being 'with child'

Today, I am 35 weeks along in my second pregnancy. Things have not been all rosy this time around, boy howdy.

My doctor was first "concerned" about me at maybe 12-15 weeks, when my blood pressure was creeping higher at my OB visits. I think the truth is that I was eating waaaaaay too many potato chips. (All I wanted was salt! salt! salt!) She actually sent me to a maternal specialist at the University of Washington at the end of July, but interestingly enough, my blood pressure (and all the other numbers they took on me, something called "cardiac output") was normal.

I had some other issues since before I was pregnant, after Wesley was born, having to do with my kidneys. But basically, when you're pregnant and have kidney issues plus high blood pressure they really worry about preeclampsia. I did some research. It is BAD NEWS. I was uber freaked out for awhile. I tried to eat really healthy (um, I should be doing that all the time), and my OB continued to "watch" me. Better to be overcautious about a preeclampsia candidate than ignore it and regret it.

The UW doctor said that although my numbers were normal, he "fully expected" they would be abnormal 6 weeks later. Boo. But, joke's on you, since at my return visit 6 weeks later my numbers were again totally normal. Go me! He said he didn't think I needed to come back, and he gave me a clean bill of health. Yay!

BUT (there's always a BUT) my regular OB continued to be concerned since my blood pressure was always high in her office. Never high at the UW, always high in her office. Maybe I worry about traffic before my OB visits? Maybe she scares me? Maybe Wesley was throwing his M&Ms in my hair so I was stressed when they took my blood pressure? (I try to leave him with a sitter but for the quick 15-minute visits it's better to take him so I can use the carpool lane down to Seattle! And then I have to bribe him with M&Ms while we're there so he's calm.)

Anyway, the end of the story is that she put me on blood pressure meds. I'm on a teeeensy dose of a drug that was the "be all end all" of blood pressure meds a decade ago, until they realized it didn't work all that great and there were better ones. But in her words, "We don't need it to work a lot. We just need it to work a little bit." And work a little bit, it has. My blood pressure is super normal, she is totally thrilled, and I'm almost done with this pregnancy and hopefully it won't be an issue afterwards.

Interestingly though, the "fun" part of doctors being worried about you is that you get a lot more glimpses of the baby. I've had not one, not two, but three ultrasounds, all of which were fun (the standard at 19 weeks, one at 26 weeks where baby was really active, and another at 32 weeks). Great news -- baby is head down, growing marvelously, and looking really healthy. With blood pressure issues they worry about the baby being too small; well take that, naysayers, my little lady is measuring 63% for gestational age as of 32 weeks. Woot woot!

I've also been doing nonstress tests at the hospital for the last few weeks. Those are bizarre. They hook you up to some machine which measures baby movement, uterine contractions, and who knows what else. Brain waves, maybe. Anyway, baby has to be awake and moving, so if she's snoozing they make me drink orange juice and eat graham crackers to wake her up. Once I was in and out in 30 minutes, but once it took over an hour for her to get going. Crazy little lady on her own schedule. Anyway, it's kinda fun to sit there and watch my belly move around due to its own internal lifeforce.

Did I mention during October it was Halloween/Stephen King week on AMC and Shane and I watched this movie about parasitic aliens? I SHOULD NOT HAVE WATCHED THAT MOVIE. Now I think about it every time she moves. Bad news. Creepy movie. Alien in my belly.

Anyway, so that is my story. I am finally to the point now where I know I am healthy, whew, but I am super uncomfortable. I can usually fall asleep OK, but I wake up a couple times a night to pee, plus I have to switch sides often. Then my hands fall asleep faster than my body and they hurt hurt hurt. The other night I came out and sat upright on the couch to fall asleep, since it wasn't happening while lying down. That was the worst night. I've been tired.

Plus, Wesley is being a pill (more on that in another post), and it's just hard to keep up with him. I think I've probably gained... gulp... 35 pounds?, so I definitely feel like a different person and it's harder to control a busy toddler in my "condition." It'll be interesting to see how much I lose as soon as the baby is born, and then how much comes off in the first 6 weeks of exclusive nursing. Then I'll log my "before" numbers and start my weight loss journey. All that Halloween candy better be gone by then, huh!?

It's been crazy to recognize the differences this time around. I feel like Wesley moved a lot, at all hours of the day. This little gal is much more reserved. She really only kicks in the late afternoon, evening, or at night. She does wake up after I eat, but it's not for very long. I think she's really more chill. I tell Shane that, and he says, "thank goodness; I couldn't handle another Wesley." Ha!

The heartburn has been about the same (awful), the other slower-digestive issues have been worse in some ways and better in others, and I suppose the tiredness has been about the same. The emotions are probably worse this time around, since I'm sooooo stressed with all kinds of things in my life. Pregnancy is pregnancy. It's a wild ride. I think we'll have our boy and girl and we should be happy, so I don't imagine I'll do it again. I am grateful for every second I've had to carry my sweet children, although it does take quite a toll on the mind and body.

But indeed, I am so glad to have this baby on the way. I can't wait to meet her.