Second Pregnancy: 14 Weeks
Hey Everyone! I thought I would pop in and give a pregnancy update. My intention is to try and write something every other week, because it was really nice to look back on my old pregnancy updates from last time! So much has changed this time around as well. How I am feeling, how I am eating, and not to mention keeping up with an almost 3 year old as my body goes through all of these changes!
First change…
This time, unlike the last, I am going to take my belly pictures upside down:
It’s been such a roller coaster ride this time around. I will admit the “I feel oh so beautiful and wonderful and love my body” feeling I had when I was pregnant with Weezy isn’t as as strong this time around. If I am being completely honest I am working on letting go of focusing on how I felt after she was born (something I didn’t know about, and didn’t worry about last time), along with the anxiety that, wow, I am going to be a mom of TWO! Can I do this!??
Aside from that we are truly so excited. Ella is going to be SUCH an amazing big sister. She is just the best kid ever, such a personality, she’s hilarious. Also, just the most sweet and loving child in the world. All she wants to do it hug and kiss you, tell you she loves you, and shows so much gratitude for all she is given. I just can’t believe we are bringing another little one into the world that we are going to love just as much. Is it possible? Of course it is, but I can’t even believe that my heart will be even more full.
Ok here are some updates:
Weight Gain:
I am not a fan of the scale at all, but will share anyway. I gained about 2 pounds up until this point in my pregnancy. I am still fitting into my jeans and clothes, but noticed that my yoga pants are starting to feel a little tight, and I can only wear the longer shirts at this point. Which leaves me with 3 total workout tops (time to go shopping!) And to elaborate on what I said above, I am not feeling horrible about my body or anything, I am just whatever. Just blah. Last time I was all “omg I never felt better, never felt more beautiful”—this time I am just tired, in need of a haircut (it’s been almost a year), a new wardrobe and in desperate need of a mani-pedi to maybe spruce myself up. Um, yea, that will do it.
Fitness:
Another difference is last time around, although I stayed active through the very end, I was afraid to do a lot of things, and slowed down a lot. This time I am working out just as intently as I did before, with encouragement from the doctor. Still practicing hot power yoga, flipping tires (trying) in the bootcamp type workout I do, and not holding back whenever I feel up to it. I plan to continue to listen to my body, slow down when it says to, and push on when I have the energy. I was VERY sick in the first trimester, with little energy so as soon as I felt better, I couldn’t have been more grateful. I am training for the toughest marathon in life, you know. I better train hard!
Sleep:
Horrible. From the moment I got pregnant, like clockwork, up at 3am, unable to fall back asleep until 6am. Get up at 7am for work. This is a new thing for me since I NEVER have sleep issues. I sleep like a rock. Some of this was related to my most recent issue which I will talk about in a moment.
Cravings:
I am back to eating pretty healthy, and grateful for it! My first trimester if I wasn’t nauseated by anything and everything (especially healthy food!), I was craving a toasted bagel with cream cheese (it’s been like years since I had one of those). I am now wanting more fresh, lighter foods…and if I am being perfectly honest, it’s a struggle trying to keep the sweets cravings at bay!!
Complications:
Okay, I can’t believe I am sharing this. But you know what, I have been known to over share and it’s all good. Plus, this is something I was scouring the internet about, that apparently is rare, so hopefully when another lady, like myself, is doing that same she will come across this post and not feel alone! Ready for TMI overload? You’ve been warned.
So I have a retroverted uterus. No biggie, right? Just like being left handed apparently. It means my uterus tilts towards my bladder and not my spine like most women. There were no issues with this when I was pregnant with Weezy. It straightened out around 10-12 weeks like it is supposed to. This time, it still hasn’t and became incarcerated.
About a week ago I noticed I was having issues peeing in the morning. As I said before, I wake up nightly at 3am, having to “go” then can not fall back asleep. That turned into me sitting on the toilet for 10, 20, 45, 60 minutes –trying every trick in the book, but eventually getting “it” out. Finally, last Friday, I was up at 3am, and had my issue. This time, NOTHING was happening and I had to go worse than ever in my life. I tried yoga poses, jumping, showering, cleaned my entire kitchen, up and down the steps, going to all the different bathrooms in my house. 5:30am and in so much pain and nothing. I was showered, packed Ella’s breakfast and lunch for school, put a little makeup on while trying to maintain some Ujjayi breath as I paced around because man, it sucked. I woke Michael up and told him I was driving myself to the emergency room. I couldn’t take it. He didn’t want me to go alone but I wasn’t waking up Weez to drag her (it was 9 degrees outside and she was sound asleep and had to go to school).
Long story short, my mom came with, we went to the ER and they took me immediately, checked me in, asked a bunch of questions then FINALLY gave me a catheter (who would even think I would beg for one of these things!??), draining 1200 cc’s from my bladder. Which is an obscene amount apparently. Since I am pregnant they were calling up to the OB floor, and an urologist, and leaving messaged for my OB to try and figure out what to do with me. I was very clear that I did NOT want to leave with this thing in. I spent that whole week researching this issue, since it began. I found message boards of women who went through the same thing and am SO grateful for that. Many times docs roll their eyes when you try to “self diagnose” but this time it sped up the process of figuring out why this was happening, at least from the experience other women had shared. Not many docs at the hospital heard of this before, and knowing my uterus was tilted back, and that it was quite possible it hadn’t grown out of it yet, causing this problem (and not some weird disease with the urology nurse annoyingly was suggesting I didn’t know I had), gave a little comfort. And you know what? My experience ended up mirroring, to the tee, the ones of others I read about.
This usually happens around 13 weeks, trouble emptying the bladder with a incarcerated uterus. In the worst case (as far as the urinating, there are other issues associated that luckily I didn’t have) you end up in the ER, like I did, ending up having to wear a catheter for a week. I refused to leave the hospital wearing one. The urologist insisted but the OB was more sympathetic and said, “let’s see how it goes”. I planned to see my doc at a different hospital that afternoon. The ER gave me a Foley catheter in a box to bring with me in case I needed it. I was doing fine at home when I left, no issues emptying. My mom and I picked Ella up from school at 12:30, and drove to my OB which is about 20-30 minutes away. By the time they called me back, and I went into the bathroom (I had to GO again, BAD, despite emptying before I left),and couldn’t. You have GOT to be kidding me!??? I almost didn’t bring the cath with me because I didn’t think it would be needed but my mom talked me into it. I was also wearing tight yoga pants. So anyway, after talking to my doc, sitting in the exam room for over an hour as he tried to get me in to see the Urologist (it was late Friday afternoon and apparently they all leave early on Fridays), we were trying to figure out what to do. I just switched practices and this was the first time I met this do, and I LOVE him. He was so compassionate, so caring, and so helpful. Bad news was, I put that damn gross thing in because I would be screwed (plus I had to go BADLY) that weekend if not. He drained another 750 cc’s and one of the nurses sacrificed her scrubs to me since I could not leave in the yoga pants. I can not even begin to tell you how all dignity has been lost, and talk about the “not feeling beautiful” this time around. Ew. Gross. Then of course I am freaking myself out, reading the stuff I should be about second trimester miscarriage if this doesn’t straighten itself out. I called my doc with that concern, he called right back and assured me to not worry.
I wore the thing for 6 days, it sucked ass. No working out, took off work a couple of days because the first 2-3 were so uncomfortable even walking. Then I got more used to it. Went to the urologist on Thursday, they took it out. That was a VERY interesting experience. Sitting bottomless with a nurse and a mirror as she teaches to self cath. Again, no dignity, people. I saw my chiropractor twice that week before getting it out. I spoke with a acupuncturist, and she suggested cranial-sacral therapy, which my chiro does! My OB suggested lying on my stomach and in a fetal position to help straighten things out, then Dr. Lori worked on my (there are 2 ligaments connecting the uterus to the spine) and honestly, I think it really helped. The urologist wants me to self cath every 4 hours. The issue was all week I was never fully emptying, my bladder got super stretched out, and everything go backed up. My uterus got trapped and was blocking my urethra, and to make matters worse, the more my bladder filled up, the harder it became for it to empty.
Currently I am doing great. Back to normal. The self cathing wasn’t working, as I was having no issues voiding on my own, and cathing wasn’t producing anything (oh, they are having me record everthing on a diary peeing/cathing into bucket). I am so afraid of infection, and the nurse told me once I get a drip from the self and fill up on my own I probably don’t need it. God, what an experience. One I can not believe I am writing about but, really, I feel bad if anyone reading this has to experience it! It was only a week and in the end, looking back, it could have been way worse. I am so grateful that the baby is OKAY, and not in danger. I am grateful to have my body back and my therapy (YOGA!) because I was going a little head crazy. I do have to set my alarm and wake up 2x a night (practice for having a newborn again, way too early for this ) so my bladder doesn’t get too full.
That’s my story. Aside from that everything is peachy again. I hope this is the worst of it. Between all the sickness in the first trimester and now this, I am ready to get that big belly and start enjoying this pregnancy!
XO
-L
