An Update on My Health

Today, it has been 10 days since my car accident. I thought I'd give an update on how I am doing. Surprisingly, I thought I'd feel much better by now. This past weekend (Easter weekend) was very difficult for me. I went to two church services (midnight and 11am), waffle house with the hubs after midnight mass, and I also went to lunch and an Easter egg hung with my mom's family. I wanted to have more fun, but I think I was more of a cranky by-stander than anything. Many apologies to my family and friends for that. The kids had great fun, and I'm so thankful for that.

When I got home yesterday, Dale sent me straight to my room to lay down. I wanted to cry with every step I took. I'm still in lots of pain. I honestly don't feel any better than the day the car accident happened, unfortunately.

I laid in bed for a while last night, trying to fall asleep, and started to struggle with some contractions. Thankfully, they were irregular. But they were very uncomfortable and there were way too many. I started to get nervous. I drank a couple of glasses of water and laid down. They continued. I ate a Popsicle. I don't know why I thought this would help, but I wanted it to help because I really wanted a Popsicle. Unfortunately, the contractions continued. I kept telling Dale, "My uterus is very angry."   I wanted to try to drink a glass of wine to stop the contractions, but could not because of the pain killers that I am taking. So, I tried to take a bath. I really didn't want a bath. I was really tired and wanted to be dry in my comfortable bed. But I needed these contractions to stop. The bath didn't really show any immediate results.

So, my problem solving skills went to work even harder. I started thinking: when you go to the hospital, they give you magnesium sulfate to stop contractions sometimes. Once upon a time they gave you terbutaline (some places still do, even though this is currently a controversial drug to give for this). Anyhow, both of those things cause muscles to relax. Dr's used to prescribe IBprohpen (but it's also linked to miscarriage so this is controversial as well). The basic idea is that inflammation is associated with pre-term labor. The wheels continued to turn. Well, I was given magnesium sulfate in labor once due to my high blood pressure. Another mild supplement my midwife suggested I take to prevent high blood pressure is this stuff called "Calm." My chiropractor also suggested a similar product for my migraines. So I have this magnesium powder stuff sitting around my house that is an "anti-stress" drink, and seems to be pretty multi-functional. It's good at preventing migraines, good at preventing high blood pressure, and after some googling on Dale's and my behalf, we learned that it is also good to calm an irritable uterus. So, what the heck. I gave it a go. I drank it as fast as I could. And I guess it worked pretty well, because I finally fell asleep after about 4 hours of struggling.

This morning, I still have some tightening in my belly, but it's not painful like it was last night. I have definitely learned a lesson and I am now submitting myself to the rest that I know I should be doing. I am only 25 weeks, and still have a ways to go. Dale is taking this week off of work (something I'm sure he wanted to do last week to help, but it was Holy week). We have many plans to piddle in the yard, cookout, spend lots of time in the sunshine, and pretty much just "Stay-cation" this week. I'm going to finally call today to make a doctor's appointment. I also want to see about going to visit my chiropractor (it has been WAY too long since I have seen him). Most of all, I'm going to rest. I had many plans to tackle some projects around the week while Dale is home, but those are just going to have to wait. Last night pretty much scared the socks off of me, and I was two seconds away from going in to L&D to get a dose of meds to stop pre-term labor.

As a mom, it often feels like we don't have time to be sick. It's the cruelest thing in the world for a mom to be out of commission. But sometimes we are. Sometimes we are sick or hurt, and we have to take a break. I'm normally the "tough it out" kind of person. Most of the time, I just try to ignore my aches and pains and go on with life. That's pretty much how I survive motherhood. But there are times in life that require rest and healing, when toughing it out makes things worse. I think I had forgotten that this past weekend. I was trying so hard to just "be better" even though I did not feel better. Just because I wanted to "be better" doesn't mean that I am. This is going to be a struggle for me, to sit and wait, and slowly let my body heal from this. Totally no fun. Especially when the weather has been so awesome. But I guess I'm gonna have to do it.

So, if you want to see me. You are welcome to come to my house. You will probably find me either bedging out on the couch or laying on a blanket in our front yard soaking up the vitamin D. But it looks like I'm not going anywhere for a little while....

In other news....

In other news, I am craving cashews, bananas, and peeps. I want to eat this exactly: 3 bananas, all of the cashews in the world, 6 boxes of peeps, and maybe one cadbury egg.

I might have some sort of pregnancy/narcotic-induced munchy fest about to happen. It's probably a good thing that I have none of these things in my house.

It's official. I'm pregnant.

The plus sign on the pee stick did not convince me I guess. So far, other than occasional fatigue and two weeks of barfiness (which could have been mistaken for a terrible flu), I have barely felt pregnant up till last week.

Then something major happened. I became pregnant. Like, I looked in the mirror and said "WHOA!" My belly went from barely pregnant, to "Whoa, she's pregnant!" over night. And I FEEL LIKE IT. I woke up Sunday morning and everything started taking me a long time. I don't have a long time. My kids have no patience for long waits. But every three steps I took, I had to pause and catch my breath. So, like, putting on shoes and getting ready for church was awesome. Then the fun filled day following church was awesome.

And I stepped on the scale and I finally gained weight. 2-3 lbs (hard to tell on my scale).

Today, I had a small project in my mind to complete. We got the kids a swing set for Christmas and we have been slowly but surely getting that thing put together in alllllllllll the spare time that we have. Dale was awesome and got most of it done one day last month. This morning, I wanted to get the ladder and the slide completed. I was hoping to have it finished by lunch. But OH WAIT, I'm like, pregnant, all of the sudden. So, I did not have my little project finished in the normal two hours it would have taken me. It. took. all. day.

Little things like that are the only type of things about pregnancy that take some getting use to on my part. I like to work and stay busy. It's my joy. I certainly have the motivation to get these things done in pregnancy, but I'm lacking the energy. I am still quite able. Just slow going.

This got me thinking about the seasons in a woman's life again today. Men don't have seasons the way women do. We are biologically inclined to change with the seasons. Our bodies are doing something different each week throughout the month. I sort of like that actually. I always try to look at these things and I wonder at God's purpose. I wonder what sort of spiritual lesson is at play there.

This season is a bit more obvious to me. I think I just needed to be reminded of it. Pregnancy is always a very spiritual journey for me. Here I am, a vessel. I am harboring and growing God's child. I will continue to be responsible for growing this child and caring for this child outside the womb as well. Not only does the actual birth of this child take me to the brink of God's miraculous nature, but each trial, joy and tribulation that I experience with that child molds and grows us both. I think once I hit this point in my pregnancy, I hit a point that forces me to slow my pace and listen for God's voice and seek His guidance, and seek His strength, and seek His endurance to help me get through each moment of each day. This constant conversation facilitates a slow dance that carries me into a new stage of motherhood.

So although I am slow, I feel there is a purpose to my sluggishness (aside from the physical aspects of major baby making going on in my belly). Through my slow-going work and efforts, I will look to God. Let's see what He makes of me....

Catching up.

I guess for me to move forward on my blog, I need to catch everyone up on my pregnancy thus far. I realized after talking to my doula on the phone today, that I have been very la di da, and I haven't chatted folks up that much about the goings on of Baby Brown 4.0. My bad! I am VERY excited, so let me spill! 

Wellllll..... I'm about 20 weeks pregnant. That's pretty much half way to the finish line, although I barely feel pregnant yet. I have actually felt pretty great most of the time. By the grace of God, I haven't had it rough thus far! I had about 2-4 weeks of serious "morning" sickness. But other than that, everything has been pretty normal. I found out last month that we are having another BOY! Whoohoo! My daughter is bummed of course; she was hoping for a sister. I secretly was a little bit too. But there's something special about my boys, and I just can't be disappointed. Baby moves a lot. I can feel him, but you can't feel from the outside yet. That will come soon enough, I'm sure. 

There was a little issue that came up at my ultrasound that we've kept an eye on, but I'm convinced it's no big deal. The first ultrasound was very early, and baby had a raised heart rate. Well, the reason for the ultrasound in the first place was for dating my pregnancy, and baby was measuring a week less than my estimated due date.... so without getting into the logistics of it, that heart rate was normal for that gestational age (that the baby was measuring). So I'm not worried. But it did warrant a couple of extra ultrasounds. I know a lot of natural childbirth folk frown upon butt-loads of ultrasounds because of the unknown effects that it could have on the baby. I'm more of a "let's use this tool wisely" kind of person. And I have no problem enjoying every minute of my baby's ultrasounds. They blow my mind. Every time. 

As far as my appointments, they are going well and pretty uneventful. I haven't met with the home birth midwives yet, even though we've chatted. I do need to get that going. I've been seeing the group of midwives who I had my youngest with. Lots has changed since then. Their practice has grown exponentially. There were only 2 midwives for my last, and now there are 4 on-call midwives, and a few additional midwives who meet with patients in the office. So there are a lot of new faces to get to know. I have met and talked with a couple of these ladies before my pregnancy because of work, but not super in-depth. They also have a new OB backup, who does the ultrasounds at a super fancy up-scale office. But I already knew him pretty well from work. He's good people. It's really amazing to see the community coming together to promote this movement of normal birth. I love the influence this group of midwives has made in their hospital. Heck, they've been making BIG BIG waves in the entire state. I still stand by them to say, that if you want the most amazing and normal birth, but you feel like you need to go to the hospital, then these ladies are the ones to see. www.intownmidwifery.com. They are also responsible for planning the up and coming Atlanta Birth Center. I cannot wait for that to open. It's gonna be a big deal. It already is a big deal and they don't even have a location set yet! 

Anyhow back to my pregnancy. Well, pregnancy-wise, I'm fine. Health-wise, things could be more awesome. Some of it could be self-inflicted though. I have a wheat allergy. But during the first trimester, I was grasping at straws and trying to eat whatever I could. I lost about 15 lbs, and I still have yet to gain it back (maybe a couple of lbs). So, I got in a bad habit of eating whatever. Even if I was allergic. Then came the migraines, my least favorite reaction. NOTHING makes them go away when I get them. Chiropractic care helps reduce them, but so far nothing has ever made them completely vanish. Last week, one of the midwives suggested a migraine medicine. Soooooo, I tried it. I have no idea, but I spent all day on the phone with them today, and either my allergic reaction to wheat just got worse, I had an allergic to reaction to the meds, or I just got an infection after having respiratory reaction to wheat. Either way. Today I am sick. Sick Sick Sick. It's moments like these, that I am thankful for my darling husband. If I complain about him later, just remember me telling you right now about how amazing he is. Because he is. Really. 

Living in the south, I hear of so many women who have husbands who do not cook, they do not clean, they do not change a dirty diaper, they do not hold a baby, and they do not co-parent. I certainly do not have that problem. My husband taught me how to cook. He still cooks half of the nights during the week. We may disagree every now and then on what the term "healthy" means, but all in all, he cooks a mean meal. And I'll eat it! And he gives a great effort with the kids. He spends a lot of time with them, playing, snuggling, talking, and praying. He's great at the bedtime routine (we love bedtime). He may not read all the parenting books that I want him to read, but he'll certainly listen to me talk parenting philosophies all day, and he even puts them to test every now and then. I'm pretty grateful for the man of my house. 

And today I would not be writing this blog if it weren't for my amazing husband, who took a half day off, came home, and said, "Hi. I love you. Now go to bed." No arguments here! 

So, here I lie, giving my pregnancy update. I'm brainstorming on the types of things you want to hear about. I have in mind a post to write in the future about the things I am making for this baby. I have one half-way completed project that I am really VERY proud of. But other than that, what types of things do you want to read? If no one has any requests, I suppose I'll just see where the keyboard takes me.... but I'd love to know what you want to hear.