Those not interested in pregnancy-related musings should skip this post…
I’m recovering well from the birth, and my feet are finally back to their normal size. So I thought I’d bore everyone who hasn’t been, or isn’t likely to become, pregnant muttering about various pregnancy-related ailments and how I tried to cope. Not that I’m complaining about having been pregnant, of course, since having a baby makes it all worthwhile, but some of the symptoms are less than pleasant.
Unlike when I was pregnant with my first child, I had no morning sickness. One or two days of feeling vaguely queasy, but that was it! So much for the old wives’ tale about having more morning sickness with girls than boys; I had 5 months with my son and had to take diclectin to stop losing weight and not one day with my daughter.
To make up for that, in the third trimester I had reflux. At first diet kept it under control, then I took Gaviscon, by the end of the pregnancy I was on Zantac 75 every day and still having to watch what I ate and sleep with my head propped up on multiple pillows. Fortunately Zantac is completely safe (at least in late pregnancy). The reflux disappeared immediately after the birth.
As in the first pregnancy, I had edema. At least this time it wasn’t related to pre-eclampsia. I managed to keep the swelling more or less under control with prenatal massage and keeping my feet up when possible until about week 36 when things went haywire. First the feet, then the ankles, swelled up, no matter how much I rested. By the time I had the baby, the swelling had reached my back, and was making walking difficult. I tried the various suggestions I found on the web (taking flaxseed, soaking the feet, drinking lots of water), but none of them worked. It took almost two weeks after the baby was born to lose all that fluid again.
And, of course, the big belly. I tend to stick straight out in front when I’m pregnant ( photographic evidence), and given the size of this baby (9.5 lb) I stuck out an awful lot. Since I’ve been doing Pilates for a couple of years, my back and stomach muscles are much stronger than before and I had no more than a couple of twinges of lower back pain. I did find that wrapping a strong cloth around the belly to support it helped, as did resting (a lot!). I also had to be careful walking down stairs since my centre of gravity shifted so much and I had a tendency to tip forward. The Pilates studio I attend (up till about week 35, when I got too tired and couldn’t do more than half my simplified program) helped a lot with my posture, helping me figure out how to stand and sit to minimize the strain on various muscles and avoid over-compensating. I’d recommend doing Pilates to anyone thinking of getting pregnant.
Those were my major concerns; I had a very healthy pregnancy in all and these issues were minor compared to what a lot of other women go through. Now the baby is here, and all of this will shortly be forgotten in the dim mists of sleep-deprivation. Nature is sometimes kind.
Hi Lauren,
Congratulations on the birth of your child. But just wanna say that no doubt pregnancy can make alot more changes in you but when you see a small baby in your hand you tend to forget the worries. This I can say as my wife has told me that. She too was depressed initially but now after a healthy baby no body can be as happy as her.
Lauren — reading your post brought back a lot of memories. I had forgotten the reflux I had but I still remember the pain under my left breast from carrying my son so high. I too carried all in the front and high. I really enjoyed being pregnant until the end of the 8th month. Then it just became too tiring and I couldn’t wait to deliver.
Enjoy your baby!
Hi Lauren and all of your readers.
Your blog is excellent by the way, but I thought I’d share with you all the story of my biggest baby. It was our son Sam, and he’s now 9 but we will not forget the experience of his birth!
My husband Steve, and I already had 2 girls. Emily was 3 weeks premature and weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces. I guess the writing was on the wall then. Ellie came next and was actually a week late, weighing in at 9 pounds 6 ounces. (Steve was 11 pounds at birth by the way, and his mother never forgave him!) That may not sound a big deal to some but it was some feat of engineering to get her here.
Anyway, both births were normal deliveries and the girls were both fine. But we did panic about our third.
Sam came along, like most lazy boys, in his own good time. We begged the consultant (we are from the UK by the way) to induce me early but because there were no complications he wouldn’t have it. So we waited until a week after date and were called in.
I don’t want to panic mothers to be, and say right now that everything ended up fine in the end, but Sam was a 10 pounds 12 ounce baby, and had to be delivered Van Teuse (is that the right spelling?). For me, it was hard but I was full of drugs… legal ones by the way. But Steve suffered because he was the one having the conversations with the doctor and midwife. Not until about 2 weeks after we got home did he tell me how close we came to an emergency section. And then I realised why he was in bits at the time. Sam is now 9 as I said, and seems like a typical boy.
Holly followed later but this time we got the consultant to grant our wish and she was induced at term. Only 8 pounds 2ounces…phew!
What I would say to the mums and dads to be, while things can go wrong you are in the best hands and always go with what you are told. These great people have delivered more babies than we have had bowls of weetabix, so trust them and enjoy your experience.
There’s no more kids for us after Steve’s delicate operation! But we had the 4, we still have them, and fingers crossed they and their children will bring us joy for years and years to come.
Thanks
Helen x