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March 24, 2003
20 Weeks
This week seemed like a quiet week to me, despite how crazy it was in the end. I had another Dr appointment which was exciting as always. It really didn’t feel like four weeks has passed since the last appointment… is it possible that time is flying even faster than I had first thought? The appointment went really well, I am really loving going to the Prenatal Clinic. The nurses are so wonderful and friendly there, I really feel as if I am being cared for gently and compassionately. There are a couple of things that I have forgotten to put in the past two entries – my mind has just been too muddled with pregnancy hormones and all the schoolwork I’ve been saddled with after coming back from my Uncle’s funeral.
First of all: I had a bladder infection just prior to leaving for Calgary, and it really came to a head that first night we were there. I think it was because of the very long day, in tight and confined quarters, and I probably didn’t have as much to drink as I should have throughout the day (although it felt as if I was constantly drinking and going pee!). Anyway, that night I awoke to the pain that was becoming very familiar to me on my lower right side, just below my ribs. I went to the bathroom, and where in previous occasions it subsides afterwards, this time I had to lie almost on my belly and be very still for almost 10 minutes before I started to feel better. Simon being the protective person he is, decided then and there that we would be finding a clinic in the morning and going there straightaway to figure this all out. As it turned out, I had a mild bladder infection, and because the urine has the ability to build up as I sleep, that is why I was feeling the aching pressure only at night. I started the antibiotics (of which is another topic really, I am a very alternative measures first kind of girl and don’t like taking prescriptions now particularly) and that night was the first time in weeks where I didn’t have the ache. I’ve been fine since. So, anyway, I told the Dr about it, and because I haven’t had the slightest indication of a problem since then, she wasn’t concerned at all.
Secondly: I have had heartburn consistently now for about a week. It comes on regardless of what I eat, what I do after eating, I will be sitting still and I still have that wonderful burning sensation. Fun. I am actually used to heartburn, I got it throughout my Bachelor’s degree when I was feeling particularly stressed. So, I don’t know if it is the stress of the past week or so or the pregnancy, or both making this lovely symptom descend upon me. My technique so far has been to have wonderfully large glasses of strawberry milk – mmmmm…. Cools me right down! I have resorted to Gaviscon here and there, but I wanted to check with the Dr to make sure it was alright to take. I spoke with her about it and ironically enough, Gaviscon was the first brand she suggested, so as of now, it is going to be added to my nightly pre-bed routine of brushing teeth and so on.
Alrighty, now that those are out of the way, on with the more exciting news from the visit. I am measuring right on target for 19 Weeks, 4 Days (the day my appt was on); my belly is growing right along! The heartbeat was again, just a magical thing to hear. I swear that I am getting addicted to the visits, if only for the opportunity to hear the heartbeat! I assume that such an addiction is healthy, after all, it’s not doing me much harm but rather bringing me immeasurable amounts of joy to hear that wonderful sound :-) Apart from that, the visit was quick, my weight is good, my blood pressure good. With every visit, I am liking this Dr more and more, she is quick, witty, laughing with us on stories, sympathetic and just plain nice. Such a difference between her and my family doctor!
Oh – the last thing about the appointment isn’t really about the appointment at all. My doctor is only in the Clinic on Tuesdays primarily, and infrequently on other days. Therefore, when I go to the receptionist to make a new appointment, I give the week it should be in and get assigned an appointment. I, personally, have been totally fine with this arrangement. I had mentioned to my group that I had a Dr appointment and would have to leave early from the meeting/class time on Tuesday afternoon, they appeared to be fine with this absence. I was walking out to the car, where Simon was waiting for me to drive to the appointment when my professor for the course came around the corner. She started talking about how it was a shame that I was missing class time and meetings because I had my appointments on Tuesdays. I have to admit that I was absolutely flabbergasted. As if I would purposely arrange to have my appointment when I obviously was already ‘booked’ for that time in a class! I explained to her that I didn’t have a choice unfortunately, that the hospital assigned the appointments and that all I could do was request that it be later in the afternoon so that I didn’t have to miss too much of a class. She still didn’t really seem satisfied with this reply, but it is really completely out of my hands. I need prenatal care, this is my doctor, and she is in the office on this day only. I have nothing to be sorry about! Still gets me peeved thinking about it. The last thing about this whole conversation is that I never told her about my appointment, so I am left wondering who in my group was either talking with her and mentioned it, or was whining about it and she overheard sort of scenario. Either way, I still don’t have any control over the situation! Arg. Okay, I will stop my rant now – sorry about all that, but I just got really wound up!
That’s affirmative, we have official movement! I have to say that besides the moment when I looked at the pregnancy test and saw those two wonderful lines, this has been the next most amazing moment in this pregnancy :-) I have been feeling these wonderful little flutters, punctuated every once in a while by these kicks or jabs. SOOOOO amazing to feel for the first time, and gives me the reassurance that this Little One is doing just fine in its little environment. Although I still wonder if those movements last week that I felt were the stronger kicks and jabs that I definitively feel this week, there is no mistaking it anymore. I am just in wonder and amazement at these little feelings. The funniest part about it I think is that I will forget for a moment if I’m in a good track for my paper or whatnot that I’m working on, and then feel something and just think, ‘oh, that’s just my stomach digesting, or gas moving around, or whatever’ and then realize what I had just thought and laugh at myself for forgetting :-) And honestly, now that I feel these movements, just as I have been blissfully moving along for this whole pregnancy so far, I don’t think I will care if they start to get a little painful in their force or placement later on. It is literally a reminder of the amazing blessing that has been given to us.
The only thing now, is that I want Simon to feel these little movements too now! I really want to share this latest development with him, but so far they are still too ‘soft’ for him to feel, not for lack of trying however! I think he’s starting to get a little frustrated with me however, as I’ll say to him to come over quick and put his hand on my belly, only for the Little One to stop! A little shy perhaps? Anyway, it won’t be long I guess until he will be able to feel them… Right now they seem to be concentrated in the very lower belly region, I have not had many that really come anywhere near the top of where my fundus is right now. And most of the movement is of the kick and jab variety, little bursts of movement so far. I’m writing this down so that I can then compare what the movements are in the coming weeks!
My workout routine has been going really really well now for the past couple of weeks. Both Simon and I have settled into a routine for the morning, which makes everything else fall into place much more easily than if we are rushing around trying to accomplish 4000 other things in the mornings. On Mondays, which is our most hectic morning day, Wednesdays and Fridays, Simon takes Brook for her walk (which are always an hour in length), and I do my core exercises. These are comprised of a variety of exercises that I have done throughout my athletic career and my yoga practice, and have been now tailored to focus on the areas that are important during pregnancy, such as only one exercise on my back, and many hip and pelvis opening postures. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it is my turn to take our puppy dog for a walk, and Simon does his Bowflex routine. We are usually done our exercises, whatever they are, by 7:15 and sitting and eating breakfast by half past seven. This means that we are working by 8:00 or driving to school by that time. Both of us function really well in the morning but the other benefit is that by starting early, it means that our afternoons and evenings are a little longer – we are able to spend a little more time together at that time. I have my Pregnancy Yoga on Saturdays and am back at the house at 12:30, in time for lunch and a long afternoon of whatever. It’s a really good system :-)
I am starting to get the sensation that I never leave the studio or the school. I am there for class, certainly, and one of my classes does not really have a lecture component, that time is devoted to group work, so I am there for that chunk of time as well. However, this past week I have had to go in for three separate group meetings outside of class time. The walls are just beginning to look a little TOO familiar, do you know what I mean? Feels sort of like I’m trapped in a mousetrap or something… The other thing is that the group really likes meeting in their first-year studio, not the main planning studio. Which wouldn’t really be a problem except for the fact that it’s on the top floor of a building with no elevator access. And the floors to the building, because it was built in the early 1900’s are twenty feet plus. So, in actuality, it’s not climbing three stories, but more like five in total. All this for a pregnant woman, who now has her full pregnant volume of blood and the damage that does to the cardiovascular system! Geez, it literally takes me forever to walk up those stairs. The last two flights I have to stop on the landing and cool down a bit and I still find my heart rate pounding for about 10 minutes afterwards. Whoa baby! :-) Actually, I have been having trouble going up the two full flights here at home lately too. I can handle one at a time, but if I need to get something from the bedroom and I’m in the office, I am huffing and puffing mid-way up the second flight and by no means am I running up them!
Symptoms: Well, apart from the big news of movement from the Little One, and the continued heartburn… I shall only state that Gaviscon is very good. I don’t even think now in my bedtime routine of including it. I chew the tablets, then brush my teeth, do my fluoride rinse and put in my mouthguard. Oh, I guess one thing is that I have found I’ve had to switch sleeping sides. I have one of those deliciously long body pillows, and usually it is on my left side so that I sleep curled around it. However, lately, I have found that my left shoulder and back have just begun to ache throughout the night, but worse, my pelvis and hip joint for my right hip has started to express it’s displeasure with me the moment I move into the left side-lying position. So, now the pillow is on my right side, in between Simon and I (he is not too pleased with this new pillow position, as he claims it is not nearly as snugly as I am). I have found that I’ve slept better the past couple nights I’ve done this, which has resulted in a much happier person in the morning!
**Talk to Me**
Did you get asked any odd questions regarding the care you underwent in your pregnancy from people who didn’t really have the right to ask you such questions?
When did you start feeling those little movements regularly in your pregnancy, and subsequent pregnancies?
Namaste, Laura and the Little One
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