May/June Preggos
 

Time for a new thread! How's everyone doing?

I guess I'm officially in the 3rd trimester now, which blows my mind. I'm 27 weeks along now, but I don't feel like it looks that way. I've gained LOTS of weight, don't get me wrong (about 42 pounds, which is more than pretty much anyone else I know at this point of pregnancy), but I just look fatter. I don't have the official "baby bump"; I just have a big fat flabby stomach like I used to! My legs are getting rather fleshy too, and let's not even talk about the boobs.

Otherwise, I feel quite good. The only persistent problem right now is that ONE of my ankles is swelling a lot. It's the only swelling I have -- the other ankle is fine. I broke this ankle all the way through in 2004 and I have all this metal in there, so I guess that's why it's happening. I try to keep it elevated a lot lately.

How's everyone else doing?

Hi Lisa, thanks for starting a new thread!

I am week 22 and have gained about 10lbs so far. I don't want to gain too much more if any. My doctor and I discussed it weeks ago and thought about 5 lbs or 10 at the most would be about right. Okay I am over 100 lbs overweight so don't anyone start flaming me! I'd probably stop the gain and probably lose a little if I started exercising a bit. It's a viscious cycle though because I'm fatigued so I don't exercise but if I exercised I'd probably be less fatigued! Work doesn't help either, I work straight nights, 12 hour shifts and it really takes a toll.

Lisa, have you gotten any compression stockings for your swelling? I had some swelling for a couple of days a few weeks back but since then I haven't had any. I have a booking to get measured for stockings just in case. I imagine in a few weeks it will be back. I know what you mean about not really having a baby bump. To my own mind I think I just look fatter but others have noticed that I am in fact pregnant and not just gaining weight.

Otherwise all is going pretty good. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

Funny - all that has been on my mind lately is how FAT I feel. Not pregnant - just fat! I'm 14 weeks now (finally 2nd tri!!!) so it is still early to truly have a bump or to feel the baby - I can't wait for that.

I've done well so far - haven't gained anything yet but my boobs are definitely fuller & even dh thinks my stomach seems bigger. Strange how I feel so HUGE!

Jen - I totally get the immediate jump to defend your weight gain goals. I keep getting grief over it - but if it's good with our doctor's no one else should have anything else to say about it!!! Good on you for keeping it in check with your work schedule - that would tough!

LisaMarie - how long before your pregnancy did you reach your goal weight? I was just reading that those who have recently lost a significant amount of weight are more likely to gain more during a pregnancy. Don't worry about though - I have a friend who gained 80 & 70 with her two pregnancies & lost it all both times - so 42 is not so much.

Jen -- I haven't tried compression stockings, mostly because what I have isn't typical swelling. I just have this one area on the side of the ankle I injured. It's gotten pretty bad this weekend and I'm thinking I need to go back to my orthopedic surgeon for an x-ray to make sure all that metal is staying in place. I'd hate for something to go haywire in there while I'm pregnant!! Pregnant on crutches would NOT be pleasant.

Lifeguard -- I remember just feeling FAT in the early months and not looking pregnant at all. I still feel that way to some degree, but it depends on what I wear whether I really look pregnant or not.

And yes, I had lost all my weight immediately before I got pregnant (apparently my body has been waiting all these years to get to a healthy weight so I could finally conceive!) I met my goal of 165 on October 3 and I conceived in early November. I knew I would gain a lot, since I went from cutting calories to eating quite frequently (I got nauseous only if I didn't eat in the beginning and now I'm hungry all the time) and from running 25 miles a week to the occasional walk. I'm on track to gain about 60-70 pounds, it seems, but I'm surprisingly not that worried about it. I know I can lose it, and if I don't lose ALL of it, I'm ok with that too, as long as I'm healthy and my baby's healthy.

Lisa - I think that is a great attitude about your weight. Probably too your body is remembering the weight that it just lost. Don't forget those fat cells don't actually leave your body, they just get smaller so that is probably why it is easier to gain weight. Even if you gain 60 lbs you'll still weight less than what I do right now and I am several weeks behind you! Hope that it works out with whatever is going on with your ankle.

Lifeguard - I don't talk to a lot of people about how much weight I have gained or not gained because I was getting grief (not on this board) about how I shouldn't worry about it, that I needed to gain weight even if I was overweight or the baby wouldn't be healthy etc etc. I don't know if you post on any pregnancy related message boards but you'd probably be shocked by what people really don't know about being pregnant. Anyway I 'talked' to a number of overweight women that stayed at their prepregnancy weight and then subsequently lost a lot when the baby was born or actually lost a little weight during pregnancy. I think I will not gain too much more, I am going to put an effort into being more active this summer, not like a lot of vigorous exercise but just getting outside and doing more. Also I really need to start drinking more water. I can drink 2 quarts of water and the next day I will have lost 5 lbs and it won't come back. I think I retain a lot because I just don't drink much, really not even juice or pop.

Worked last night and it was a killer. I was so tired on the drive in that I was thankful that no one did anything stupid on the road in front of me because I wouldn't have had the reflexes to avoid an accident. Needless to say I am not going in tonight. Besides being super tired I am just feeling really dizzy. I'm okay as long as I am sitting down for a long period of time but I get up and then I feel lightheaded. Like just now I thought I heard the truck pull into the driveway so I got up to look and then sat down again and I'm having that lightheaded/dizzy feeling. I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow and have some bloodwork done just to make sure I am not anemic.

Hope everyone is doing okay, take care!

Lisa - what a great attitude!

Jen - I get that dizziness all the time. You'd think I would remember to stand up slowly - but no - I keep finding myself clinging to things until it passes.

I'm finding eating challenging. It seems my eyes are constantly bigger than my stomach. and if I eat too much (even by a bite or 2) I am miserably uncomfortable for Hours afterwards!!

I'm still here. I feel rotten. I'm closing in on 35 weeks now, and my c-section is scheduled for June 9.

Not long now.

Anne

Anne - sorry to hear you are feeling rotten, still not too much longer to go! Hang in there!

Lifeguard - I have the exact same problem with eating. Even eating regular meals is too much, I have to eat smaller meals and eat more often which is probably good.

I had a little fall on Monday, nothing super serious. I was breaking down some cardboard boxes and slipped on one of them and fell right onto my bottom. Luckily I have lots of my own personal padding plus fell onto a 4 inch later of cardboard so I didn't hit the concrete full impact. I still called my doctor and they had me come in just to be on the safe side. The heart rate was good and I could feel the baby moving around so no problems there. Still it was a bit nerve wracking and emotional until I heard the baby's heartbeat. On one hand I was pretty sure it wasn't serious but on the other you never know what might go wrong. I've had no symptoms, spotting or whatever so doesn't appear that anything bad has happened.

Not much else going on, back to work tonight and then off on the weekend.

Jen - I'm glad your fall wasn't serious. I think sometimes are bodies are more hearty then we give them credit for.

I'm feeling terrible. We're having some money woes that are totally out of our control - nothing serious & totally temporary but it is just leaving me crazy feeling so out of control. I think it is just compounding the loneliness & isolation I am feeling. We just moved to Costa Rica in December. Between being in a strange country, having nothing really substantial to do all day (I cannot get a work visa here), & our physical location I feel like I'm just sitting & waiting. Another 5.5 months is a long time to wait...

Sorry to moan so. But I just chatted with a "very close" friend who's response to me saying I was lonely was "ah". Not quite what I needed.

I get to go home for a week at the end of the month & I'm really hoping that'll get me out of this funk.

Lifeguard - I so know what you mean when you type out a long heartfelt e-mail or post and all you get is a 1 or 2 word reply. It is very frustrating! Hope your financial probs get sorted out soon and you feel less stress. Why did you guys move to Costa Rica? What is it like there?

My back was killing me last night at work and still today. I had called in sick on Sunday because of my back, had my fall on Monday and went back to work last night. Within 3 hours my back was spasming and didn't really settle all night. Today I called in sick again and e-mailed the manager. Either she is really busy or is really ticked off at me because I am getting 3 and 4 word e-mails back. I have to go on modified duties in order to get someone to help with the heavier tasks and I think she is po'd about it. I was going to try and tough it out but it is just going to be impossible. I have apointments next week for physiotherapy and massage therapy so that I will be able to keep moving, I have too much stuff to do around the house in the next 4 and a bit months to just sit around with a sore back. I am ticked though by the attitude I am getting from work, I don't need it. I was so stressed last night with everything that was going on plus my back been so sore that I wanted to cry. I would say generally that people would be moved by me breaking down and probably my co-workers would but not my manager. I had another manager where I started bawling in her office and she offered me a tissue and that was about it. First time and last time I've ever cried in public.

Anyway that is my day. I feel very stressed about all of this, I don't think it is fair that I'm getting attitude from work, like I want to go through all of this hassle? I would like this to be a very happy time and instead it feels terrible.

Jen - my back was killing me last week for a few days but then subsided. I chalked it up to "growing pains". Hopefully, especially with physio, you'll find yours does not last the rest of the pregnancy. I would guess the manager isn't holding it against you personally but as it is another thing on her plate is frustrated at the situation. She couldn't possibly blame you - your pregnant - eventually you were going to have to back off the physical aspects some.

Looks like the finances are straightening up - as I knew they would, with time. Just frustrating when things are so out of your control.

We moved here for my husbands job & plan to be here for about 2 years. So far it is not too bad, different then we anticipated - but that is to be expected. Nothing is ever as it seems. But is an experience & that is what we were after.

I'll bet you will enjoy living there and probably not want to leave! That will definately be an experience you'll remember forever. I'd love to spend some time in a completely different culture. Here in North America everything is so much the same. When I go shopping in the US really you can't tell you are in a different country, it would only be different say in areas where the people have accents, say in the south or the eastern states. Though here in Canada I've heard our own easterners with some interesting accents. But other than that people are very much the same culturally.

I don't think my manager is particularly ticked with me. She has got a difficult job and I'm probably being a bit egocentric to think that my problems occupy her thoughts all that much. She has got a number of staff that are either leaving altogether or will be going on maternity leave (there are 3 preggos plus one dad to be taking paternity leave) so staffing is a big concern and I'm just part of all of that I suppose. Still I think with 3 of us pregnant they are going to have to give us some consideration. It's not like we have a sit down job in front of a computer, we do a lot of heavy lifting, always busy, non-stop most of the time in a very stressful environment. She sure doesn't need a pregnant woman getting hurt on the job.

Wow does sound she has a heavy stress load - staffing is no fun to do at all! What is you do?

We live in the central valley here which is where about 90% of the people in the country live. Because of the influx of Americans retiring or relocating here it is quite americanized in many ways - but not so much in other ways. I am enjoying the perpetual summer thing, although it is interesting how quickly you get used to it & become almost indifferent to it. We definitely enjoy our summer weather a lot more back home. And I do miss seasons. I never thought I liked spring that much but I find myself envious of my friends talking about their lawns & gardens coming to life & opening the windows for the first time to air things out - sigh!

Where are you in Ontario? We lived in Arnprior, 30 min west of Ottawa.

So I have been feeling huge lately -even though I haven't gained yet. Then yesterday we went to the beach & DH took pictures. UGH - I was horrified by what I was - I look sooooo fat! So I decided to take my measurements last night & compared them to the last ones I did before I was pregnant - pretty much difference (+/- .5" here & there). Crazy considering how thin I was feeling previously.

So I have decided that my mind has finally adjusted to all the weight I have lost & I'm now starting to be able to see my body for what it really is again.

Anyway, I'm super motivated to keep at it in the gym even though I'm stilling finding it hard to know how hard is "too hard" to push myself. Hopefully when I go home at the end of the month I'll be able to find a good resource to get me through to the end. Everything I can find online just says "double-check with your doctor" but I know she is being unrealistic & overly cautious. I did a powerlifting competition 1.5 months before I conceived & now she wants me to only do a little easy walking & swimming! That just seems to little if I expect to maintain any of the fitness gains I've made in the last year - ugh.

Sorry to rant - but I needed to get it out!

Lifeguard, I don't know if it's possible to really maintain our fitness gains during pregnancy. You really do have to take it easy. I wanted to continue running but I couldn't because of some bleeding. A friend of mine continued running during her pregnancy and her placenta detached from her uterine wall. That may have happened anyway, but she wasn't changing her lifestyle - she continued running and she continued lifting things at work. It's just not worth it. Believe me, I'd made huge gains in my running and I didn't want to lose that, but I decided early on that I would just have to work my way back to it. I guess it took me so long to get pregnant that there's just no way I'm taking any risks. I've gained more than I should've, that's for sure, but I seem to be gaining no matter what I choose to eat, so I'm just going with the flow.

Happy's Mother's Day to all the mommies and mommies-to-be!!!

The fact that it has taken me so long to get pregnant is what has had me back off a fair bit thus far. But I'm not so good at going to the gym & having an easy workout. I can be a bit of an all or nothing personality - lol. So, I guess I've been looking for what is too hard.

I actual found a great website yesterday: http://www.befitmom.com/index.html I don't know why I didn't find it before now but it has very concrete info & good reasoning behind all it's recommendations. Makes me feel much better about what is indicated by "moderate".

I know that I may lose some of my fitness level - but I really don't think that I have to go nearly as light as is generally accepted. I mean lifting the little pink weights is just a waste of my time! LoL

Hope everyone is doing well!

Lifeguard - I am a registered nurse working on a hospital ward so you can imagine the headaches that go along with 24/7 staffing. I know my manager has got a lot on her mind but I don't think she needs to be ratty with me. I'm saying it that way but I don't know if she really is being ratty because all I have to go by is her e-mails and they are short and terse so I feel like she is po'd but probably she isn't. I have to go for a meeting on Wednesday so I'll see her face to face and then I'll know what is what. I'll be remembering your endless summer comments this winter when we are hip deep in snow and you're taking long walks on the beach with the baby! We live in southeastern ontario between Hamilton and St. Catharines. I haven't been to the Ottawa area though I hear it is nice.

I can imagine how rough it is not to want to work out hard to keep up with the regime you've been on for awhile now. The way that I look at it is that you're going to have your whole life to re-establish your workouts but only a few short months to be pregnant. I know 40 weeks sounds like forever but I'm already past the halfway point and it feels like it went by in 2 seconds.

Hi, everyone! Haven't posted in a while. Getting over being sick..yuck...all month of April. Started with a cold, then went to an ear infection. By the time the third week was done, I was recovering from a sinus infection and a little bronchitis! Geez, and I couldn't even enjoy being pregnant!!


JEN- I, too, work as an RN in the hospital. What time of floor do you work? As for your manager, you need to look out for you! My last 2 pregnancies I was more worried about what coworkers thought and that they would say than to really ease up on all the lifting and pulling I was doing. Lets just say, I think all of that extra work placed me in preterm labor not once like my 2nd son but twice with my last one. I was out on bedrest with both of them starting at 28weeks and 32 weeks respectively. Thankfully, they both were born term at 38 and 39 weeks with medication and a lot of me directing traffic from on the chair!! I changed my OB with this pregnancy and are really doing things a lot differently. My doctor has restricted me doing anymore than 25-30 lbs lifting due to my preterm labor history. At this point, I am finally accepting of doing what I need to do for my health and the health of my baby. Not to mention, the best for the rest of my family. You can imagine the amount of worrying my husband did with a pregnant wife and 2 little boys for me to manage from the chair. Thank God for family! I couldn't have gotten through the last bedrest pregnancy without them!! I keep telling myself at work; it is not worth the risk of pulling up a patient or helping a mod assist transfer! I just ask someone else to do it and offer to do something for them in return. Some times, its easy to do; most times its not. But I keep telling myself...they are not going to be the ones trying to run a household, manage bills, and take care of a 5, 4, and 2 yr old! They can talk about me all they want...I have finally decided to take care of me!

So...look out for you! Please! Don't worry about how stressed your manager is. That is his or her problem. Not yours! Oh and at the time I delivered my first baby (born the day he turned 37 weeks, after working the evening before) there were 5 of us on one unit either pregnant and due in a matter of weeks or already on maternity leave!!!

almsthere - thanks so much for your post! I appreciate the view of another nurse. I work on a ward that is primarily orthopedic, we do mostly fractured hips, not the elective kind, mostly 80 somethings who have fallen and we also have medicine patients a lot of elderly people who cannot cope at home anymore and are waiting for the nursing home. Yes I know it is just about the heaviest patient population anyone could ask for.

I actually don't think my manager is being ratty with me, her e-mails just come across that way. I actually went into the ward today, went to employee health to get someone to look at my throat and take my temperature because I had a terribly sore throat yesterday and today. No strep though and a normal temp but my voice is very ragged and I am practically whispering. So I made sure that she saw me and heard what I sounded like because I have called in sick the past 2 nights. Seeing as I thought she was being ratty I thought she'd better see and hear me in person so she would know I wasn't faking. I don't know why I am so worried about it, I don't like people to think badly of me but you are right that I can't think about that stuff. I am still going ahead with the modified duties and hopefully I'll be able to keep working until I'm pretty close to delivery. I feel a lovely cold developing now, just want I need when I can't take any of my favourite over the counter cold medications!

Jen - I hope your cold doesn't get too bad. My great dh brought one home to me 2 weeks ago & it's been no fun.

Kudos to both of you for working in nursing. What an incredible (& difficult) job. I could't do but think the world of those who do.

My Mom & I were chatting about it last night. When it comes right down to it I'm just not very good at not going all out. She laughed & said I come by it naturally. She is currently waiting to have surgery on both knees.

Nursing can be very rewarding in some respects but very difficult in others. I think right now the nursing shortage is what is really hurting and of course the hospitals not having enough money. The patient to nurse ratio is ridiculous. The ward I work on in particular we need more health care aides, they are people who do stuff like bed baths and incontinent care, they are so valuable on the ward but we don't have the budget to hire someone full-time. We'll get them if we have a patient who is confused and needs 1:1 observation and then we'll usually be able to get them to help us out with the care. I think that would take a lot of pressure off us, we could spend more time doing real nursing things like assessments and less time changing adult diapers.

Anyway....I went to massage therapy and physiotherapy yesterday. The massage was a little painful, she was really digging into my back muscles at times so I'm not sure that I'm going back for more of that! I might go to a different therapist. I don't feel like I really connected with this one. I went to one about 7 years ago when I am pregnant with my 1st baby and I liked her a lot more. She spent about 15 minutes or so talking to me before the massage, this one spent about 30 seconds. Physiotherapy was okay, just really some exercises to do and tips about what ways I should try and position myself.

Otherwise same old, same old. Anything new with anyone else?

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Had an ultrasound - which was sooo exciting! I was surprised that I almost cried when I heard the heartbeat. Looks like we're having a boy - dh is super excited!

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the model of care I'm pretty much being forced into. Ideally I would have a midwife in a hospital/birthing centre. Midwifery here is illegal (found that out this morning) & so is only available for homebirths. But even if we can reconcile ourselves with that it looks like they won't take me as a client anyway because I have pcos.

I just really don't want a medicalized birth with a bunch of unnecessary interventions. Based on the conversation I had with the ob/gyn yesterday this is what I'm in for with her. I'm not afraid of the pain & I have faith in what my body can do. I'm sooo frustrated right now.

Lifeguard - what sort of medical interventions do you not want to have? Being a nurse I suppose I am a bit biased in favour of the conventional hospital birth and all that it entails but I'm open to hear what people expectations are especially when it comes to labour and delivery. Women have been giving birth forever, it is not exactly a new thing for us. The thing that you should keep in mind though is that when you are in the midst of labour and giving birth you may not be able to make some decisions instantly and the doctor has to take over. Some things she may not be able to do if other interventions are not done first. On another board someone was upset about having an IV started. Well my thoughts on that are that it is not the best feeling in the world having an IV inserted but suppose you started bleeding out and they needed to give you a transfusion right away or IV fluid or whatever, it takes a few minutes to start an IV properly and those few minutes could be critical if you live or die. Now that's an extreme example and I don't know what interventions you have in mind but when I went to the hospital with my first pregnancy and made up a birth plan I decided to be open about what I wanted and didn't want but also to listen to the rationale of what they wanted to do. I think this is one of those times where you can't say I won't have this or I won't have that because things can change from moment to moment. You may think now that you don't want anything for pain but when the time comes you may find that it is too much to handle and decide to get an epidural. Anyway just my 2 cents. Are you guys going to to any sort of parenting/birthing classes? We went the first time and while I didn't get much out of it because I already knew a lot of it from my nursing classes I think my husband learned some stuff. I think the instructors are good people to bounce ideas around with because they've probably seen everything.

I was doing a lot of stuff around the house yesterday (for me anyway) and at some point I twisted or turned the wrong way and suddenly my sciatic pain took off and even was down my leg a little bit. My back was really sore by about 7pm. It's one of those things that I wake up feeling good and decide to loads and end up doing too much. Oh well.

Jen - I hope you are able to find some relief from your sciatica. I can only imagine it is terrible. My father has a back injury & has severe sciatica for years & I know how it can put him right out of commission at times. Just to see his face you know it can't be good.

Re: my childbirth. I know that their are a lot of wonderful interventions out there that save lives & that is very important. I want to avoid unnecessary interventions that are not beneficial to myself or my baby (ie. pitocin to hurry along a labour that in reality is going along at an exceptable rate - just not fast enough to appease the doctor. My doctor told me that she likes to give "a little something" to speed things up so we don't have to pay to spend as much time in the hospital. To me that is unacceptable.)

But I am going into knowing you cannot plan birth, but that doesn't mean I can't go in with what I would prefer & with my research done.

I'm also in a different situation in that I expect most of the people in the hospital to only speak spanish which I speak very little of & expect to remember even less of when i'm in labour. I know I need to go in even more prepared to prevent misunderstandings.

This morning I went for a walk with the dogs. I need to focus on drinking more water. My fingers are all swollen now & I know when I drink enough that doesn't happen.

Lifeguard - I definately get what you mean about getting the pitocin when it is not really needed. I can't say that I have ever heard of anyone doing that here but I suppose because of the way our health care system is and we don't have to pay for everything that we don't worry too much about that sort of stuff. Definately it will be difficult not knowing the language when you have to go to the hospital. Is there anyone that you could get to come in with you (besides your husband) for translation purposes? It might even be worthwhile to hire a midwife even if she is not going to do anything other than support you and help with the translation. Would they allow that considering that it is illegal there?

I've been doing some research. I have been in contact with a midwife - unfortunately they are illegal here & cannot go into the hospital. I'm hoping she may be able to help me find a doula. Fortunately the doctor speaks perfect english - but as I know she wont' be there the whole time it is the nurses I am worried about. I've still got 24 weeks to perfect my spanish!!!LOL

Oh my, have I ever been sick the last 20 hours. I felt fine yesterday morning, took the dogs for a walk, ate breakfast. And then suddenly the vomitting & headache started. I couldn't even keep water down. But now it seems to be ok again. I'm glad 'cause I was worried I was going to get dehydrated.

Jen - since you're a nurse, I may have questions for you! I'm so clueless about the whole thing, so I've been reading up lots of info about what to expect when I go into the hospital, and I'm going to take the classes that are offered at my hospital because I figure the more I know the better.

Lifeguard - Congratulations on the boy! It seems like every pregnant woman I know is having a boy (including me). I know one woman who's having a girl, and she's scheduled to have a C-section next Wednesday. Everyone else -- boy. Can you write a birth plan and go over it with your OB? I understand what Jen is saying about how you have to be open to whatever happens and listen to what the medical staff say, but perhaps you could include some things in your plan like "no pitocin unless necessary for X reason" or "do not offer medical pain relief unless I ask for it." I've heard of people including things like that, but I don't know how receptive your OB would be.

I can't believe I'm 29 weeks now. It seems like it has gone so fast! I'm starting to feel pretty crappy -- huge and bloated with random pains everywhere. Ah, third trimester. People aren't lying when they say the second trimester is the easy one -- I felt so much better during that time than I did in the first trimester or now. I imagine it will only get harder as I get bigger. I feel mostly ok, though, so I shouldn't complain.

I'm quite happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability since I've already been through this once and have some knowledge from being a nurse.

At work tonight but I don't have a patient assignment, I'm just helping out doing little things so I've been able to sit for a good bit. Don't know what is going to happen next week with this meeting I have to go to about being on modified duties. I see my doctor on Tuesday so we'll talk about it a little. Frankly I'd just as soon go right off but it might not be an option.

Lifeguard - glad to hear that you are feeling better, maybe it was just something that disagreed with you rather than something pregnancy related.

Lisa - I think I know what you mean about feeling crappy but not feeling like you shouldn't complain. I feel the same way. Like my back is bad but otherwise I'm okay. I don't have anything horribly wrong with me like high blood pressure it's just all the little things that make pregnant life uncomfortable, they seem to add up really quickly!

29 weeks - that's fantastic! I feel like time is going to in slow motion! I don't remember a time when it ever seemed slower - lol.

I have already started on a "birth plan". I plan to discuss bits & pieces at every appointment from now until delivery with the ob & then I'm also going to have it translated to spanish so the day of we can have it with us & refer to it with the nurses if need be. If nothing more it will be a reminder of the right words to use - lol!

Good luck with your meeting Jen. I actually covered the maternity leave for a woman & she simply went to her doctor & told him straight up she couldn't take working anymore (we worked for an absolutely AWFUL *****!) & he put her short term disability until the birth. Probably a little dishonest but I'm sure the stress of working in that situation was NOT good for her or the baby.

Oh I wish my doctor would do something like that! It isn't just her though because she's got forms to fill out and it has to get past a 3rd party adjudicator. The problem I think will be that they will say that I can sit at the desk and do paperwork or just little things that I don't have to be on my feet for very long. If I had something like high blood pressure or gestational diabetes that was not being controlled that might be a different story. My SIL was having sciatic pain and couldn't get off work yet there was a pregnant lady on our ward last year who had the same thing and was able to get off work. I think it depends on how the doctor words everything. In a way I would like off, who wouldn't like to get off work and still be paid? The thing is though that I am in negative hours for my vacation time, almost 2 weeks worth and I don't want to go on maternity leave owing that much time because I don't know if I am coming back to this job when my leave is done. I am hoping not to come back full time probably I will still have to work some part time hours but if I don't go back at all they are going to want that money back! Even if I can work another 2-3 months that will get rid of a good bit of that time I owe and then I'll feel better about going off. I'm banking on that they will just say that I can go into work as an extra, I don't think that they will end up getting my a health care aide to do all the heavy stuff and I"ll just do medications because I'm not sure I could do that. It would be too much walking over the course of a 12 hour shift. Heck I went out on Friday just to run some errands and barely made it through walking through a few stores.

That sounds like a really good idea about getting stuff translated. A good idea too would be to get a list of words printed onto a page and laminate it for reference when you go to the hospital. My doctor and I talk a little every time I go in about what we are expecting for the delivery. Right now though I am waiting to see the OBGYN seeing as we are figuring on a planned c-section. I won't see her until July and then we'll probably make the appointment on what day I'll be going into the hospital

Baby is kicking a fair bit now but until today I couldn't feel it on the outside, just on the inside. My little boy so much wants to feel the baby kick! I'm hoping to take him to my next ultrasound, he's always listening to my tummy to see if he can hear the baby. He had to come with me once to the doctor's so he got to hear the baby's heartbeat and he really thought that was cool!

Oy - I've got restless legs soooo bad!! It's been coming on the last couple of weeks. Yesterday I even went to the gym in the hopes of working it out but tonight is worse then ever (it's now almost 5 & no sleep yet!).

Ugh!

Oh restless legs, nasty! I get the odd cramp now and again that feels like the muscle has curled into a ball but thankfully it usually passes quickly. Hope you were able to get some sleep!

So the saga with work continues. The case manager left a message on Friday for a meeting on Wednesday at noon, I called back Friday left a message if it was possible to have the meeting later in the afternoon. She calls back today leaves a message that we may not be able to meet at all because she has not been able to confirm with the nurse manager because the nurse manager has been off since Friday. Well if we can't have a meeting tomorrow and I am supposed to work tomorrow night where does that leave me? I can't work a regular shift, my back can barely take a little walking with shopping, I can't do a 12 hour shift. The next time we could possibly meet will be next Wednesday, I will have 4 shifts between now and then so what do I do if I don't have a modified program in place? I had a prenatal appt today with my doctor, she is agreeable to do whatever I want as far as work goes. So she will fill out the forms for short term disability, whether or not I am approved is a different story. Well we'll see what happens tomorrow and the saga will continue.

Babywise nothing new is going on, lots of big kicks but that is a good thing and I really like feeling them anyways.

Hi everyone!

I had my GD test today (the one-hour test) and I passed it, thank God. They checked my iron as well and it was a little low, so my doctor prescribed an iron supplement that supposedly does not cause constipation -- that's good, because I don't need any more of that. Everything else was fine, though I'm gaining a crazy amount of weight by each appointment.

My biggest problem is pain in my pelvic area, right in the um..private region. I talked to my doctor about it last time, but it's even worse now. We talked about pubic symphisis separation, which might be what it is. I've read some scary stuff about that on the internet, but my doctor said your pelvic bones start to separate a bit to prepare for birth and some women have a great deal of pain from it and others don't. Well, my pain is getting worse all the time. Walking can be hard sometimes, and getting out of bed is excruciating lately. So is turning over in bed. Ugh! I hope it gets better, but I get the impression it just gets worse as the baby gets heavier and the pressure increases. It's the only big problem I've had so far in my pregnancy, so I hate to even complain, but ...ouch! :(

Lisa - how many weeks are you? I have problems sometimes changing position in bed but I think it is more because of my back than pelvic pain but I think I have had a little of that as well.

Jen - I'm 29 weeks. I've been feeling this pain off and on for quite a while, but it's much worse now. It's pretty much constant. I really don't have much back pain so far -- this is definitely in my pubic area, mostly in the front of it, and it hurts the most when I separate my legs, like putting on pants or stepping into or out of the shower.

The pain I am getting right now is more in the back where my tailbone is but sometimes I can feel a little twinge in the front. Once in awhile I will get a shooting pain, probably just from moving the wrong way. With the tailbone pain sometimes it is radiating down the back of my legs. Does tylenol do anything for it? I took some this morning because of my back and it hasn't even touched it, my back is still sore and so is my tailbone. Boy the things we get to go through when we are pregnant! Right now it doesn't seem to matter if I am sitting, standing or lying down, it all hurts.

Have not heard a peep from work yet so I don't know what the heck is going on. Tried to sleep-in a bit this morning since I am scheduled to work tonight but I am wound up with all this stuff that is going on plus this soreness I am having, there was no way I could sleep.

Oy - guess I'm lucky - I haven't had any major pains (yet!). Can icing help the pubic pain? It might be worth a try.

Jen - I'm so sorry to hear about your work angst. What a nuisance! I'm glad your doctor is so agreeable though - at least you have someone to back you up when you finally have your meeting. I would imagine they would rather you on modified duty then short-term disability (plus it looks really bad on their workers comp stats for the year).

I have found that the restless legs is worse if I'm not tired enough - so that means I am trying to avoid napping & making sure I go to bed late enough. Lying around makes it so much worse.

I booked my plane tickets last night - I'm going home for 2.5 weeks next Wednesday. I can't wait!!! I'm craving licorice SOOOO bad! LOL

Work has become unbelievable. I'll spare ya'll the details because I'm to the point where I am sick of the whole thing and sick of talking about it. It doesn't even help anymore to talk about it. Until yesterday it helped to vent, now it is just too stupid for words. Let's just say that I am so po'd with my manager and the case manager that I am willing to take every advantage of the system that I can and unfortunately for the dumb@sses that I work for I have more people on my side!

Umm, ice on the pubic area? Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. In this case I'd rather try heat. Last night at work I was putting a hot blanket under my bum and one behind my back and that seems to help for a bit.

What they don't have licorice in Costa Rica?? You must be able to buy it at the hotel gift shops. Probably at twice the price it would cost anywhere else but...

LOL - Honestly cannot find the stuff anywhere - even at specialty candy stores! So weird the things you miss.

I guess we lost some posts in the server crash from a few days ago. What's up with everyone since then? I'm off work now, for how long I'm not sure, I'm hopng for the rest of the summer. To make a long story short I had a crying fit at work then at my doctor's office and she is doing the paperwork for me to be off. We'll see what happens but I have high hopes that the insurance company isn't giving me any grief because it sounds like they've had some problems (lawsuits actually) with our union over stuff like this so hopefully it'll all go through nicely. I've been off for over a week now and my back is a little better, still not up to doing much more than 30 minutes at a time without a rest but I think not having that anxiety is helping a lot.

Anything new and exciting with anyone else??