I Hope I Don't Jinx Myself

I'm hesitant to write about this because it's like the nosebleeds, as soon as I think I've found a cure--the neti pot! the cool mist humidifier!--I wake up thinking I'm either a crazy drooling pregnant woman or I've got a serious runny nose only to find that I'm laying in a pool of my own blood staining what used to be a rather nice white pillow case.

Yes, that has happened a number of times. Good times, I tell you, good times.

I should have bought a red pillow case months ago. But really? A red pillow case? It's just so...whorish.

So here goes:

My hands and the 'not-so-sure-this-is-carpal-tunnel' problem I was having.

I went to my acupuncturist less than a week after this post and after telling her what my symptoms were, she declared it was coming from my shoulders and chest and no, I did not have carpal tunnel.

She did an hour treatment followed by a massage that she warned would bruise me (it did)....and....my hands have been fine ever since.

As in, no swelling, no pain, no stiffness. Nothing. Nada.

That was over a month ago and I only had one treatment.

Take it for what you will, but readers of this blog know I'm a BIG fan of acupuncture and I am now an even bigger believer.

My eyes. Two weeks ago I decided I would 'try' to wear my contacts for just an hour or so one evening. To my great surprise...I could see with them. My eyes felt fatigued easily, but every day I tried to wear them a bit more. Last week I showed up at my OB appointment wearing them and she agreed that it is a complete medical mystery why my eyes would have blurry vision (with contacts or glasses) for weeks and then for it to go away before birth. No one knows why it happened.

All I know is that I can function like a normal-sighted person again (and watch Dexter!) and I certainly don't take my eyesight for granted anymore.

Acid Reflux. I can't say I've found a 'solution' but I have found that if I take 1 Tum.s and 1 Gas X tablet sitting up in bed about 20 minutes before laying down, the worst of the reflux doesn't rear its ugly head. Yes, there are still times in the middle of the night I have to haul myself in an upright position to burp or risk vomiting in my mouth, but that doesn't happen very often and I'm back to sleeping for 8-9 hour stretches at night which is LOVELY. I do the same routine in the afternoon and manage to get in a good 3 hour nap, so this formula is working well for me.

Although I've got the tablets on the bedside table, I keep loose ones under my pillow so I don't have to worry about turning over if I need one in the middle of the night.

I think every super pregnant woman understands how hard it is to turn over so why do it if you don't have to!

So, there you have it. Pregnancy is such a time of mystery. I don't think you can ever predict what is going to happen. You just have to go with it and hope for the best.

Thanks for all of your well wishes to Chicken. She woke up this morning still wracked with a cough BUT feeling much, much better. It's been a week so it was about time. It's so nice to have the Chicken Sherp 'almost' back to normal.

She felt good enough to do some laundry and we have our cleaning lady coming tomorrow. Honestly, we didn't think it would do much good to have her come earlier if Chicken was sleeping all day. How much could she clean?

But tomorrow we will have a super clean house! Yay!

We are still sleeping in separate beds, but honestly between Chicken's coughing and the farting, burping pregnant lady that I've become (it's like the first trimester all over again) in the past couple weeks--we're probably getting much better sleep this way!

Rock Star Cervix

OK, so it wasn't quite that great, but I did manage to crack up my Doctor's when I christened my lady part a "rock star cervix" upon hearing it went from a 2.7 to a 3.17!

They are happy, I am happy. I am nowhere near a danger zone and that is mighty good. Normal. I like normal.

Since I'm almost 30 weeks there will be no more cervical checks as they don't have conclusive evidence past this point that they are predictive of anything. They didn't put me on any restrictions other than "listen to your body".

It's a bit vague, but I get that everyone is different and there's really not a strict set of rules about these things. I plan to rest up alot (yeah, walking so much probably was not such a great idea even if it made me feel like a bad-ass pregnant woman) and keep the activity in check.

However, the Doc agreed that my feelings of fatigue this past week may have been because I overdid it in the other direction. I don't have to lock myself in the house and put myself on modified bed rest--I just need to dial it down and if I'm feeling pain while doing anything--STOP.

So that's where we are and I am feeling much, much better about things now.

In other exciting news, we also got to do a growth scan on the babies and they are looking great! Chicklet is 3 lbs, 4 oz. and Shadow Boxer is 3 lbs, 1 ounce. While I certainly want them to stay put, it's amazing to know they weigh enough now to completely survive if I were to deliver early. We also got to see them do their practice breathing which was so cool! Stay inside kids! We can do it!

I can't call them bat babies anymore, because they have both totally flipped and are now head to head ALL on my right side (a bit ouchy). Chicklet is completely breech and SB is laying somewhat sideways. I never know what position they are going to be in next. Always a surprise.

As far as the Carpal Tunnel, Doc is not so convinced that's what it is because I don't have the classic sore wrists and tingling sensations. While my wrists are somewhat swollen when I wake up, the thing that hurts most are my finger and joints surrounding them. Regardless, we agreed that giving the wrist splints a go at night couldn't hurt anything and I'm calling my acupuncturist tomorrow. Thanks alot for all of your helpful suggestions.

Chicken insisted that I get a maternity massage after my appointment today, so I spoiled myself silly at the Eda.mame Spa. I just love the name! They have the wonderful cutout for your stomach and it was so glorious after all of these months to lay on my stomach! I could breathe! It was heavenly. So much so that I fell asleep a number of times and woke myself up grunting/snorking. So embarrassing! I never make a sound when I fall asleep at home, only at the spa! These spas are a part of Destinatio.n Maternity/Pe.a in a Po.d so if you have one near you and are looking for a great massage--go for the Mom-to-Be. My therapist was late, so she gave me 15 minutes free on top of the 50 minutes AND gave me samples and a $20 coupon when I was through.

All in all, a very good day. Thanks for all of your well wishes and comments for good luck. My cervix heard them and obeyed!

My Handy Secret

For the past two or more weeks I've been experiencing what is probably the beginning of carpal tunnel syndrome. I haven't mentioned it because I wanted it to go away or at least get better. It's not getting better, it's getting worse.

Some of you may have noticed that comments from me on your blog have been sparse or non-existent. I'm sorry.

Most days I have to just prioritize the tasks to be done in my life and unfortunately, commenting is coming in at the bottom. I really hope everyone understands.

I have all of these baby shower thank you note's to write and holiday cards to design and then there's the everyday tasks like making myself food.

This morning I went to open my thyroid med lid and I couldn't do it. When I take the milk jug out of the fridge I wonder which day I'll drop it. I have to open a can of cat food and I want to scream. I went to cut my nails and realized that manicures and pedicures are in my future because to handle the clippers was just too painful (and I am not one to do the mani/pedi thing). I wanted ketchup on something and couldn't flip the top open.

Really, it sucks.

Please don't misunderstand me--I am so happy to be pregnant and wouldn't change a thing for this journey. BUT, it's getting to the point where it really is starting to get incredibly uncomfortable and no one can prepare you for the toll something like this starts to take on your body.

I have done everything I can this past week to 'take it easy' and just chill out. There have been days I haven't even bothered to leave the house and I'm OK with that, too because this past week the pressure on my pelvic bones and the ligaments is so intense that I don't want to go out walking.

Typing is painful, but not horrible and blogging and documenting this journey is incredibly important to me. I will try to comment, but if I don't please know that I'm still out here, reading along, cheering with you, shaking my fist at the universe of unfairness with you and breathing sighs of relief with you. I'm still here, I'm just falling apart a wee bit.

Tomorrow--OB appointment where hopefully my cervix is either the same....or better! I'm hoping for better!

And if anyone knows what I can do for my hands....please enlighten me. The only thing I have read is "it will go away after you give birth".