As an introduction, I'll say that my main complaint last week was the recent swelling of my feet and hands. Honestly, it was bothersome, but was nothing compared to what has been happening this week. This week, the swelling has been so bad that I have been experiencing day-long numbness in my hands for the last two days. From what I have read online, it seems to be pregnancy-related carpal tunnel syndrome. It definitely isn't something that's fun to deal with, and even as I type, I can barely feel the tips of my fingers. Right now, though, it isn't really at its worst. When I first wake up in the morning, my hands are often completely "asleep" with a feeling of pins and needles, and I can't close my hand into a fist. I have a hard time raising the blinds on the windows, and have to wait at least an hour to be able to do so. I even need help opening water bottles!!
It's absolutely crazy and unexpected.
Anyways, I had an appointment yesterday with the midwife. I figured that now that we've been getting along a bit better that she'd be a great help. Hmmmmm
I have to say that I like her much better in the class than I do at the appointments, and once again my opinion of her has fallen a bit. I was given a 9:30 appointment to minimize my waiting time now that I'm getting bigger, but, unfotunatelty a minimized waiting time was still over an hour. Being a Monday morning, the air conditioning was just put on for the first time in days, and I was struggling to get through the hour and 20 minutes of sweating in the uncomfortable seat outside her office, shifting my weight around to help relieve the pain in my lower back. Oh, how I love these public system appointments.
So, I finally get in, and she asks how I'm doing. I told her about the numbness, and all she could offer to me was that that was normal for pregnancy, and that it should go away once the baby is born. I mentioned about reading something... and before I could say where or what, she told me that that was the last thing we should do, and that all "you pregnant girls read stupid things on the internet..." I once again realized why I at first disliked my midwife: she knows everything. You know nothing. period. (Maybe this is why the other girls in the class seem to know nothing about anything related to childbirth, despite being 8+ months pregnant).
According to her my numbness has to do with the way I'm sleeping because I've thrown my cervicals out of whack. There is nothing I can do to help relieve the symptoms except to try to sleep well.
According to the "stupid things I read on the internet," the condition is caused by the swelling in pregnancy that compresses the carpal tunnel that runs through the wrist, and, thus compresses the median nerve. No matter where you read about it, the same explanation is given. So, I'm sorry if I don't feel comfortable relying on the information of the only health care provider I'm given when pregnant, and feel the need to take charge of my own health, and read up on what I can do to help relieve my symptoms. Online, I have found a few exercises that have somewhat helped to relieve some of the symptoms. I have also found that swimming around in our little pool for a little while each day really helps relieve the swelling and the pain.
She also asked me if the baby was moving less now. I said that no, he seems to be kicking a lot, and she said that it was because he wasn't getting into position yet. Of course, the other doctor, and everything I have read on the stupid internet seems to say that although the baby has less room to maneuver, he should keep moving a lot until he is born, and if less movement is seen, I should call my health care provider. She, though, seems to think that little movement is normal, so I hope it doesn't happen.
A bit annoyed by the appointment so far, I decided it was best to not talk to my midwife about anything else, and just waited for the rest of the appointment to go by as usual. She looked up the results of my last analyses, and everything looks good. The bloodwork came back normal; urine analysis: no bladder infection; GBS analysis: negative. yay!! ;) I wasn't looking forward to being hooked up to an antibiotic IV during labor, so I was quite happy about that.
When it was time to weigh me, I was a bit concerned because I feel like a pufferfish, and know that I have at least a few more kilos of water weight on me, especially in my feet and hands. So, I wasn't surprised to see that I had gained another 4.5 kilos since my last visit 5 weeks ago. She once again commented that I should watch what I'm eating to try to not gain so much weight, but the fact that I've gained so much despite eating less, and even having dinners of only watermelon in the hopes of not swelling up the next day, makes me feel like there's not much I can do but wait, and hope that my 40+ pounds will go away once the baby is born.
Once the appointment was over, I decided to go to find myself some new shoes. I had only been able to wear Mauri's flip flops for the last few days, but today I was wearing some croc sandals that I usually reserve for garden work. I spent about an hour scrubbing them with dishsoap and bleach, so they are now acceptable for leaving the house. Although they are now clean and comfortable, I have to admit that I feel a bit ridiculous wearing them with my pregnancy dresses. I found some wide, birkestock-type sandals that were leather and less than 10 euros, so I was very happy. I don't love them, but if all goes well, I'll only have to wear them for another month or so. :)
Tonight I have another class, and I'll be able to see if my friend shows up or not. She was due last week, but didn't think she'd have her baby yet by now. We'll see!!
Week 25 info from the email, followed by what I'd written last week:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.How your life's changing:
Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.LAST WEEK:
Well, not much has been happening this week. I haven't done much of anything outside of the house because I have very swollen feet and hands that just seem to get worse when I get out for too long. So, mostly, I've been taking advantage of the time to sew a few things, and to get some of my cds and dvds organized. Actually, as the day progresses, the swelling seems to go down quite a bit, but when I wake up in the morning, I can't make a fist with my hands, and my feet are too swollen for my shoes. This morning even my face was swollen, and to go out for coffee, I had to wear a pair of Mauri's flip-flops. Reading on the internet, I saw there was a concern with sudden swelling, especially of the face and hands, when accompanied by a raise in blood pressure because it could be a sign of preeclampsia. Since my swelling seemed to come so quickly, I was a bit concerned, so I started monitoring my blood pressure. Luckily, it seems to stay around 100/70mmHg, so I think I just have normal pregnancy swelling.
Other than the swelling, getting out of breath quickly, and a bit of acid reflux when I eat, though, I really can't complain too much. I had a relatively easy first 2 trimesters, and now that my worst symptoms have come, I have no real obligations. So, I can relax as needed. I have a hard time imagining, though, people who are still working full-time at this point of a pregnancy. It seems crazy to me now, too, that I hiked up to the top of the mountain a few months ago. I can't even imagine getting up to the path where I always jogged with Sheena anymore. Poor Sheena has to settle for me throwing her the frisbee lately instead of going for hikes and jogs on the mountain. Molly seems to be quite happy relaxing next to me, though.
I don't have too much else to tell this week.
I went to my class, as usual, and this week we talked about methods for reducing labor pain, and how there is legislation here to protect a woman's right to birth as she wants to to a certain extent. The hospitals aren't really geared towards having a lot of options, though, nor do you know who will be around when it comes time for you to be in the hospital. I think that's probably the worst thing about the system here: not having a doctor nor a midwife who will be with you when it comes time for you to give birth. Still, I do like the fact that we, in theory, have a right to decide what medications we want, if any. We also talked about episiotomies, something that worried me because Spain has a high percentage rate for doing them, and it turns out that, at least in this hospital, they "usually" don't do them anymore. Of course, if you choose to use an epidural, you are more likely to have certain interventions like an episiotomy, use of forceps or suction, etc. Lastly, we talked about how we could bring one person with us into the labor rooms. We were advised that we can't alternate people, and that we should bring someone who will motivate us instead of telling us what to do, and who won't be in a hurry. :) We were also warned that they shouldn't be someone who can't go for long periods of time without smoking because the rooms are far from the outside, and the person shouldn't be going in and out. I, luckily, think that I should be OK with my support person. :) So, in theory, I feel lot better about my options after going to these classes, but I guess I'll just have to wait until it's my turn.
Sadly, most of the girls preferred having the class in the afternoon, and this month, one of the evening slots became available, so next week my class will start at 7:30PM. I wasn't too happy about the change because it means that when it is about the time for Mauri to finally get home, I will be on my way out the door for about 1.5-2 hours of class. I also am a bit more sluggish by that time of the day, and will probably be less happy about doing the exercises. Oh well.
Here's a few of the things I've been making this week.
First, I made a pillow that can be used for several things. Its main use is to support the baby during breastfeeding. They sell these types of pillows, but they are much cheaper if you make them yourself.
Once the baby is starting to sit up, it can also be wrapped around his back so that he won't fall directly over onto the floor.
I had made her the blue book, and had started filling the cloth pages with pictures covered with iron-on transfers, but one of the transfers got destroyed when trying to apply it, which basically ruined the book. Not feeling like taking it apart, I never finished the project.
Now, though, for my baby, I took the old pages out, and made new pages. Now, I just have to print out some new pictures onto new transfers so that I can finish up the book. Meanwhile, I also made another book to fill. This time I decided not to sew in the pages, though, until I know they all look good.
I guess that's it for this week. I'll leave you with the information from my email for the 34th week:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.How your life's changing:
By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.
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