03.07.06
Anything you want done baby, I do it naturally
Steve is away at squash this week, and while I am fine during the days and continue on as normal, the nights seem so quiet and boring. Even Milo, who is very suspicious of Steve whenever he leaves with anything other than his backpack for work has spent a lot of the day looking out the window, seeing his car, whining to go outside, sniffing his car and then looking around the house, and then whining to get back in once she realizes he is still not here.
One of the first reasons I suspected I was pregnant was because of my breasts. They were swollen and sore and ached all day long, much more-so than regular. They hurt almost for pretty much my first trimester. Then came the sweet relief of months three to six, where my boobs were big and bouncy and not sore. Yet now, in this last week, we are back at the aching breast stage. Man! It is like it is at the beginning. They hurt if I wear a bra for too long and the only relief is to take it off, and then they hurt if I go braless for too long, but by that point, putting one back on does not help at all. It is annoying like a dull headache that is constantly threatening to become a migraine.
Steve and I went to the gym together this weekend, and while I was changing into my non-sports bra after I was finished my workout, I noticed little yellow stains on the inside of my bra. I looked closer and it took me about half a second to realize that my boobs had leaked colostrum. I told Steve and was a little excited about it, until I realized that once it starts, there seems to be no end in sight. A few times a day, I get this weird tingling sensation in my nipples (which is not new, but up until this point, it just used to lead to hard nipples) and that seems to be when I leak. Not very much though, just barely a drop, just enough to get on my bra or make my pj top feel wet for a second. I must say (and if you are not a dog person, this may gross you out because dogs? Are sometimes pretty gross) that Milo has been very interested in my boobs for about two weeks now. When she comes over to sniff me, instead of going right for my hand, sometimes she sniffs my shirt instead. I pushed her away without thinking about it, but now realize that she probably could smell the milk. (Hey, it is better than the time she licked up a shot of Steves seamen that had fallen on the floor.)
So sore boobs and milk, what other pregnancy joys have I recently discovered? Ah yes! I have been getting bigger and bigger kicks lately, so tonight while I was knitting and the baby started kicking, I pulled up my shirt because I am excited for the day that I see my belly move in a big swell that is the baby changing positions, and I could see her kicking. Nothing so defined as a foot or hand, but just a quick movement on my side. It was great. Now my only question is why do I always seem to be alone when these firsts happen?
I have been having these weird sensations in my abdomen off and on for the past couple of weeks. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like my uterus is clenching. It started about a month ago, whenever I walked Milo, I would get a pain in my lower right side. I would slow down or stop for a minute and the pain would go away. Coincidentally, I always had to pee when I got home, so I thought it was somehow related. After I started making an effort to pee just before I left and the pain kept coming, I did some researching and came up with that if cramping was not regular, did not have any blood or weird discharge associated with it, it was probably nothing. In the back of my mind something twigged a thought about Braxton Hicks contractions but I thought it was much too early for that, so I did not really look into them. Last week when I worked out or after I took a bath (which always gets me a few kicks) I would notice this clenching. It was by no means painful, but it was new and a little strange and I wanted to know what it was. Turns out, you can start getting Braxton Hicks contractions as early as 20 weeks, but they take a while to get stronger. Also, first time moms often do not even feel them. So while I plan on asking my Midwife about these things, I am pretty sure that these clenches have been little practice contractions.
I am going to Florida on March 23 for a little over a week, and while I have a letter from my Midwife saying that everything is ok for me to travel in case the airlines give me any problems, I am going to remind her I am going (at Steves request because he is a little worried about me flying so late- I will be 32 weeks on the way home, but the cut-off date of the airlines is 36 weeks, so I will be back in lots of time) and make sure everything is ok. My blood pressure has been on a slow but steady incline and I have been trying to lower my salt intake, so hopefully it is not up too much this time.
Also, I want to ask her about lifting weights. I have read conflicting information about weight lifting into your third trimester, and while the weights I lift are by no means heavy or strenuous, I want to make sure it is ok to keep doing. I can just stick to swimming and walking from now on if need be.
I think that is enough baby for tonight, it is time to crawl into bed with my ever-so-lonely-for-her-dad-puppy and read for a while. I may have a hair appointment tomorrow morning, but I have not written it down anywhere so I have to call them, and I think I might get a birthday present for Steve. Tomorrow is my only day this week that I do not have anything to do, so I think it is going to be a long and kind of lonely day. Maybe I will go for a swim in the afternoon or something.
wunderwuman at 9:54 p.m.