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.
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.
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!!
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.
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!!!
May/June Preggos
