Monday, April 1, 2013

Pregnancy #3: weeks 20-24

 20 weeks:


21 weeks:

  

23 weeks:
 

24 weeks:


Growing bigger as you can see! I had my second midwife appointment right around 20 weeks. The baby sounded great and everything was normal except I was measuring waaaay ahead. I'm very sure about the due date, and both ultrasounds have confirmed it so I think the baby was just sitting funny. For this pregnancy, I'm on the "have as few appointments as the midwife will let me get away with" plan. I love love love our midwife, but since she's also both the boys doctor and my primary physician (she's an ND as well as a licensed midwife) and I've been pregnant back to back to back I feel like I know her well and don't need all the reassurance and "get to know you" stuff that comes with the earlier appointments. Except for the normal discomforts, all of my pregnancies have been straight forward with no complications so I really don't feel the need to load up the kids, make the 1-1.5 hour round trip drive, visit with her for an hour (how long the appointments last), just to get told my blood pressure is normal, I'm not spilling any proteins in my urine (both of which I can check at home), and that the baby looks good. Especially now that I can feel and see her moving around like crazy.

So my next appointment is at 27 weeks, then as we approach the due date the appointments will get more frequent, but hopefully not too frequent:)

As of right now I feel pretty good. I don't need a nap to make it through the day, fall asleep pretty easily, and can usually make it through the night without having to pee. That said, I do go to bed usually around 8:30 or 9pm. Jerad has been CRAZY at work and usually has to stay up late doing drawings, bids, or permit packages and the kids are all out by 7:30 so I just do some cleaning, watch an episode of X-Files, then pass out. I have to get up at 5:30 most days so it's not like I'm getting an insane amount of sleep, usually around 8.5-9 hours which is nice. Sometimes on Friday's after our play dates I do sneak in a 30 minute nap while the kids are sleeping if I don't have any chores to catch up on.

I've gained the least amount of weight of any of my pregnancies so far. At 20 weeks I was around 5-7 pounds, and as of this morning I was around 10. I know I'll never be one of those people that only gain 20-30 pounds so I'm guessing I'm just going to pack it all on in the third trimester.

I have round ligament pain that's more severe than I've had before, but it's usually only when I'm going to bed and doesn't last for long so its totally manageable. So far I haven't been having muscle spasms in my legs at night which I had with both the boys, so I'm hoping that doesn't come till later. Or just doesn't come at all would be nice!

The last few weeks I've been getting lots of costochondritis pain and it's almost constant now, just varying in intensity. Costochondritis is an inflammation of the rib tissue near the sternum. Its most common in athletes, or people in the military who are doing lots of physical activity and heavy workouts. It mimics heart-attack like pain or a gallstone attack. I had it with Marshall BAD. If I rolled over at night I'd wake up literally screaming. It took forever for someone to diagnose it correctly. Basically I get it because I'm little, have a short torso, and get freakin huge while pregnant so my ribs really expand. Carrying this baby high isn't helping either. Even though it's miserable, there isn't anything to do about it or a way to cure it. An anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen can help a little, but otherwise it usually goes away once the baby is born and there isn't so much internal pressure stretching everything out. I had it with Miller as well, but not as bad. Sitting, and wearing a bra make it a million times worse so my long work days really kill me. Well, "kill me" is probably an overstatement, but it is really really uncomfortable especially since the baby can now kick the same area from the inside. Putting pressure or rubbing from the outside helps so usually I'm doing that which just makes me look like a freak but oh well. Thankfully it's only on the right side and when I lay down and stretch out at night the pain lessens!

Going to the chiropractor helps a little bit, but it's soo hard to go and get adjusted and RELAX there with the kids. For some reason they don't enjoy just sitting there in the chairs with their hands folded nicely in their laps. I swear, they have the attention span of toddlers! Ha. Anyways, I'll start going soon but ultimately I'll have to just live with it until the baby is born.

I'm having lots of braxton hicks contractions, mostly if I get a little dehydrated or when I'm pushing the kids in the stroller or doing anything physical. I had the same thing with Miller, they were almost constant by the end. At this point they aren't painful at all and I like to think they just keep my uterus nice and toned. Miller just FLEW out so maybe the months and months of BH helped with that?

I know it sounds like I'm whining and really uncomfortable, but I'm not. For the most part, I think this has been the easiest pregnancy yet! I'm getting lots of rest, Jerad is around to help with the kids, and besides being a little uncomfortable I feel great physically and at this point can still chase and pick up the kids. At the same time. I mean, my body is growing an 8lb human... there's bound to be a few aches and pains right?

I'm sure as it gets hotter (we have three digit summers here) and I get bigger I'll be less enthusiastic with life so I'm trying to work on my to-do list now. A few weekends ago I hit up a consignment store that was having 50% off all their used kids clothes and got a bunch of girly things sized newborn-12 months so for the most part we have everything we "need" for the baby now. Hopefully we have time to get started on the nursery soon. I love having a decorated baby space to put their little things in. That's when it starts really feeling real for me:)

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