Guido, Heartburn and other Fabulous things that happen during pregnancy
Ahh…the home stretch of pregnancy #2 and I can say it has gone much faster than the first – mostly, I believe, due to the toddler I’m chasing around and caring for and not having the pregnancy be the SOLE focus of my life for nearly 10 months. And I can also say, while I’m glad we are soon to meet our second son, I am sad that I won’t be pregnant much longer.
Yes, I am one of the women who adores being pregnant. I’ve been very blessed and had near perfect experiences both times which probably contributes to my love of being with child. I love the “glow”, I love having luscious hair, I love the awesomeness of growing a tiny person inside me and being a vessel of humanity or “incubator of tiny humans” as I like to call it. I even like the waddle I have adapted near the end of both pregnancies.
There are a few things I do not care for as much, but they come with the territory, and I’m a big girl and can deal with these changes – some temporary, some more lasting.
Guido would be first on my list of not so favorite things about being pregnant. Guido is my friend. He’s been around for the better part of 6 years now, but lately has been more prominent in my life. Guido is a varicose vein on the back of my left calf. Not terribly attractive, I’m aware of that, but until my first pregnancy he was just “there”. Hanging out. He’s never really hurt me physically, never any pain or throbbing, so I haven’t been too concerned about him. But I had him inspected about 4 years ago and was told he could be “taken care of” (this inspired my pet name for him – Guido). I was also told that the chance of developing new varicose veins is higher when pregnant, and if you have existing ones they could get worse. Well, several years ago with pregnancy on my mind for the future, I decided not to bother with Guido until a bit later down the road – that I’d wait until I was done having kiddos and could enjoy the benefits of vein removal. Well, after two pregnancies, Guido is now full on FUGLY. Longer, darker, ropier, and he’s conquered virgin leg territory – wrapping from my calf around to the front side and creeping his way up the back of my thigh. Yes, lovely I know… Definitely sucks, and I’ve even banned skirts, short dresses and capri pants this summer because of Guido. I can’t see him, so I don’t think of him often, and he still doesn’t hurt at all. But man…Guido is one ugly SOB. I’m so freaking pale he is particularly noticeable on the back of my white leg. Ultimately, Guido knows he and I will have to part ways. He doesn’t belong here…not until I’m 92 at least…so we will meet again. For now, I’m trying to ignore him and enjoy the hot, humid summer in my cute maternity clothes. I know he’s watching me, keeping tabs on my whereabouts. But he knows his days are numbered…he’s throbbing a bit now, not painful, but noticeable, and Matt is urging me to have him looked at again this fall after we settle in with baby. At least if I have to go through several months of compression hose (due to insurance requirements) I’ll be wearing jeans all winter anyway.
Heartburn is number 2 on my list. EVERYTHING sets it off, particularly in late afternoon and at bedtime. I try not to overeat – hell, I can’t really overeat, there isn’t enough room in my tummy right now! But milk…popcorn…chicken…pasta…cereal…EVERYTHING is sending that fire up my throat. And I’m popping Tums like candy. Ok, not really, I’m trying to watch the calcium intake with those things, but it feels like it. I have a bottle in the bathroom, one in the car, one in my purse and one in the kitchen…just an arm’s length away if needed.
And surprisingly the sleeping isn’t as rough yet as I expected. I still wake up to pee at night at least once, but napping mid-day with Evan and going to bed at a “normal hour” are helping. I can make it through the day (while chasing a toddler) without being completely wiped. I’m in a nest of pillows, of course, taking over much more than my fair share of our king size slice of heaven, and I have ear plugs in to block the major chords of my husband’s snoring (yet my mom powers still wake me if there is even a sniffle audible on the baby monitor – cool, but weird how that works), and I have out ceiling fan on high speed with all the covers kicked off my side while my poor Matt has all the covers and a blanket pulled up to his chin to try and cocoon his core in warmth so he doesn’t expire from extreme hypothermia overnight.
And as a bonus, so far I haven’t developed any NEW stretch marks. I’m just reusing the old ones, which is fine with me! Yay for me…being green and “recycling” (hey – gimme a break, I’m pregnant and was trying to be witty).
Otherwise – all is good. I’m only +3 pounds overall (I lost 22 initially, and gained those back slowly over the first 7 months), my blood pressure has been excellent, I’m good to go with no gestational diabetes or Strep B to worry about, I have a good appetite, kiddo seems to be happy and healthy and we are all waiting with held breaths for his ultimate decision to check out the big, beautiful world.
Hopefully we’ll have some good news to post on here soon. I told Sugarpuff (baby’s nickname until he gets here) that any time from July 26-August 7 is good with me. He can be on time or a smidge early, but I’d prefer him not to take after his brother and make me wait an extra week. That was not cool.
Signing off for now.
~
“Waddles”
