They say that you won’t sleep once the baby arrives and to try to conserve energy and rest during the pregnancy. Every woman that has ever been pregnant knows this is the furthest from the truth as you can get, because face it, sleeping in the third trimester is on the same level of difficulty as climbing Mt. Everest. Between the back aches, heartburn, acid reflux, headaches, insomnia, baby kicking, restless leg syndrome, muscle spasms, pregnancy nightmares, and having to pee five times per hour, there just isn’t a lot of room for peaceful rest.
In my case, I’d add to that: nausea, vomiting, pain from my Zofran pump, being woken up by the pump running out of battery, being woken up by the pump running out of medicine, and being woken up by sleeping on the pump the wrong way and the tubing getting occluded. I am 100% convinced I will sleep better when the baby gets here.
My doctor still adamantly refuses to replace my PICC line due to infection risk, so the pain from using my Zofran pump subcutaneously is just something I’m going to have to deal with. My stomach is splotchy, red, bruised, and intensely sore, but at least I’m able to get the medicine I need. I also started a new anti-nausea/anti-motion sickness medicine yesterday. It completely knocked me out. I took a “nap” that started on the bathroom floor (as I was giving Logan a bath) around 6:30pm and ended around 10:30am the following day. And that was the “less drowsy” brand!
I’m slowly adjusting to a life not connected to IV fluids 24/7. I am so grateful I don’t have to drag an IV pole around the house anymore, and it’s so much easier to leave and go do things like watch Logan’s t-ball practices, go grocery shopping, or run errands. Even so, those short outings are extremely exhausting and I’ve been experiencing a lot of near-passing-out episodes that they said could be related to dehydration or my anemia. I only had to go to Urgent Care twice last week for IV fluids, which is a huge improvement. I haven’t seen many of the nurses there since the first trimester, when I was coming in 2-3 times a week, and they have all been happy to see me and get filled in about how my adventure with hospitalizations and home healthcare have been.
The overall nausea and vomiting cycle has not improved significantly, and in fact I’ve had to increase my medication routine over the last few weeks instead of decreasing it. I at least feel human enough to enjoy some short walks outside and do more things as a family. “Normal” food is still like poison to my body, as is plain water. I feel great when I stick to a very bland liquid diet, but even that irritates my stomach if I let myself get too full. I survive on iced coffee, frozen lemonade, watered-down soup broth, frozen watermelon, and lemon wedges.
Last week my family experienced a pretty heavy blow, and life’s difficulty level just increased tenfold. It’s going to be a long process of planning and recovery, and it’s upsetting when life kicks you when you’re already down. As a family, we are going to learn how to move forward together. We are lucky to have an amazing support system in both my parents and my in-laws, and so many people have stepped in to help us over the insane last seven months.
People say that the first year of marriage is the hardest, and I pray with all my heart that is true. We have gone through so much since last July, and although it has made our bond stronger, it has bent both of us to our breaking points.
Despite the chaotic world on the outside, Baby Torrez is thriving on the inside. His kicks and punches are strong enough to hurt me now, and I spend a lot of time using my fingers to push his feet out of my ribcage. The growth ultrasound last week showed him developing right on track, only measuring a little small in the 25th percentile. He is estimated to be just over 3lbs at this point. The ultrasound technician examined his heart, brain, kidneys, stomach, and head, and also checked my amount of amniotic fluid. There was no cause for concern aside from the fact that I’m not gaining weight.
Hopefully Week 32 will bring some relief to the stress in our lives and maybe I will happen upon some new miracle food my body doesn’t reject!
