Monday, July 11, 2005

The one where I hit a major milestone

Today I am 13 weeks 4 days pregnant. That officially puts me in the second trimester (13 1/2 weeks = 1/3 of 40 weeks and according to my perinatologists means I am now in the second trimester).

It's a scary concept; me...in the second trimester. Knowing that if it all works out, my baby could potentially be born in 17 weeks (if I go to 30 as anticipated).

On July 22 I have my next appointment. On that day we're going to begin doing ultrasounds every 1-2 weeks to track cervical changes in case of incompetent cervix (higher risk in people with unicornuate uterus). These ultrasounds will continue throughout the rest of my pregnancy.

Strict bed rest restrictions have been lifted. I am now on "restricted mobility" rather than stuck on my back all the time. I have also been taken off of the twice daily Prometrium pills. It really frightens me; we don't know what has contributed to the success of this pregnancy thus far so the inevitibility of changes in the status quo terrifies both me and Mr. W.

To make me even more uneasy with the entire situation, I have been feeling worse than I have the entire pregnancy. I am more nauseated. I feel hot all the time. I probably have the flu but I can't even find my thermometer to know if I have a fever thanks to the fucking move and the "lifting boxes" restrictions of my doctors (In this "restricted mobility" I can pick up my cat, but nothing heavier; my cat is about 10 pounds of solid muscle).

Now, stupid me, I told my mother that I was feeling worse and she went on a rant about how in the second trimester I should feel better and not worse and shouldn't I talk to my doctor about this? (Forget the fact that I had just been to the doctor!) And then? When she caused me to panic because clearly my mother is insinuating that there is a serious problem with the pregnancy. After calming down, I realized that it is possible that I am feeling the effects of stress, fear, and the stretching and growing of my uterus affecting my stomach (I have severe scoliosis; if my spine were straight I would be about 5'6 based on x-ray and MRI data from several prominant surgeons. Instead? I am not quite 5'1 [alright, I am 5'0" and a fraction of an inch]. This means that I have really long legs for my height and a miniscule torso -- not much room for things to move around as the baby grows even the slightest bit). Or maybe all of that paranthetical crap was me rationalizing to prove that my mother is wrong. I can't say for sure. But until I have real reason to suspect a problem, I'm going to assume that all is well.

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Comments about my post, "The one where I hit a major milestone":

I'm about 2 weeks behind you and currently most of my friends are pregnant. Several of them complained that they still felt nauseous and tired partway through their second trimester (pne was still exhausted at 24 weeks). My mother was still vomiting at 5 months. I wouldn't let your continued symptoms worry you too much. Try to take it as a reminder that the baby is growing(that's the angle I'm going with) :)

[ Permalink ] posted by Anonymous : 9:06 AM