (yup gross!) the past week or so, a swab to check for infection, even though she was fairly certain there wasn't any, mine as well double check while you're down there anyway! A GBS (group B strep) which is only good for 5 weeks so if I do go full term I'll still need another but incase I do go into labour before 35 weeks they did one while they were down there. The first test swab the did was a fetal fibronectin test, which is one of the most important of the 4.
Thankfully the test came back negative which gives a 99% chance I will not go into labour in the next 7 days. I'll have to talk to the maternity doctor on Tuesday but I think I've come to realize that the pains come while I'm at work and slowly go away in frequency while resting. I'm really conflicted about if I should go off work or not. I really do feel like work is making this pregnancy harder but if I go off early I also feel like a failure for a few reasons. I worked into my 39th week with Lauren and could've continued working which is why I put my maternity leave to start on my due date. Money is a big issue too. If I go off I'll either go on employment insurance sick leave at 55% of my pay until the baby is born or go on short term disability which is 75% of my pay until the baby is born and I switch to maternity leave pay of 55%. We could survive money wise but we've managed to put some money aside the past few weeks so we'd have a buffer while waiting for maternity leave to kick in (can take 8 weeks to process) and we'd need to use this for mortgage payments. I'd like to save a little more so we don't have to struggle during the year off. My last reason is I actually enjoy work. I enjoy going to work and getting out of the house for 5 hours a day. I worry that my peri natal depression will get worse if I'm sitting at home all day.
Friday, November 1, 2013
30 weeks
How far along? 30 weeks
Baby's size? Cucumber
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 180.0 Up 31.4 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Mandarin oranges
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
It's been a pretty good week. The baby had a quiet day on Wednesday and it made me nervous. I noticed around 9am that I hadn't felt any movements since waking at 6am so I had some apple juice to see if that would wake the baby up. It didn't so on my coffee break I went to get a cup of coffee and drank it slowly over the next few hours. There were a few movements but nothing at all normal or frequent. I had decided that if the baby didn't start becoming more active by 7pm I would go to the hospital to make sure everything was ok. I didn't want to poke the baby or anything like that because I was worried it would be false movements and the baby was just responding to pressure. I thought that having the drinks and having it go through the placenta to encourage movement would show that the placenta was working too but the baby really did have a lazy day and wasn't very active at all. Around 4pm it started to move more frequently, enough for me to no longer worry about going to the hospital in a few hours and around 7:30 it started kicking up a storm. The movements have gone back to normal so I'm not concerned at all.
That's pretty much it for the week. Next appointment isn't until the 12th and I've got a few questions I'm starting to prepare. This is the last 4 week stretch of appointments! After this one they move to every 2 weeks!!!! 10 weeks until due date! Can't wait until next week when we're in the single digits.
Baby's size? Cucumber
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 180.0 Up 31.4 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Mandarin oranges
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
It's been a pretty good week. The baby had a quiet day on Wednesday and it made me nervous. I noticed around 9am that I hadn't felt any movements since waking at 6am so I had some apple juice to see if that would wake the baby up. It didn't so on my coffee break I went to get a cup of coffee and drank it slowly over the next few hours. There were a few movements but nothing at all normal or frequent. I had decided that if the baby didn't start becoming more active by 7pm I would go to the hospital to make sure everything was ok. I didn't want to poke the baby or anything like that because I was worried it would be false movements and the baby was just responding to pressure. I thought that having the drinks and having it go through the placenta to encourage movement would show that the placenta was working too but the baby really did have a lazy day and wasn't very active at all. Around 4pm it started to move more frequently, enough for me to no longer worry about going to the hospital in a few hours and around 7:30 it started kicking up a storm. The movements have gone back to normal so I'm not concerned at all.
That's pretty much it for the week. Next appointment isn't until the 12th and I've got a few questions I'm starting to prepare. This is the last 4 week stretch of appointments! After this one they move to every 2 weeks!!!! 10 weeks until due date! Can't wait until next week when we're in the single digits.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
29 weeks
How far along? 29 weeks
Baby's size? Squash
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 178.8 Up 30.2 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Nothing
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
It's been an uneventful week for the most part. I'm pretty sure I've now torn that muscle in my stomach. While at work one day I stood up to take a patient to the back and as I was walking away our appointment book was about to fall down so I half turned and leaned to grab it. I felt the pull and what I can only describe as a tear and pop feeling. It was incredibly painful for a few hours and now the dull pain is a constant. Nothing I can really do about it though so I just suck it up and move on with my day. Some days are better then others. Although it constantly hurts the more I move and do things the more it hurts by the evening. Tuesday it hurt so much I had to get Dan to tie my shoes. I must've tried 5 times bending over, sitting down, every possible position to tie them but it hurt way too much. Most of the time the pain is manageable but I do still worry how I'm going to be able to push a baby out. My hospital doesn't do epidurals very often which I was happy about with Lauren but this time it'll be interesting because I have a feeling it'll be needed the closer I get to my due date.
Weight wise I'm feeling ok with it. I don't think I'll gain as much as last time and if I do it'll be in different areas. I still fit into my medium pants but I've switched to a large just because it's more comfortable belly wise. When I switched with Lauren it was because my thighs were getting too big, although I did start this pregnancy 12 lbs lighter. I also notice my face and arms aren't as "fatty" as they were with Lauren. I'm carrying this pregnancy very different to Lauren and Hailey so I feel like the weight is mainly belly. We shall see though.
Emotionally I'm doing ok. Still going to the group and I have nothing but positive comments to say about it. I just wish it were as easy as it has been for me to find the appropriate help and I recognize how lucky I am to have all these avenues open at no out of pocket cost.
Baby's size? Squash
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 178.8 Up 30.2 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Pretty good at the moment. This baby doesn't sit on my bladder so I never wake up to pee, it's more waking up to readjust and get comfortable.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Nothing
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
It's been an uneventful week for the most part. I'm pretty sure I've now torn that muscle in my stomach. While at work one day I stood up to take a patient to the back and as I was walking away our appointment book was about to fall down so I half turned and leaned to grab it. I felt the pull and what I can only describe as a tear and pop feeling. It was incredibly painful for a few hours and now the dull pain is a constant. Nothing I can really do about it though so I just suck it up and move on with my day. Some days are better then others. Although it constantly hurts the more I move and do things the more it hurts by the evening. Tuesday it hurt so much I had to get Dan to tie my shoes. I must've tried 5 times bending over, sitting down, every possible position to tie them but it hurt way too much. Most of the time the pain is manageable but I do still worry how I'm going to be able to push a baby out. My hospital doesn't do epidurals very often which I was happy about with Lauren but this time it'll be interesting because I have a feeling it'll be needed the closer I get to my due date.
Weight wise I'm feeling ok with it. I don't think I'll gain as much as last time and if I do it'll be in different areas. I still fit into my medium pants but I've switched to a large just because it's more comfortable belly wise. When I switched with Lauren it was because my thighs were getting too big, although I did start this pregnancy 12 lbs lighter. I also notice my face and arms aren't as "fatty" as they were with Lauren. I'm carrying this pregnancy very different to Lauren and Hailey so I feel like the weight is mainly belly. We shall see though.
Emotionally I'm doing ok. Still going to the group and I have nothing but positive comments to say about it. I just wish it were as easy as it has been for me to find the appropriate help and I recognize how lucky I am to have all these avenues open at no out of pocket cost.
Friday, October 18, 2013
28 weeks
How far along? 28 weeks
Baby's size? Eggplant
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 178.6 (I'm pretty sure that scale can't be right or I've gained nearly 6lbs in a week!)
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Getting better. I still wake up a few times throughout the night but it takes me less time to fall back asleep.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Nothing
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
I had my doctor's appointment Tuesday at the maternity clinic. She confirmed the pain in my uppper left stomach was muscular and there's nothing we can do about it. It was a pretty uneventful appointment. The only issue is that I'm measuring 26 weeks. Not a big deal if I was supposed to be 27 weeks at the time. I'm trying not to focus on this but it doesn't leave me feeling very good. Although I've given in to the whole due date thing and am going with what the doctors tell me it still plays on my mind. It is 100% impossible to get a positive pregnancy test 2 days after I ovulate. I worry that something's wrong with the baby and that's why the dates are off but I'm trying not to focus on this. I told Dan that I'm just going to give in and assume that I'm some wierd freak of nature. Maybe I had a super rare superfetation (I ovulated a second time after already being pregnant but lost the first baby) that's the only thing I can think of at this point. I'm trying really hard not to google what measuring 2 weeks behind your due date means. Hopefully it's just because this baby is sitting REALLY low so it's not stretching out my uterus as much as "normal".
The perinatal depression group is going well. I'm doing well, besides getting a cold. Ugh I hate colds while pregnant. Currently drinking hot water, lemon and honey.
Baby's size? Eggplant
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 178.6 (I'm pretty sure that scale can't be right or I've gained nearly 6lbs in a week!)
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Getting better. I still wake up a few times throughout the night but it takes me less time to fall back asleep.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Nothing
Best moments this week: Just normal feeling baby move
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
I had my doctor's appointment Tuesday at the maternity clinic. She confirmed the pain in my uppper left stomach was muscular and there's nothing we can do about it. It was a pretty uneventful appointment. The only issue is that I'm measuring 26 weeks. Not a big deal if I was supposed to be 27 weeks at the time. I'm trying not to focus on this but it doesn't leave me feeling very good. Although I've given in to the whole due date thing and am going with what the doctors tell me it still plays on my mind. It is 100% impossible to get a positive pregnancy test 2 days after I ovulate. I worry that something's wrong with the baby and that's why the dates are off but I'm trying not to focus on this. I told Dan that I'm just going to give in and assume that I'm some wierd freak of nature. Maybe I had a super rare superfetation (I ovulated a second time after already being pregnant but lost the first baby) that's the only thing I can think of at this point. I'm trying really hard not to google what measuring 2 weeks behind your due date means. Hopefully it's just because this baby is sitting REALLY low so it's not stretching out my uterus as much as "normal".
The perinatal depression group is going well. I'm doing well, besides getting a cold. Ugh I hate colds while pregnant. Currently drinking hot water, lemon and honey.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
27 weeks
How far along? 27 weeks
Baby's size? Cantaloupe
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 172.8 Up 24.2 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Getting better. I still wake up a few times throughout the night but it takes me less time to fall back asleep.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Nothing
Best moments this week: First week of the group (more on that soon)
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
It's been a while since I've updated. Everything is going well except I've been exhausted lately. Dan has decided to do ski patrol this year and is currently going through his first aid training. It's done over 6 weeks, full days so that means at the moment I'm on week 4 of not sleeping past 6 am since Lauren wakes up when he gets up. I try to have a little nap with her when she sleeps and tend to sleep for about 30 minutes before getting up and enjoying some quiet time to myself. Lately that hasn't really been happening much as that "quiet" time has been spent cleaning and doing housework. There's an end in sight and as long as he passes the first aid he'll only be gone one day every other weekend.
Baby's size? Cantaloupe
Weight gain: Starting Pregnancy weight: 148.6 Now: 172.8 Up 24.2 lbs
Stretch marks? I never got rid of my stretch marks from Hailey and Lauren
Maternity clothes? Yup, definitely
Gender: Not finding out
Movement: All the time
Sleep: Getting better. I still wake up a few times throughout the night but it takes me less time to fall back asleep.
Symptoms: Nothing really
Food aversions: Nothing
Food cravings: Nothing
Best moments this week: First week of the group (more on that soon)
What I miss: Nothing, so thankful to be pregnant again
What I'm looking forward to: Continuing with the group
It's been a while since I've updated. Everything is going well except I've been exhausted lately. Dan has decided to do ski patrol this year and is currently going through his first aid training. It's done over 6 weeks, full days so that means at the moment I'm on week 4 of not sleeping past 6 am since Lauren wakes up when he gets up. I try to have a little nap with her when she sleeps and tend to sleep for about 30 minutes before getting up and enjoying some quiet time to myself. Lately that hasn't really been happening much as that "quiet" time has been spent cleaning and doing housework. There's an end in sight and as long as he passes the first aid he'll only be gone one day every other weekend.
I had my doctors appointment (GP, not maternity) last Thursday and she was happy with the progress and the things I've put in place to keep myself off anti depressants for the time being. I've been working on the therapy and this week started a group therapy for perinatal depression. It's an 8 week course that gives you skills on coping with depression in a group setting to share your experiences and know you're not alone. I'm the only one in the group currently pregnant but that's ok with me. It wasn't until I arrived that I realized one of the 2 nurses doing the group is the same woman who ran the perinatal loss group. It was great to catch up with her.
Just from this first week I've learned so much and have been feeling better that my symptoms are "normal" and I'll get through them. I've been trying to figure out why the depression started this pregnancy. Really I think it's more anxiety that causing depression and I think it may have to do with the miscarriage. Traumatic experiences can trigger depression and anxiety. We all know I've had a few of those these past few years with Hailey and my other 5 pregnancies. If I really think back it all started around the time I had the hemorrhage at 10 weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if that triggered the memories and feeling from my last miscarriage which to me was very traumatic. I think back and I had gone to the hospital worrying about my health already excepting that I've lost the baby. Now here I am in that same pregnancy still dealing with the after effects of that day which would be the large clot. I've still so many unanswered questions and concerns but I don't think anyone can really answer those. It's just a wait and see and I'm not good at dealing with the unknown. I've also put in place that there will be help for the first few months with the baby. Dan will only be taking a week off when s/he comes. Then my mum will take the time off until his parents arrive in February. My doctor and I left it that I'd come see her again if I felt the need (she wanted to see me more often but I said that I felt like I'd know when and if I needed to see her again, plus I'm being seen by the mental health nurse). I also have to make an appointment 2/3 weeks post birth to see how I'm doing mental health wise. She did warn me that she'd be on holidays all of January but I love the replacement doctor so I'm totally ok seeing her instead.
I have an appointment with the maternity clinic Tuesday. I really want to mention the pain in my left side. I've had this pain for quite a while and haven't mentioned it yet. I stopped walking to work months ago because it became too painful to walk home and now I've started being in pain a few hours into my 5 hour shift. I'm not looking to go off work any time soon, I just want to know what it is, if there's anything I can do to reduce the pain and make note so when I do feel it's too much they're willing to take me off work. It makes me a little sad. I have my maternity leave set up as my due date and really thought I'd be able to keep working until then but those days that I work, if I don't rest and do very little in the afternoon I'm hurting so much at night that I just want to cry. I couldn't even scoop ice cream the other night it hurt that much. It's always in the same spot and I really think it's muscular so I doubt there's anything that can be done unfortunately. It also has me concerned about the labour. How am I going to push a baby out if I'm in this much pain? I have a feeling I'll be getting an epidural or begging for a c section which I would prefer not to have.
I'll try hard to keep updating more frequently. I was doing well for so long but these past few weeks have been really busy. Can't believe i'm nearly in the last trimester of my LAST pregnancy!!!!!!!
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