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April 1, 2003
21 Weeks, 2 Days
This week, in comparison to last week, seemed quite a lot busier. You will have to wait to find out about the ultrasound, because I have to write about something else first. Or, of course, you could always just skip down and read it and then come back up and read the first part of the entry! I will leave that choice up to you :-)
So, the first thing this week was that Simon had a Dr appointment to have some surgery on his toe. He has incredibly ingrown toenails on both big toes, and for over a year and a half now we have been dealing with them on a daily basis. This, after a good twenty years where he was able to manage them just fine, was rather difficult. We’re not sure exactly how it happened, but all of a sudden one of his toes was really swollen and red. It was so bad that he had to wear sandals for most of the winter. Yeah, you heard right, and we get -20+ weather here, so you can imagine how bad it was for him not to be able to force his toe into a shoe, any shoe! I won’t go into the gory history, I will save you guys all that info (just because I’m so nice :-P), but we finally found what would work to bring his poor feet back into some semblance of normal function and shape. Well, on Thursday, he had an appointment to do his other toe (which also along the way had become swollen and red) and it went really well. We are so excited, because now he is able to go running and bicycling again, let alone put on a pair of shoes and wear them the whole day without having to soak his feet for a couple of hours that night. It just has opened up a door again to activities that we had to stop abruptly, and that we were not sure he would ever get to do again. So, that was absolutely wonderful. He is still recovering from the surgery a bit, but he said the next day as he was putting on his shoes that it was so great to be able to slide his foot into his shoe without any pain :-)
To give some context: This is from a man, who, mid-way though making a sandwich, slashed open his palm quite deeply with a sharp knife. However, rather than going to get it stitched up, he continued to make the sandwich, ate it, watched TV, checked on his palm (which he did have the sense to bandage a bit) to see that it was still bleeding, and went to the hospital. BUT, instead of taking a bus or cab (heaven forbid), he decided to BIKE to the hospital. Lord.
There is one other benefit to this experience. Initially, I was almost beside myself to enter the bathroom after he was done dealing with his toe(s), because of all the blood and other things that I would have to clean up, as he was past the state where he could do anything but lay very still. However, when I entered our bathroom earlier last week, he was mid-way through doing what he called ‘pre-surgery prep,’ there was a lot of blood – on his toe, his foot, in the sink, on the floor, all over his instruments and tools… You get the picture, I didn’t even blink, I just set about asking what he needed and then started cleaning up. I consider this to be excellent training for when I have a little boy running around and getting into the trouble that I know Simon did when he was small(er!) :-)
Okay, now for those of you who have been patient: the ultrasound! I have to admit that I was not so sure on getting an ultrasound – the technique is by far unproven to be non-harmful to the developing fetus, and I just have to remember all the times that I have had ultrasound therapy given to me for physiotherapy purposes… What kind of effect do those waves have on such a tiny little person? Anyway, these arguments were then weighed against the fact that this is my first pregnancy and I would not have the chance for a second ultrasound – it’s just not covered under the provincial health plan. So, unlike other pregnant mommas who have multiple ultrasounds and their little babes are exposed to the waves multiple times, mine would only be exposed once. Emotion versus Logic. A tough battle to wage.
And Simon was asking what the point was of the ultrasound at this point, too. As he understood it, if we saw something wrong with the Little One, was there anything we could do about it at this point? I told him that the primary purpose was to double check on the Little One and see if anything was abnormal or not developing properly, so that when the time comes to deliver, the doctor and nurses on staff would know that this was not an ordinary birth and that the baby would perhaps need additional care. As well, it is to check on the placental placement, to make sure that it wasn’t obstructing the cervical opening, which would place me on the c-section list rather than the vaginal birth list. While he wasn’t so sure that these replies were logical, we agreed that it would be great to see our Little One and just make sure that it is developing alright. Oh yeah, the last reason I could think of was to double check that the fetal growth was inline with the estimated due date (because we were actively TTC, I couldn’t be more certain on my LMP, so this was not an issue for us).
Okay, so I did as I was instructed to do and drank a litre of water an hour before the appointment time. We show up as ten minutes before, only to find out that that was not when we would be seen, but rather when we should be there just in case they are running on time. Thank goodness Simon had brought a brand new book, and I had a couple of magazines to read… we ended up waiting for a full hour before my name was called and I waddled into the room. Why waddle you ask? Well! I had had my water at 12:50, and it was 2:55 when my name was called. Now, normally a person could possibly hold this amount of liquid within their bladder. I, personally, pride myself on my bladder control. As a child, we would take the two-hour drive up to the ski cottage, and there were NO stops allowed – I can understand this decision of my parents, after all, there were four of us kids! I therefore was trained early to just hold it. However, since I am pregnant, and my poor bladder is now being pressed ever so delightfully upon constantly, I have found my control to be ebbing. Rapidly. More on that in my symptoms section though. The other thing was, about 15 minutes into the wait, the Little One decided that the bladder was a wonderful thing to just kick. Over and over and over again, what fun! So, I have a VERY full bladder and a VERY active baby using it as a trampoline. The other thing was I had to read religiously, because if I looked around at all the other pregnant ladies waiting to go in and the expressions of pain they were in at holding their own bladders, it was just becoming too much of an extra stress for me!
The ultrasound tech was really great, however, as she is about as experienced with this problem as anyone could be. The first thing I have to say about it? They warm the contact gel! How nice is that? I guess it is because the shock of something that cold could, perhaps, make a woman loose control if she wasn’t expecting it. I, veteran of ultrasounds for physical ailments, not pregnancy, was already braced for cold, so when it was warm, I was shocked :-) The images were amazing. I doubt I will ever forget the moment when I saw the Little One’s profile on the tiny little screen. The tech at one point asked how I was doing as she was exerting the hardest pressure so far on the upper belly, but I replied that I had other things on my mind right then, and to tell you the truth, I did. I just could not peel my eyes away from the screen and that image of my own little baby on it. So incredible. I saw the four chambers of the heart and the tech had a hard time freezing the image the heart rate was so fast – the Little One was awake and happy! She also noticed how the legs were almost like pistons, kicking up and down upon my bladder and asked if I could feel it – as if I couldn’t! It did make Simon grin however and the impishness of this little person to do that to its Mum :-) The spine, too, was an amazing picture, how I could see each and every vertebrae and the little curve that it had… Oh my, truly overwhelming. The Little One weighed in at 14 ounces for 20 Weeks, 4 Days, which I think is slightly on the heavier side of the range for the gestational age. Which is fine by me – I was an 8 lb baby (from what my Mum can remember) and I really don’t mind a large baby. Really.
The only thing of concern was my placenta. I asked her where it was, and she said that it was posterior, which is great because it will allow me to feel each of my Little One’s movements, but that it was also a bit low-lying. I will possibly have another ultrasound at 32 Weeks to check and see that the placenta has moved up alongside the growth of the uterus since the last ultrasound. There is so much that can grow and change from now until then that I can’t be worried about such a thing. A low-lying placenta is so common, most of the time it does grow upwards with the uterus, and that is what I expect will happen with mine. I’ll keep you all posted, of course!
Next item on the agenda: Maternity underwear! The past week now it seems as if I have really bloomed again. I usually wear underwear that come up to just below my belly button, but with this expanding belly, they have started to slide down, and worse, become too tight and uncomfortable! It has gotten so bad that I had resorted to (gasp) not wearing underwear if I can get away with it. I.e., when I am just writing in the office here at the house. But STILL, I had to do something about this new problem, and soon! I had a big presentation with my group work class today to a Municipal Council but there was no way I was going to be comfortable for the hour drive there, the couple of hours of presentation and then the drive back. So, I made the plunge and last night we went to Thyme Maternity (the ONLY maternity store here in the Metro area) and tried on numerous pairs of underwear. The good news? I found some! The even better news? By buying three pairs, I saved $12 :-) Now, my belly and *ahem* other areas are much happier than they were a few days ago. I put them on this morning and felt like singing, they actually felt that good. I have not had one iota of uncomfortable-ness all day, which has been SO wonderful. Something else that is great is that there is still another size above the one I am wearing right now, so that if need be, I can go and buy that larger size when I have a REALLY big ol’ belly!
The last thing about this week is that I have taken a break from Yoga for a couple of weeks. While I don’t really want to do this, Simon and I have made the decision to do this because of the way in which our day is interrupted by the class. I have to leave at 10:30 and don’t get back to the house until 12:30 on a Saturday. For those of you familiar with the way of life here in Atlantic Canada, businesses are only open on Saturdays – there is NO Sunday shopping. So, everyone must get everything done on the Saturday. However, because the class is basically smack-dab in the middle of the day, by the time I get home, make and eat lunch, it’s getting to be a big chunk of time in which we are not able to go out and do the errands that always seem to need to be done on a Saturday. So, I won’t be going for 2 weeks, just as a break, so that Simon and I can spend a little more time together on the weekend, and we can accomplish a few more things as well.
Symptoms: Ah, bathrooms stops. My once proud history of being able to hold my bladder for hours at a time has now ended. This is the tale of the beginning of the end. It began on our little R&R trip when I was at 15 weeks. I noticed that I had a dramatically increased need to go pee. The worst part was that I felt I really had to go, right then and there, but the littlest, tiniest amount came out! :-( I have to say that I was mortified at myself for having such a great need, when it was like, nothing! However, after a few days, I found myself not having that urge quite so much, and thought that I would have a little break from this ‘symptom’ of pregnancy. I was right in one sense, I did have a break, but now it appears as if it is back with a vengeance! LOL For the past week and a half, I have consistently had very poor mind-body communications regarding when I can go for a bathroom stop. My mind tells my body that it just went an hour ago, and it was a tiny little amount, and that it is not permitted to go just yet. My body responds that if it will go, whether it is sitting on a toilet or not! I tell you, this is just not fair – I am at war with myself! And all Simon can do is laugh at me, especially if I exclaim from the bathroom when it had felt like I would go a lot, and just a tiny amount came out. HA! I don’t think it’s so funny! :-) Ah well, at least I’m getting used to it, right?
**Talk to Me**
What was your first ultrasound experience like? Tell me all about it!
When did you make the decision that you could no longer bear to wear your pre-pregnancy underwear, and what was the relationship between that decision and the decision to buy maternity clothes?
Tell me about any funny stories you have about your need to go to the bathroom!
Namaste, Laura and the Little One
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