Oversharing

For those with a weak stomach or who are easily offended by discussions about the body, I recommend that you skip this post, and some of you simply won’t want to know about some of these things. Plus, I probably wouldn’t read this post with your kids. So, you have been fairly warned and proceed at your own risk.

Why am I writing this post and sharing it? Eventually, we will open this blog thread to the public, and some other pregnant woman might find something useful here.

Breasts
Some of the earliest changes that I noticed in my body were my tender breasts. They have been fairly persistently tender and extra sensitive. However, there was one day that they actually ached, and that day they grew half an inch in 24 hours. It will be interesting to see just how large they get. Soon they just won’t fit in my bras anymore. I foresee a trip to a store in my near future, though the pregnancy books recommend only buying one bra as it won’t be long before I outgrow it too. I’m left a little bewildered by the idea of just how large they might get. Of course, they’ll have double-duty, so getting large might be a good thing.

Spotting
Probably the most disturbing part of this pregnancy has been the fact that I spot 1-2 times almost every day. It’s not a lot, and it’s only when I go to the bathroom. Still, it just adds that little bit of stress to this joyful experience, especially after the scare we had early in the pregnancy. Fortunately, this week has been better. From Monday to Thursday, I enjoyed 4 days spotting free. Friday, I had just the tiniest bit of spotting, and this morning I had some regular spotting. Here’s hoping the spotting continues to appear less.

Burping
My most common symptom has been burping. Fortunately, I haven’t had to burp in class, but Puck has been witness to my whole symphony of burps. Thank goodness I feel comfortable in our relationship and confident in his love.

Fatigue
I had already written the above about burping several days ago, but I realized yesterday that it isn’t exactly true. Fatigue is my most common symptom. It has worked out well that I teach in the morning this quarter because after lunch with Puck, I head straight for home and my bed. I sink into a very deep sleep for at least an hour and sometimes up to 3 hours. Then I swim back into consciousness and can function again. In some of the twin pregnancy books, the mothers had to take a one-hour nap on their lunch break (hopefully, not skipping eating), and one mother said she would get so tired that on the walk to her car she sometimes wanted to just lie down on the cement and sleep. Fortunately, if I’m ever too tired to drive home, I can just stretch out in the minivan for a nap. In fact, the day of my last appointment I did just that since the appointment was during my normal nap time.

Sneezing
Sometimes, it almost seems like I’m allergic to being pregnant. I’ll get a whole string of breath-taking, full-chest sneezes – the kind that in a movie might knock someone over, and I can’t help but think, “Hold on down there!” What must they think of these body-quakes?

Small, localized pain
Recently, I’ve started getting brief twinges of light, localized pain on different areas of my tummy. It feels like a tiny pinprick of pain right behind my layer of skin, and it goes away quickly enough. I’ve only experienced this three or four times so far. Puck suggested it might be due to my stomach starting to expand, and the Ob/Gyn we saw last Thursday agreed.

Nausea
While I have only thrown up once during the pregnancy so far, I have had my own brand of morning sickness. For the first few weeks after we discovered we were pregnant, it was just a mild queasiness that I could mostly ignore. In the last two weeks, it has upgraded to nausea. Enough so, that I often take the elevator to my third-floor office rather than carrying my roller bag up the stairs.

An interesting aspect of my nausea is that it is often tied to hunger. Now, I don’t feel hungry. In fact, the nausea actually makes me not want to eat, but Puck and I have discovered that when I do eat the nausea lessens or goes away. Apparently, this is not an uncommon form of nausea for pregnant women, but it is not true for all women. My heartfelt sympathy to those of you who have to suffer through more intense morning sickness.

Constipation
This is another common pregnancy symptom, and supposedly it will get worse as the pregnancy progresses. When I hit my first rounds of constipation, my attentive husband immediately went out and bought me prune juice. I have been dutifully drinking around a 1/2-3/4 cup every night. It has cleared up the constipation (at least for now), and I’m almost used to its strong aftertaste.

Sex – If you don’t want to know, don’t read this.
During our first visit to the Ob/Gyn (when we discovered that not only did we not miscarry but we were pregnant with twins), we asked what we could do to help protect the pregnancy. The Ob/Gyn’s one comment was, “No pelvic activity.”

Considering that we were still in shock from the announcement that we were pregnant with twins, we didn’t think to ask for further clarification. Obviously, the doctor had meant no sex, but what specifically is included in that phrase? In a loose interpretation, could even exercise focused on using the legs be included? Was there some wiggle room for orgasms that didn’t involve putting anything in any orifices?

It’s also one of those strange moments. How often have we heard in movies and on TV that it is okay to have sex while pregnant, that it won’t hurt the babies? Perhaps they should add a disclaimer, “It’s okay to have sex while pregnant, unless it isn’t. See doctor for details.”

Reading on the web, this recommendation for “no pelvic activity” is relatively common in cases where women spot, have blood clots, have uncooperative cervixes that don’t always stay shut, etc. I read stories on forums from women who were warned away from sex for weeks, months and in some cases the whole pregnancy. It is a price women are willing to pay to help keep those little lives healthy inside them, but it can also lead to some sexual frustration.

On my second visit to the Ob/Gyn, I was prepared with more detailed questions about what fell under the umbrella of “no pelvic activity,” and I came out with some good and bad news. The Ob/Gyn we have been seeing is an Irish fellow, and when questioned about what exactly “pelvic activity” referred to, he hemmed and hawed a little. Unwilling to back down or get too embarrassed (hey, this is an important topic!), I took the reigns. I told him that I understood that it meant we shouldn’t introduce any objects (my husband’s, mine or battery-run) into any orifices (he nodded), but I wanted to know if it was still okay for me to orgasm. With a look of relief, he nodded again and said, “Yes, be creative.”

That was the good news. (And yes, he said light exercise was fine.)

The bad news? He recommended we stay on “no pelvic activity” for the rest of the pregnancy. Yikes! The next day, we also received our twin pregnancy books, and reading through some of “When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads,” I discovered that as the pregnancy progresses they don’t even recommend orgasms for women because it might set off contractions and one of the greatest risks with multiples is premature labor (meaning before the 37th week with twins). Yikes again! It does make me wonder, “Oh, why did I get pregnant in less than a month? Shouldn’t I have been forced to work at it for a month or two more?” Still, we all take our diverse blessings the way they come to us, and we are thrilled to be nurturing two little lives inside me.