Pregnancy 101

I haven't done very well recording the details of this pregnancy. I just know that the next time I am pregnant I'm going to wonder what happened during my second pregnancy and I will be at a loss. So, I know that this post might be boring for most of you (sorry about that), but this is all for journal purposes.

First Trimester

My first trimester felt so different from Ammon's pregnancy. I was STARVING at all times. I was eating all the time and never felt satisfied. I felt like crying every night before going to bed because I was so hungry and I could never find anything I wanted to eat. It probably doesn't seem that bad compared to feeling sick and throwing up all of the time, but it still wasn't fun at all. I loved salty salty foods! Scrambled eggs, McDonald's french fries (oh yum), cheese quesadillas, and salsa were some of my favorite things to eat. For some reason I had no desire to eat any sort of candy or sweets, which is very unlike me. I was also so very tired all of the time.

Second Trimester

This was a good trimester. I think it usually is for most women. I was hoping my lost sweet tooth would last throughout the rest of my pregnancy, but the minute my second trimester started I was all over candy, again. I had more energy, I wasn't starving as much, and I felt pretty good about life. I loved, loved, LOVED fruit. Towards the end of this trimester I started to have some problems. I was having the hardest time walking. I couldn't hold Ammon, I couldn't walk up the stairs and it killed me to put my pants on. Odd, huh? It wasn't like I was enormous or 9 months pregnant but still I just couldn't move. I started to have some contractions that would come and go every four minutes for up to 2 hours at a time. It was happening so much that I went to my doctor and she checked me to make sure I wasn't dilated. Luckily, i wasn't dilated but my cervix was a little on the soft side. Because of that I was told to take it easy. The contractions started to calm down after a few weeks but I was still a little worried about how early things were happening. I didn't have anything like this happen while I was pregnant with Ammon, so you can't blame me for being worried.

Third Trimester

After traveling to NC and Utah all within 3 weeks I started to get some pain in my leg. For me this isn't a good thing. I have a genetic disorder called a Factor V Leiden deficiency which is a blood clotting disorder. While pregnant you have to be especially careful to watch for signs and symptoms of clotting, such as lower extremity pain and swelling, shortness of breath, chest pain, etc. Traveling, or anything else that makes you sit for long periods of times without moving, increases the risk. Well, when I got back from Utah the pain in my leg wasn't going away so I decided to go to the doctors to make sure it wasn't a blood clot. My Doctor wasn't in the office so I went to her partner. He was concerned about my disorder and wanted to make sure that I took every precaution to make sure I wouldn't get a blood clot. He sent me to get an ultrasound and advised me to go and see a high risk doctor for this disorder and for my epilepsy, even if the ultrasound ruled out a blood clot which, luckily, it did.

I took the doctors advice and went and saw a high risk doctor a couple of weeks later. I told him of my health history and after talking for a while we came up with some ideas for treatment of my Factor V Leiden deficiency. Basically, shots of heparin in my stomach, two times a day, for the last two months of my pregnancy and for two months after delivery!! AHHHHH!!! I got heparin shots after I delivered Ammon and I hated it. Well, luckily I have four sisters who all have the same enzyme deficiency who didn't have any clotting problems while pregnant with all of their multiple children, with one exception. So, we decided to forego the shots during the pregnancy based on the odds and start the shots post partum. Put off the shots as long as possible!!

Sleep. Beautiful, lovely sleep. WHY CAN'T I HAVE IT!!!? For the life of me I can't sleep. I tried the recommended sleeping pills and they didn't work! It's not because I'm uncomfortable, even though I can't sleep on my stomach anymore, but it's more because I can't turn my mind off at night. I lay there for sometimes over 4 hours trying to sleep. I can't tell you how aggravating this is. I am physically exhausted and all I want to do is sleep, and I can't. After a week of no sleep, I asked my doctor if there was anything she could prescribe for me and she was able to give me some Ambien! Oh, happy day. She said I could only take 3 a week but at the time I was just so excited to think that I might be able to sleep for one night. The first night I took it I slept so well!! I woke up the following morning so refreshed and happy. I wish I could take one every night, but I can't. :( It is such a frustrating thing not to be able to sleep. I know this is the time to get rest because when the baby comes I'm not going to get a chance, yet I can't sleep now. If any of you have any advice about getting sleep while pregnant, please let me know. I am so desperate right now. Every time night comes around I feel like crying cause I can't sleep.

Here I am at 33 weeks. Yes, I have another baby in my butt in case you were wondering what was going on there. Oh the joys of pregnancy. If it wasn't for such cute kids I don't know if I would be putting my body through all of this hardship.

On Sunday night we had a little scare. Around 11:30 I thought that my water broke. I won't go into details but lets just say I don't remember peeing and then there was a bunch of water. We didn't know really what to do, because I wasn't having any contractions, so we asked good old google and found out that if your water does break, you need to go to hospital because you could get an infection if you don't. Well we called up my neighbor to come over and were off to the hospital. It felt so surreal. I wasn't ready to have a baby just then. My house was a disasters and we don't have a name for the little guy yet (and still don't). Well we went there, had some test done and found out that, nope, it's not that time yet. Oh thank heavens!! I felt really stupid going in for no reason but at least everything was good and he's not going to be a premature baby.

After this experience it has really hit me that we are having a baby any day now and I really need to buckle down and get things in order. We have been working around the house like crazy trying to get it clean and ready for "him" to come home. It's so hard to do this though with a two year old and being nine months pregnant. I have no energy. I will be working all day and some how it never seems to pay off. I know that the house should be the least of my worries but I guess that the nesting instincts are kicking in and it seems like having the house clean is all that matters.

I am now 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I had a doctors appointment today and found out that I am dilated to a 3 and I'm 80% efface!! Crazy ha. I'm starting to have more contractions and I feel like the baby is going to fall out of me any minute now. I don't think that I am ready for what is about to happen. My doctor kept saying "you could be my next delivery" LOVELY!!! Wish me good luck, who knows maybe I'll have a baby tonight.