3rd & Final Pregnancy Update???
You wouldn’t be able to tell looking at this pic of me at my baby shower, but the Third Trimester is kicking my butt right now. I’ve heard that this last third of the pregnancy can be difficult in some aspects, but I did not expect it to take the turn it has.
My 28 Week appointment will be one I’ll never forget. My Husband and I walked in for the growth scan and ultrasound, only to be surprised with the 3D ultrasound as well! The technician started switching sensors and applying more of what I think was the same jelly and all of a sudden our son’s teeny little face was on our screen.
Our little Benjamin has my nose and eye structure, and has my Husband’s lips and chin. The technician could even see that he has hair, and quite a lot of it! He is so perfect and we cannot wait to meet him!
Going into the Third Trimester, I expected to keep having Braxton Hicks contractions. What I didn’t expect was for them to start becoming more painful. I’d say that my pain tolerance is pretty high thanks to my dancing, and these contractions were painful enough that I had to stop what I was doing and try to breathe through them. They didn’t occur very often, but slowly they became more frequent and only a few minutes apart. Something didn’t feel quite right.
At my 30 week appointment, I brought up these more painful contractions to my OB and she seemed quite concerned. I should not be having painful, timeable contractions this early into the Third Trimester. She ordered a Fetal Fibronectin Test, another ultrasound, and checked my cervix to see if I had dilated at all. I was 1 cm dilated, my cervix was 50% effaced, and baby’s head was down and engaged in my pelvis. She said this was not good, but there was no indicator that me or my baby were in danger. She just asked that I try to take it easy, maybe rest a little bit more and she’d see me the following Monday for another appointment.
Over the weekend, I had a business trip 7 hours away that I was still needing to go to, so trying to take it easy was extremely difficult. My work is all hands on and quite physical when it comes to activity, and by the time we got back my contractions had continued and gotten much stronger.
Monday came around and I went in for my follow up appointment. I was checked again and I had just barely dilated another 1/2 cm and my cervix was 70% effaced. They sent me over to the Labor & Delivery unit at the Hospital next door to have my contractions monitored and have a steroid shot administered. The steroid shot helps baby’s lung mature a little bit faster so if he does decide to arrive before 37 weeks, he’ll have a better chance of survival. In the hour I was monitored while waiting for the steroid shot, I had a good 10+ contractions picked up by the monitor. At this point, my OB advised me to be off my feet as much as possible and modify my workload as much as I could to help prevent preterm labor. We did the same thing the next day, and my contractions has eased up just a little. I was still advised to take it extremely.
Work has been a challenge as my management position is more hands-on than one might expect, and it’s been hard to not beat myself up over the entire situation. I’ve very much a ‘do-it-yourself-and-get-it-done’ kind of person, and having to have people do the work for me while I sit makes me feel lazy and it drives me nuts. My Grandma brought in a reclining chair for me and we set up an area in our store where I could supervise all of the pointe shoe fittings without needing to get up. As hard as this bit has been, I’ve just been trying to remind myself that this is the best option to take care of my son and ensure that he stays put for a few more weeks.
We’re taking it week by week, trying to keep my contractions at a minimum and my stress levels as low as possible. I’ve stopped driving most days because it’s more of a stress that I realized it was. I’ve very slowly continued to dilate, my cervix is extremely thin at this point and his head is so low and engaged he could come any day now.
Other than that fiasco, I seriously feel like garbage. My heartburn and indigestion are through the roof and my bottle of Tums is nearby at all times. I’m unable to get a full night’s sleep with how much I toss and turn and get up to pee. My whole body aches constantly, and I’ve been told to not take hot baths because of my contractions. Baths used to save my life when it came to body aches. I’ve discovered that hemorrhoids are a thing and I cannot sit without putting most of my body weight onto one hip. My brain has turned to mush and it takes so much effort to think in a straight line and not get distracted. I am a mess.
Some unexpected good(?) symptoms though have been beauty-wise! Throughout this entire pregnancy, my skin has been the best it’s been since before I hit puberty. I haven’t had a single massive breakout and it is so wonderful. I can leave my house with only doing my eyebrows and putting on a tiny bit of mascara. My hair is naturally fine, and it used to curl when I air dried it, but that hasn’t happened in years. Now, 8 months pregnant, my hair thickness has doubled, and it’s started to naturally curl again! And to top it all off, my nails have never grown quicker, and I have to trim them at least once a week. It’s been such a wonderful change, and I hope some of these changes stick around after Ben arrives.
I’m not sure of this will be my last pregnancy update, as Ben could be here any day now! Pregnancy has been such an incredible journey, even with all of the ups and downs I’ve experienced. There are a few more pregnancy related posts coming to the blog and after that hopefully my labor and delivery story! We cannot wait to meet our little one!!!
This is all for now my loves!
Tootles,
~ Izzy