Week 22, Day 4

Week in review

On Monday I returned to the doctor's office to see to the annoying allergic rash from hell. They had no idea what it might be but did prescribe me a stronger steroid cream which seems to be finally working.

Spouse, aka Minister of Output, said he wants to cloth diaper. He's even willing to make the nappies himself if I can find a pattern.

My chiropractor no longer thinks it's a pinched nerve. I'm getting all nice and loose in the shoulders but still have numb fingers. My next step is to try shiatsu.

I broke down and had a new bra fitting at Intimacy. Having the fitting really helped as all three bras I bought were different sizes. She put me in ones that were a little large so there's room to grow and I can wear them for the rest of the pregnancy. Unfortunately, ready-made nursing bras seem like they're out of the question. She recommends coming in a month before I'm due for a fitting and then sending out a bra for a free alteration to a nursing bra. Yes, Virginia, you can get pretty nursing bras in jumbo sizes!

I've started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud. I cant tell if Sprog is enjoying it, but Spouse seems to.

Saw where the Action will occur!

Yesterday's Week 21, Day 4 picture

First off, here's the picture from yesterday that I neglected to post. Not long after I took this, we set off on a tour of the maternity ward of Brigham and Women's hospital where I'll be delivering. I was the only one there not due this summer so there was certainly less urgency for us than for the other couples on the tour.

The tour began in the lobby near obstetrical admitting. We were informed of the admitting process and who can be there (mother, partner and one other person) as well as parking provisions. Not that either of us drive, but I'm sure we're in the minority in that.

From there we went on to labor and delivery to see one of the delivery rooms. They have 24 rooms, all private. Each room includes a hospital bed for the mother, a recliner for the partner, a rocking chair, various medical things like heated bed for newborn if needed, monitors, oxygen, etc. They can also bring in an exercise ball if you want to sit and labor on that. There's a shower and you can walk the halls or even have a light meal. Yes, all this can be yours, unless you have an epidural. With an epidural there is constant fetal monitoring, no getting up and no food, only clear liquid (and I doubt they mean gin.) Yet one more check on the natural childbirth side for me!

After labor we saw a postpartum room for lying in. Generally one stays for 48 hours after vaginal birth and 96 after cesarean. There were a couple of babies in the nursery as well, so we got to peek at some fresh ones. You have the option to have your baby in your room with you the whole time though, which s good. There is also a recliner for partners to sleep on. Visiting hours are in the afternoon but they caution that visitors are going to keep you up and you really need to rest. Usually you can work out a signal with the nurse to come in and kick people out if you're uncomfortable doing it yourself.

Apart from that it was just nice to hear things like the encouragement of breast feeding, especially immediately following birth. They encourage skin-to-skin as well unless some medical intervention is actually needed. There are also free breastfeeding and bathing classes each day. Oh, and wireless ;) Because some of us are tied to our online lives too.

"Fun" with pregnancy

For a while now I've had circulation problems in my hands and arms, generally when I'm in bed. Last week I had a massage hoping to deal with the now permanent numbness in my right middle finger, but that didn't help. I was very tight in my neck and she suggested cold packs. Well, I decided to try my old chiropractor instead.

Meanwhile, I developed a rash on my feet that has since spread to my hands as well. I went in to urgent care for that yesterday and was prescribed a hydrocortizone cream and advised to take Claritin, which is apparently safe during pregnancy. The rash looks a lot like an allergic reaction, but I couldn't think to what.

This evening I had my chiropractor appointment and we may have nailed down the rash as well as the ultimate cause of the numbness (go, Dr. Gurvitz!) She got a similar rash with her last pregnancy and it turns out she was allergic to her over-the-counter prenatal vitamin. I had been taking the same prenatal vitamin for over a year but recently bought a different brand when I ran out. I'm going to stop taking vitamins for a week while using the steroid cream and antihistamine and see how that goes. After tat I will go back on my OLD, tried and true Harvest Co-op brand vitamins and toss the poncy things I bought at Whole Paycheck.

As for the numbness she does think its a pinched nerve and possibly caused by fluid retention. She did a small adjustment today and a lot of muscle work and I'm going to have a few follow-ups just to loosen things. As for what to do about the fluid retention, I have no idea. I know it comes with the territory when pregnant, but all I expected was to have tight shoes! Who knew I cold pinch a nerve too?

Week 20, Day 4

Welcome to the Saturday picture update. The big news since last post is that I finally felt a real kick last night! Several in fact. We were in bed and I had set my book down and settled on to my front (it helps my restless leg so I'm lying that way while I still can.) After a few minutes I felt a little thing almost like a gas bubble. Then I felt another.

Spouse was still reading so I turned and told him about it. He's a bit jealous that it's something he'll never feel (a body moving inside) but we were both giddy-happy about it. It shouldn't be too long before it can be felt from the outside without pressing on it too.

Week 20

Today is the beginning of week 20, the official halfway mark in the fuzzy math of pregnancy. I had my monthly appointment today too. Spouse had planned to come with me this time but begged off due to lack of sleep. The following video probably would have been more interesting with a second person in it, but instead you'll have to deal with my enormous head.

Week 19, Day 4

So as you can see, almost 20 weeks along, and I will post for that momentous, halfway point, and I still can't use my damned digital camera when I get up. Why the hell is the flash on anyway? And the replacement picture below isn't much better.

Why is my mouth open like that? Didn't I know I was taking a picture?

We got our new bed this week. It's very high off the floor and takes up most of the bedroom. The cat is having fun exploring it ‒ climbing on the headboard, checking out the space underneath, walking rather than jumping on the bed from the bookcase ‒ and we are enjoying the new mattress.

As I snuggled back into bed today after popping some muffins in the oven, I pictured our life as three: me getting up for muffins while Spouse snuggles in bed with the wee one. Ah! domesticity!

Scans

We went to the hospital for more ultrasounds on Tuesday. Everything looked good and the sprog was very active, almost camera shy. They offered to tell us the sex but we have opted to find out upon arrival. Here's the wee one at week 19

baby's got sole

little crossed ankles. Feet were very restless (RSL like mum perhaps?)

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