Twenty Week Pregnancy Notables


Seriously twenty weeks.  Half way.
?!?!?
Yeah, I don't know how it's that far either but this pregnancy has felt like it's going quicker.  Pretty much all of life has the last year or so, I guess.  Part of getting oooold, I hear.  

I feel like I should be doing some sort of motivational new year post on resolutions and beginnings and filled with inspiring quotes and deep thoughts.  But I'm not.  Instead I'm going to chat about this pregnancy because well, that'll pretty much take up a lot of this new year, right?  And besides, along with scrapbook, social outlet, and soapbox, this blog also serves as my unofficial medical record for possible future reference (kidding but not).  So, if you keep reading, you all get to hear me go seventy year old woman on you and talk about my symptoms and ailments.  Yay for you!

This pregnancy at twenty weeks…

-still has me in denial that I'm pregnant.  Which is silly.  I mean, I know I am but the fact that there is a real baby here who will be born in just five months…that hasn't sunk in yet.  

-has me doing the following extras:  calcium/magnesium supplement (which I'm now doing in place of the Natural Calm and it seems to be enough); Vitamin D and B12 (I was very low in both); several cups of half-caf coffee because survival; squats (when I remember).  In the beginning I was taking lots of epsom salt baths, too, to help with sickness and soreness and sleep.  I haven't been doing those as much lately but I'm sure I will pick it up again as I get further.

-comparable to other pregnancies has me wanting all the greasy salty foods all the time.  I've never given in to my cravings for Ramen noodles with any pregnancy (and for that I'm kinda proud because ohmygoodness that sounds delicious).  I wish I could say the same for Mighty Taco.

-so far I have no nesting list.  No, you heard that correctly.  I have no list.  Remember the three page list from last time?  You guys, I was nuts.  I mean, we still have time for the crazy to set in (required addition lest my husband get any ideas), but this time I have no huge things I just must get done before baby comes.  Yet.
  
-has had almost none of the lightheaded/dizzy/heart racing/shortness of breath episodes that plagued my first three pregnancies.  A few moments here and there but nothing like the hour or two every morning I used to experience.  So so grateful for my midwife who helped me figure out with Luke's pregnancy that it could be a B-12 issue.  So I've regularly been taking the stuff from Trader Joe's and so far, it's worked!

-is giving me worse skin than ever before.  I will never have a beautiful peaches and cream complexion but when I'm pregnant it gets worse.  This time my entire face is worse than a hormonal tenth grader.

-My back!  You guys, one of the reasons I was really really scared about us having another pregnancy was because of my back.  I have two messed up disks and for the first time ever after Luke was born, things didn't just fix themselves.  I still had chronic everyday pain and threw it out for two weeks a couple years ago.  All I could think was that if it's that bad now not pregnant, I will be completely bed ridden for another pregnancy.  But so far, it hasn't been an issue.  There have been moments of threatening to go out if I step the wrong way and it has been stiff and sore but nothing (yet!) that has impacted life too much.  I've only gone to the chiro twice, too, this pregnancy.  Thank you, God.

-had me in maternity clothes by 12 weeks.  I think I've evened out and look a little more normal for 20 weeks but for a while I was thinking I would be getting bigger than ever before.  There's still time :)

-had me trying not to whine (probably unsuccessfully) in the beginning as it was the sickest I've ever been in the first trimester.  It lasted until about 16 weeks.  I never throw up but all day long just wished I could.  Not eating would make me one type of sick but even a few bites of food would make me a different kind.  I felt so bloated and heavy all day and kept asking my husband to just rip my stomach out of my body.  Because I'm a balanced and nondramatic like that.  The only things that did help a tiny bit was a friend's suggestion to try the fermented food/colloidal silver treatment in the theory that pregnancy sickness is often caused by a buildup of H. Pylori bacteria.  This worked wonders for her.  I don't think the fermented stuff did much but a few days of silver and I felt kind of normal for a few days until it came back again.  So maybe there's something to that.  Also Trader Joe's peppermints.  They'd at least distract from the pregnancy taste.

-forced me to start working out.  A few times anyway.  Motivated by this pregnancy, we got a family membership to the Y.  For a couple months we were going once a week to work out and swim and it was really good.  I was biking over 5 miles, walking on the treadmill, lifting a (very) few weights, and swimming.  We haven't gone in over a month due to holidays and other commitments but we really need to break that and get back there.  I think the pool there will be amazing once I'm even closer.

-had me feeling movement at ten weeks.  Crazy.

-is increasing the weird leg cramps.  I get bad restless legs when pregnant.  This time thanks, I think, to the extra magnesium I've been downing, it hasn't been a huge issue.  Which is awesome.  I have had weird charlie horse type things, though, that if I sit the wrong way I can immediately feel a knot forming and have to move immediately or it'll be excruciating.  But that started before I got pregnant this time and has just been exacerbated.  I'm wondering if there is some sort of nerve issue associated with my back.  I dunno.  I just try to avoid sitting like that.

-due to the extra sickness and worse skin has me guessing a girl but I totally wouldn't be surprised if it is a boy.  We're good at making those :)  I have a few secret names picked out but nothing definite.

-as of right now has my plan for the birth going something like this:  
Don't think about it ever and have a glass of wine when things start getting real.  
Clearly someone needs to plan a doula meeting with herself.

The view from above:


16 comments

  1. Love this post! I find it funny that some people know the sex easily by how the pregnancies feel. Yet, you talk to a mom of 10 and she doesn't notice those things. My aunt always went by the belly. She said girls hang out low and boys like it up top. Which was always right in our family. Of course, I don't have a girl so that hasn't been completely proved (or ever will, darn it!). I always had this one pain that everyone said it was heart burn but it wasn't. It was up high and I swear it was just a foot pushing on a rib. I couldn't sit up straight because of the pain and had to always slightly recline in a chair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, the feet in the ribs…not heartburn at all! That seemed to be the worst with my first maybe because the uterus is much, um, tighter and toned than with subsequent babies so there's less room in there? I don't know but I remember often having to push those little feet down because they would get up under my ribs!

      Delete
    2. My second spent almost the entire third trimester with his feet under my right side ribs. They were so sore I wondered if a baby's feet can cause a fracture. But, he was born OP so now I think it makes sense that he was putting so much pressure on the front of my rib cage He also had asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (would not even turn to nurse) and still sleeps that way almost all the time at age 22! I suspect he was in the same position for a long time at the end. How each pregnancy is so different is remarkable to me.

      Delete
    3. I know! I've been blessed to not as yet have had an OP baby but I bet that would definitely make a difference. That's so crazy that he still sleeps that way!

      Delete
    4. It IS crazy. And if you have read about asymmetrical tonic reflex, it is has been noted that many children with it have developmental delays. He had some serious fine motor delays as a preschooler, and never did get a textbook pencil grasp, even with physical and occupational therapy, but he went through school just fine and is almost a college graduate and getting married in June! He's going to be a great daddy, too!

      And just FYI, if you ever have a mom with a baby who just doesn't want to nurse on one breast specifically, tonic neck reflex is a possible reason. My son thrived (and was rather chubby) nursing just on my left breast!

      Delete
  2. Great update! So glad you aren't experiencing any terrible pain and youre passed that miserable nauseau! Sounds like your back and knee are holding up so that's great! Praying for you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's a really lovely belly. ;-)

    Your nausea sounds just like mine during my last pregnancy, which was ten times worse than it had been with the previous three. I lived on Stouffer's Mac and cheese and Popsicles, which the thought of is so disgusting to me now I'm embarrassed. I had three boys and then a girl, but I was also 39 during my last pregnancy, so I don't know if the worse nausea was girl or age related. I never knew if those stories about hormones (girl vs boy) were true or old wives' tales. I was stunned that she was a girl -- thought I was pretty good at boys, too.

    I hope you continue to feel well -- it sounds like you have a trick for almost every ill!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm learning :) Everyone in my family that has both says the nausea was worse with their girls but I keep saying the same thing…I think maybe I'm just older and weaker now!

      Delete
  4. I tend to think morning sickness gets worse the older you get AND the older you get, the chances of a having a girl are slightly higher.
    My pregnancies went like this,

    1st. no morning sickness - girl
    2nd --slight nausea only when riding in the car -girl
    3rd - more severe nasuea only when riding in the car - boy
    4th slight nausea even when not in the car - girl

    So, can I ask a nosy question? Do you do the 20 week u/s? Why or why not? (maybe you already answered that in a previous blog post?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, that's interesting! I don't mind nosy :) I think we will with this one. Each one has been different. For our first we didn't have insurance until just a few weeks before the birth and didn't have the money to pay for one out of pocket so we didn't have any. Plus, I was too naive to be concerned with anything. I did for our second because of a spotting incident in the first trimester and then did do the 20 week (i think?) because I was much more nervous after the previous miscarriage and having a friend lose her baby at 24 weeks. With the next I didn't have any due to insurance issues but also just a sense of knowing that everything was okay. With the fourth I did have the 20 week because of hearing more and more about cases of serious issues detected that can be remedied immediately upon birth. I was uneasy about something being wrong with him for some reason. I don't think I'd forgive myself if there was something seriously wrong that we could have addressed, you know? Especially now that I'm older. It makes me more comfortable with home birth, too. But, yeah, I don't "like" the idea of them because of the unknown risks but I'm willing to take that tiny risk now, I think, if it would mean being prepared to handle a big diagnosis. It always feels like you're peeking in on something sacred, though. I think it's one of those things where you just have to discern with each baby whether the benefits outweigh the possible concerns. With this baby, I've been really lazy about scheduling appts. (I've only had one!) but I have my next coming up this week so I'll get the u/s referral. I guess it'll be more like a 22 week by the time I get there :) But I was also intentionally putting it off til the new year since our insurance keeps getting worse and we have a high deductible plan now. Would rather have that cost go toward the new year's deductible! I think this time will be the hardest not finding out the gender!

      Delete
    2. Thanks for asnwering! I've always gotten one, but we've also always had insurance that coverered it. Since you didn't mention it in your recap I was just wondering if you opted not to get it. I definitely agree with your all your reasons and that's why I've always gotten one.

      I prefer to keep it to just the 1 u/s though and I think the 20-week one offers the most benefit. I feel like they are out of control now, and I've known several moms who had an u/s every visit (moms who weren't even high-risk or anything) and that does concern me.

      Delete
    3. I totally agree. I think there were articles I saw floating around recently about even the CDC saying that u/s should only be used sparingly.

      Delete
  5. I love this post. lol. I am tempted to comment on everything but I won't. I'll just say. I HEAR YOU! I'm not pregnant, btw... but I remember. Strongly. My back. My leg cramps. My nesting that stopped coming with baby #5. My sickness that seems to get worse every time. (See, I told you I wouldn't comment on everything... just most things.) And then... the beautiful, adorable, squishy BABY! Eye on the prize, girl! Eye on the prize!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and reading! I love hearing from readers so if a comment box on a post is turned off, it's because Blogger is terrible about filtering spam. If you'd like to send me a message, please use my contact page. Thank you!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.