A Lot Going On... Some Gross

Wow, the last 5 days have been eventful. Not over-the-top fun eventful, but just plain old boring eventful. Meaning there's a lot of stuff going on with baby and me.

First off, I'm going to warn you right now that what I'm about to get into isn't for everyone, so if you're squeamish about health and anatomy and such I'd turn away now and wait for the next post. Otherwise, read on for a very frustrating story.

On Wednesday night Gene and I went grocery shopping, at Schnucks of course. :) Since I ate before I left the house by the time I got to the second aisle I could feel a BM coming on. Of course, I'm like a dog or an old person - as in you walk me and I'm going to have to "potty" as Gene and I say it. I've never been one to enjoy using a public restroom to make my poos, even one as secluded as the Schnucks restroom. So, the plan was to hold it until I got home.

Well low and behold as soon as I got home I bee-lined for the bathroom and nothing. Nada. I know not to try to force it, and so after a minute of sitting there bored I gave up. I put the groceries away and decided I'd try again later. I never did get the urge to go the rest of the night so I just went to bed feeling a bit heavy. *My entire pregnancy I've always went when I had to go because I've heard all the horror stories about being constipated and such and I didn't want that to happen to me. And here, it does.

The next morning when I woke up my hips were a little stiff so I laid on my back a bit to get pressure off of them. Now, I don't know about the other pregos out there, but when I do lay on my back now it makes me have to potty. So, luckily, I had no more issues and I went without problems. One night, big deal.

Thursday night was Childbirth Class night, and we went over c-sections and a few other things as well as a refresher of the 2 classes before. We also talked about our birth plan (which of course I'm on top of it already with my 4 page worksheet for the nurse). My birth plan is super simple, so I don't foresee any of it being an issue for the doctor or nurses.

Friday morning when I woke up I was feeling pretty bloated, which is extremely odd because I have always woken up feeling refreshed, never bloated, and never any issues. It's like sleep was my magic elixir of life. I hopped in the shower and what do you know... I had hemorrhoids. How embarrassing. I've never had anything like it before. I know nothing about them, I don't know what to do about it. My mom always told me that once you get pregnant it's a roller coaster of issues, and up until now I just thought she was crazy. But now, I'm starting to think that she's correct.

So, after my discovery I just assumed it would go away on its own and I'd be fine by the end of the day. Wrong! I went to work as normal, and it was our employee appreciation picnic/bbq day so at 12pm we got to go to the lab and relax, eat and play games against the lab employees. They won as usual. After work I ran to Target to find my bikini (which was a bust as all bikinis are made for teeny-boppers or are $100+). I bought a 2 piece which still shows half of my belly - it will just have to do. I then went home, my Mom picked up Okie, Gene came home and we went to the Cards game.

Into the 2nd inning I just couldn't take it anymore and my rear was starting to bother me so bad. I couldn't get comfortable, I couldn't sit still, I was hot and sweaty, my hot dog was making me queasy, I had to leave. We did, went to Schnucks for fiber-rich foods like fruits and veggies, I bought some over-the-counter meds and we went home to chill out. I fell asleep right away. Lol, I just can't seem to stay awake too late anymore.

Saturday was the first day the pool opened at New Town and I decided I wanted to go (Gene had to work though). I got a pass this year for the adult pool. :) I enjoy that it's shallow, you can bring all your own food and drinks in, and there's no screaming kids. Let me just say that swimming with this belly feels amazing! It's like I'm magically skinny, and baby weighs nothing. I enjoyed every second. Not to mention my bum felt better in the cold water. I could have stayed all day but I brought Mom and she only lasted an hour.

That night Gene and I had Cards tickets too. We went, and he kept getting frustrated at the fact that I was walking so slow. My feet were still sore from Friday, and the sun from the morning made me so exhausted. We stayed until the 8th this game, but I noticed that my belly kept tightening up. It did it over and over and over. And when I stood to walk it felt like it would drop to the floor. It freaked me out pretty bad because in class we found that those are signs of pre-term labor. I had to leave, again. So we did. It took probably 30+ minutes for me to walk about 6 blocks. I could have cried. Gene had to hold my hand a drag me along, and then it was hell going up the stairs. We went home and I conked out. *That is the last game I'm going to until after Baby B is here.

Sunday was the first full day I got to spend with Gene in weeks (I told him it felt like a year). We had plans to visit the Science Center, but there was no way I could do that. Instead of me cancelling the plans though I was lucky that Mom wanted us to go help her buy stuff for the baby shower. We did, and can I just say that I enjoy getting to help! Then after my Dad got home from work we all went and had dinner and then went to go see The Avengers.

Monday morning I woke up and my bum felt 100% better. However, once in the shower I found that it is not better at all, just less painful. We went swimming with the rents and Gene's friend Ben for about 3 hours that afternoon, and then we had bbq at Mom and Dad's. We went home right after dinner (eat and run), and once home I was in agony. My rear end was hurting again (despite the pool alleviating all pain for hours), and on top of that, my belly was doing the tightening thing again. And this time, when I stood up, I couldn't stand straight. I was hunched over because of the belly pains. It lasted about 30 minutes, and then it went away so I know it's not contractions or anything. I wasn't gassy, I didn't have indigestion or heartburn - I have no idea what it was. However, I do know that baby wasn't moving hardly at all yesterday so I started freaking out. Bad.

Gene got me to calm down and climb into bed. After just a few second of me calming down the baby started thumping away in there. It was instant satisfaction. I could breathe. I knew my baby was okay and I was probably just stressing him/her out. I went to sleep and slept pretty great (even though I got up 6 times to pee throughout the night).

So, this morning I was hoping that everything would be fine for going back to work. On the contrary. My bum is still in bad shape, my tummy still feels odd, and I now have this beet red sunburn on about half of my body. Even more bad news is that I have a desk job so I spend most of the day sitting - my rear is never going to get any better. If someone has a miracle cure for this I would be very grateful.

Hopefully I have better news in my next blog.

Jenni