As I may have expressed in earlier posts I am highly confused by the actual length of a pregnancy. I keep saying I am 7 months, but I guess at 32 weeks I am actually 8 months pregnant - as in starting my eighth month. And a full pregnancy is 9 full months. I'm figuring it out... I know, I know... I'm slow! Here I sit, prepping for my first of 14 classes the next two years at San Jose State University. MBA here I come, I mean, waddle! I'm a tad bit nervous to have to sit in a four hour class this evening, considering I can barely sit still in general. My butt goes numb, baby karate kicks me in the ribs, puts her heel in my stomach, then does a two hand handstand on my bladder... and I'm supposed to sit there really still paying attention to my professor. The plan is to sit near the door at the back of the room so I can run to the bathroom every 30 minutes or stand up to stretch my legs. I am nervous that the professor is going to question my ability to attend class. If he asks my due date I'm gonna fudge and say it is in late November and will not volunteer that I am due the week of the final, mid-October. ha! Dang, this is gonna be interesting! I've also got a ridiculous amount of water and snacks to hold me over. Although, I am rarely hungry these days so I doubt I'll hit up the food stash.
Speaking of not being hungry, I am rather pleased about this recent development. I am clearly terrified about gaining weight. Yes, I know that we are supposed to gain 25 to 35 pounds, but I am still convinced that range is completely excessive, especially on the higher end. I still can't believe my midwife told me she'd like to see my gain as much at 40. What?! 35 pounds alone is a serious amount of weight considering the majority of us are carrying 7-8 pounders. I just can't justify the extra 27-29 pounds of "stuff". I am eating normally, attempting to work out (which has proven really tough with the pelvic and back pain), and don't take anything too seriously. I am by no means a small girl. I started this pregnancy at 5 foot 8 inches and 147 pounds. I have gained 21 as of week 31 and haven't gained since. I am sure I'll pack on a few more pounds, but let's be honest, what goes on must come off afterwards, and I will not be in the mood to work really hard at it post-baby. The thought of running after giving birth sounds truly horrifying. I have no plans of doing that for quite a few weeks. Even then I might start with some power walking.
One hour until I have to leave for class. Wish me luck!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Bye bye constipation
As many of your pregger ladies have experienced, pregnancy and constipation often come hand in hand. By the fifth month it was really driving me batty and I was highly grossed out by the mass quantities of food I was eating, yet nothing was, ahem, coming out the other end. I tried psyllium husks, stopped taking my prenatal vitamins, worked out every day, drank excessive quantities of water, and even tried squatting for like 10 minutes at a time. But nope, nothing.
Embarrassed, I shared this with my midwife, who said that it can be cured with a couple daily teaspoons of Natural Calm Magnesium powder. I went to the local health food store and was surprised at the price, $20 for 8ounces. I thought this seemed pricey for a product I had never heard of nor had any clue if it really worked. I went home and browsed online and that appeared to be the going price. I was still hesitant, but three days later when I was still constipated, I would have paid $200 for 8 ounces.
That night I took my first serving. The back says to start with 1 teaspoon then gradually work your way to 3 teaspoons, or until you find the right amount to stay regular. I winged it and went with two teaspoons the first time. I filled a glass with about a 1/4 cup of water, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds until it was hot, then mixed in the powder. It foamed and sputtered as I mixed it around. I then poured in about a cup of cold water, mixed and drank. I had purchased the natural flavor and it was just really citrus-y, so I cut it with a splash or two of OJ... much better.
The next morning, much to my pleasure, I had to use the bathroom. Sweet relief! haha A few hours later I went again. Not to be too graphic, but it was a legit movement, I didn't have diarrhea. So many times when you take products like this you just get sick and constipation actually seems like the better alternative. I think it you overdid the servings, like hit 3 teaspoons or more, you'd be in for a rough time. So I'd recommend sticking with the 1-2 teaspoons to start, then adding more/less depending on the circumstances. Also, I've stopped taking it every day and now do so only once every other and all is regular.
Sorry if I grossed anyone out, but this stuff has been a freakin' life saver. I am so grateful I found it!
Embarrassed, I shared this with my midwife, who said that it can be cured with a couple daily teaspoons of Natural Calm Magnesium powder. I went to the local health food store and was surprised at the price, $20 for 8ounces. I thought this seemed pricey for a product I had never heard of nor had any clue if it really worked. I went home and browsed online and that appeared to be the going price. I was still hesitant, but three days later when I was still constipated, I would have paid $200 for 8 ounces.
That night I took my first serving. The back says to start with 1 teaspoon then gradually work your way to 3 teaspoons, or until you find the right amount to stay regular. I winged it and went with two teaspoons the first time. I filled a glass with about a 1/4 cup of water, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds until it was hot, then mixed in the powder. It foamed and sputtered as I mixed it around. I then poured in about a cup of cold water, mixed and drank. I had purchased the natural flavor and it was just really citrus-y, so I cut it with a splash or two of OJ... much better.
The next morning, much to my pleasure, I had to use the bathroom. Sweet relief! haha A few hours later I went again. Not to be too graphic, but it was a legit movement, I didn't have diarrhea. So many times when you take products like this you just get sick and constipation actually seems like the better alternative. I think it you overdid the servings, like hit 3 teaspoons or more, you'd be in for a rough time. So I'd recommend sticking with the 1-2 teaspoons to start, then adding more/less depending on the circumstances. Also, I've stopped taking it every day and now do so only once every other and all is regular.
Sorry if I grossed anyone out, but this stuff has been a freakin' life saver. I am so grateful I found it!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My body has officially fallen apart at 30 weeks pregnant
Today marks 30 weeks of pregnancy. Today also marks the beginning of the end of my body!
1 - Official weight gain as of this morning is 20 pounds... you have to be kidding me.
2 - Muscles that have officially separated and left me in a whimpering lump of pain: abdominal, symphysis pubis, and sacroiliac. The abdominal muscle separation has me completely stumped. Prior to this pregnancy I was totally fit, solid core muscles, worked out all the time; my belly at 30 weeks is still rather small, some people think I am only 3-4 months along, not 7+; and again, I was fit and had a rock solid tummy! What the hell?
3 - My right nipple, if expressed, secretes breast milk. Ok, it is so officially over.
Weight gain and the leaky boobs were all expected, but I am really struggling with all my muscles/ligaments giving way with 10 weeks to go. The pelvic pain (compliments of the loose symphysis pubis and sacroiliac) has been mildly bothering me since June, about 20 weeks in, but has become progressively worse, with the peak at week 28. If you look at my past posts you'll notice my incessant complaining about sore pelvis muscles and the area between my legs. I'd been asking doctors/midwives about this for months and they all down played my pain and said it was all part of pregnancy. But last week when I was completely unable to walk, stand, roll over in bed, or even crawl on the ground, I decided that all these medical professionals were dead wrong and there was something definitely wrong with me. Sure, I figured it was pregnancy related but I didn't think it was normal.
After researching the web for days I self diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Disorder, also known as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, Pelvic Shear, or Pelvic Girdle Pain. The symptoms were exactly what I was experiencing: inability to stand on one leg, sharp pain in groin and pelvis area, clicking noise in pelvis when walking and rolling over, inability to get in/out of bed, extreme pain when getting in/out of car and when depressing manual car's clutch, inability to walk up stairs, and general pressure and pain when walking. Many of the posts and articles I read described pain on a tolerable level but I was reaching an 8 or 9 out of 10 on the pain threshold level. My pelvis had literally locked up and if I could get it to move the pain was unbearable, bringing tears to my eyes.
I shared all this with my midwife and she said that it was a normal part of pregnancy and that she too had experienced the same thing with all her children. Then she informed me that her youngest child is now 13 years old and she still experiences the pelvic pain - she then rambled that maybe she should do something about that. Um, hello... Anyhow, she didn't seem to take me seriously, so I started calling prenatal chiropractors and quizzed them on their knowledge of Symphysis Pubis Disorder (SPD). After calling five offices I got a recommendation for a woman in my area who has assisted women with this very issue. I called immediately and begged for an appointment that afternoon.
The first visit took about 90 minutes, half of which was probably due to the fact that I was writhing in pain and couldn't roll over. She started with a heat pack on my lower back. When she pulled up my shirt she was shocked to see how swollen my lower back was, she said she'd not seen something this puffy in a long time. She began by deeply massaging my right upper butt cheek. It was painful as I could feel the pull on the opposite side in the front of my pelvis. She worked it deeply for about 5-6 minutes, then switched to the left upper butt cheek. After deeply pressing and massaging there she then (this is kinda random) applied hard pressure below my tailbone, at the top of my (no other way to say this) butt crack! It hurt like hell but it was a good hurt. She pushed in and up and I could feel the whole pelvis moving. She did this for maybe 2-3 minutes then had me roll over to my back... this took a whole five minutes. Jeesh!
Laying on my back she had me bring my knees up, keeping my feet on the table so it took pressure off my lower back. She then began deeply deeply massaging my right outside hip and it was causing my back right sacroiliac joint to burst with pain. As she massaged she would carefully wiggle my right knee from side to side. After 3-4 minutes of this she moved to the left hip and repeated the process. After properly loosening me up she rolled me to my left side and cracked my right back, it popped about 6 places and I felt tremendous relief. To end she had me lay on my back again and she deeply massaged my pelvis, which again, hurt a lot. She made sure the pelvis was aligned - it was - and concluded that she believes I am having the pain from the symphysis pubis dysfunction because my body was responding a little too well to the hormone relaxin and all my joints/ligaments had given away more than they should have. She said that often SPD patients have issues because 1 - their pelvis is misaligned, 2 - their body is reacting poorly to the relaxing, or 3 - a combination of the two. Again, she thinks I have too much relaxing and this will all go away within a few weeks of the baby being born.
After the extremely thorough examination I was still in pain but I felt extreme relief to know that someone finally took my pain seriously and offered an explanation and treatment. The chiropractor, who was also a homeopath, gave me some homeopathy pills to take which she said could help strengthen my joints/ligaments; I was given a pregnancy belt/girdle to support my pelvis; she instructed me to wear tennis shoes at all times; and she gave me instructions on how to get dressed, get in/out of bed/car, and how to prevent further pain. Following this appointment, which was on a Wednesday, I came back for another hour appointment the next day, then again three days later. It is now five days since my first appointment and I feel like a new person. I wouldn't dare run or go on a long walk, but I am not in pain. I am insanely grateful to this chiropractor for giving me my sanity back. It is literally the first time since June (it is now mid-August) that I know what is happening to my body and most importantly, I am not in severe pain and I know how to manage it.
What annoys the shit out of me is that all the western medicine practitioners I spoke with blew me off, no one acknowledged my diagnosis of SPD and just told me the pain was part of being pregnant. I took me doing extensive research and finding alternative medical care to start the healing process. Oh yeah, the other annoying part... insurance didn't cover the chiropractic with this out of network provider. $300+ later it sucks but I'd have paid triple to stop the pain.
If anyone else has experienced this pain and wants support or a recommendation to a Santa Cruz area chiropractor, please contact me. Also, check out this link http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/pubicpain.htm. Although I am far from plus sized, it had the most comprehensive information about symphysis pubis and sacroiliac pain and guided me in finding help. Good luck ladies!
1 - Official weight gain as of this morning is 20 pounds... you have to be kidding me.
2 - Muscles that have officially separated and left me in a whimpering lump of pain: abdominal, symphysis pubis, and sacroiliac. The abdominal muscle separation has me completely stumped. Prior to this pregnancy I was totally fit, solid core muscles, worked out all the time; my belly at 30 weeks is still rather small, some people think I am only 3-4 months along, not 7+; and again, I was fit and had a rock solid tummy! What the hell?
3 - My right nipple, if expressed, secretes breast milk. Ok, it is so officially over.
Weight gain and the leaky boobs were all expected, but I am really struggling with all my muscles/ligaments giving way with 10 weeks to go. The pelvic pain (compliments of the loose symphysis pubis and sacroiliac) has been mildly bothering me since June, about 20 weeks in, but has become progressively worse, with the peak at week 28. If you look at my past posts you'll notice my incessant complaining about sore pelvis muscles and the area between my legs. I'd been asking doctors/midwives about this for months and they all down played my pain and said it was all part of pregnancy. But last week when I was completely unable to walk, stand, roll over in bed, or even crawl on the ground, I decided that all these medical professionals were dead wrong and there was something definitely wrong with me. Sure, I figured it was pregnancy related but I didn't think it was normal.
After researching the web for days I self diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Disorder, also known as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, Pelvic Shear, or Pelvic Girdle Pain. The symptoms were exactly what I was experiencing: inability to stand on one leg, sharp pain in groin and pelvis area, clicking noise in pelvis when walking and rolling over, inability to get in/out of bed, extreme pain when getting in/out of car and when depressing manual car's clutch, inability to walk up stairs, and general pressure and pain when walking. Many of the posts and articles I read described pain on a tolerable level but I was reaching an 8 or 9 out of 10 on the pain threshold level. My pelvis had literally locked up and if I could get it to move the pain was unbearable, bringing tears to my eyes.
I shared all this with my midwife and she said that it was a normal part of pregnancy and that she too had experienced the same thing with all her children. Then she informed me that her youngest child is now 13 years old and she still experiences the pelvic pain - she then rambled that maybe she should do something about that. Um, hello... Anyhow, she didn't seem to take me seriously, so I started calling prenatal chiropractors and quizzed them on their knowledge of Symphysis Pubis Disorder (SPD). After calling five offices I got a recommendation for a woman in my area who has assisted women with this very issue. I called immediately and begged for an appointment that afternoon.
The first visit took about 90 minutes, half of which was probably due to the fact that I was writhing in pain and couldn't roll over. She started with a heat pack on my lower back. When she pulled up my shirt she was shocked to see how swollen my lower back was, she said she'd not seen something this puffy in a long time. She began by deeply massaging my right upper butt cheek. It was painful as I could feel the pull on the opposite side in the front of my pelvis. She worked it deeply for about 5-6 minutes, then switched to the left upper butt cheek. After deeply pressing and massaging there she then (this is kinda random) applied hard pressure below my tailbone, at the top of my (no other way to say this) butt crack! It hurt like hell but it was a good hurt. She pushed in and up and I could feel the whole pelvis moving. She did this for maybe 2-3 minutes then had me roll over to my back... this took a whole five minutes. Jeesh!
Laying on my back she had me bring my knees up, keeping my feet on the table so it took pressure off my lower back. She then began deeply deeply massaging my right outside hip and it was causing my back right sacroiliac joint to burst with pain. As she massaged she would carefully wiggle my right knee from side to side. After 3-4 minutes of this she moved to the left hip and repeated the process. After properly loosening me up she rolled me to my left side and cracked my right back, it popped about 6 places and I felt tremendous relief. To end she had me lay on my back again and she deeply massaged my pelvis, which again, hurt a lot. She made sure the pelvis was aligned - it was - and concluded that she believes I am having the pain from the symphysis pubis dysfunction because my body was responding a little too well to the hormone relaxin and all my joints/ligaments had given away more than they should have. She said that often SPD patients have issues because 1 - their pelvis is misaligned, 2 - their body is reacting poorly to the relaxing, or 3 - a combination of the two. Again, she thinks I have too much relaxing and this will all go away within a few weeks of the baby being born.
After the extremely thorough examination I was still in pain but I felt extreme relief to know that someone finally took my pain seriously and offered an explanation and treatment. The chiropractor, who was also a homeopath, gave me some homeopathy pills to take which she said could help strengthen my joints/ligaments; I was given a pregnancy belt/girdle to support my pelvis; she instructed me to wear tennis shoes at all times; and she gave me instructions on how to get dressed, get in/out of bed/car, and how to prevent further pain. Following this appointment, which was on a Wednesday, I came back for another hour appointment the next day, then again three days later. It is now five days since my first appointment and I feel like a new person. I wouldn't dare run or go on a long walk, but I am not in pain. I am insanely grateful to this chiropractor for giving me my sanity back. It is literally the first time since June (it is now mid-August) that I know what is happening to my body and most importantly, I am not in severe pain and I know how to manage it.
What annoys the shit out of me is that all the western medicine practitioners I spoke with blew me off, no one acknowledged my diagnosis of SPD and just told me the pain was part of being pregnant. I took me doing extensive research and finding alternative medical care to start the healing process. Oh yeah, the other annoying part... insurance didn't cover the chiropractic with this out of network provider. $300+ later it sucks but I'd have paid triple to stop the pain.
If anyone else has experienced this pain and wants support or a recommendation to a Santa Cruz area chiropractor, please contact me. Also, check out this link http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/pubicpain.htm. Although I am far from plus sized, it had the most comprehensive information about symphysis pubis and sacroiliac pain and guided me in finding help. Good luck ladies!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Half Ironman swim at seven months pregnant - the results
This past Saturday I competed in the Barb's Half Ironman as a relay swimmer. 1.2 miles in the warm Russian River in Guerneville, California. I've done this event a couple of times and had been swimming intermittently at the pool so I wasn't nervous until I attempted to zip up my triathlon wetsuit 10 minutes before the race began. I couldn't breath... and I looked like Shamu. I was suddenly very concerned that I was going to smash Little B (that's the baby) and requested the opinion of about five women - all said there was no damage I could inflict by a tight wetsuit. My husband's concern was that he didn't want me getting out of breath and drowning. Fair enough, I appreciated the concern, but with the river varying in depth from 2 1/2 feet to 6 feet,there being dozens of officials in boats and hundreds of fellow lady swimmers, I wasn't worried. Plus, I convinced him that I am the one carrying this baby, she and I are totally best buds now, and why would I ever put her in danger?! He had to agree! Off I went.
I usually start front and center for the swim, but this year I was one row back and off to the side so I didn't get the normal punch/drunk combo from a competitor. For the first race of my life I took it easy, did catch up stroke, breathed every three strokes, and even did some backstroke. At the turn around it was shallow and I walked/dolphined off the bottom for almost a 1/4 mile. That was more work than the actual swimming. It was a quick swim and I did relatively well, only adding 3 minutes to my time from last year. I ran up the finish chute, passed the timing chip to my mother-in-law and off she went on her bike. Good times! I was very proud of both myself and Little B for hanging in there on the swim. After the swim I went back to the hotel for a shower and consumed half a bag of Kettle Chip salt and vinegar chips. DELICIOUS!
I usually start front and center for the swim, but this year I was one row back and off to the side so I didn't get the normal punch/drunk combo from a competitor. For the first race of my life I took it easy, did catch up stroke, breathed every three strokes, and even did some backstroke. At the turn around it was shallow and I walked/dolphined off the bottom for almost a 1/4 mile. That was more work than the actual swimming. It was a quick swim and I did relatively well, only adding 3 minutes to my time from last year. I ran up the finish chute, passed the timing chip to my mother-in-law and off she went on her bike. Good times! I was very proud of both myself and Little B for hanging in there on the swim. After the swim I went back to the hotel for a shower and consumed half a bag of Kettle Chip salt and vinegar chips. DELICIOUS!
And for all of you mom's considering racing while pregnant, I met another woman there who raced the whole Barb's Half Ironman last year while five months. She said it was fine and I got to meet her now eight month old baby girl, who was adorable and healthy.
Then to top of the weekend I went body surfing on Sunday and that was a bad idea. I decided to cut the session short when I got pummeled by a six footer and I somehow kicked myself in the back of the head. Talk about flexibility! Ouch. And I am wondering why I am so tired this week...
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