Maternity Stores: Who Knew?

Matt and I are not big shoppers. We're not even little shoppers. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of clothing items we've bought--between us--since we've been together. But today we were out and about (actually, to buy a maternity panel for Matt to sew into my scrubs, thereby converting them into maternity scrubs) when we passed the outlet mall, which everyone is always telling us is great but which we've never cared to set foot into.

They happened to have a Motherhood Maternity, and on a whim, we went inside. Up to this point I've avoided maternity stores because a) I don't shop, b) I've gotten so many maternity clothes for free, and c) I've read/heard from so many places that they're ridiculously overpriced that I just assumed that, well, they were.

Maybe some of them are, but this one had me pleasantly surprised. When it seems like you can't get a regular pair of jeans for under 50 bucks these days (unless you live in your little sister's hand-me-downs...or would they be hand-me-ups?), a nice pair of maternity jeans with a stretchy belly panel only ran about $29.99. They had plenty of tops for between $8 and $30, which is again less than I'm used to seeing regular clothing sell for. And the best part? Everything in the store is meant for pregnant women. It's probably hard to appreciate that fact until you've spent a few months feeling like an outsider--can't wear this, can't drink that. But here? It's a whole store just for people like me! What a concept! I've never felt so...catered to...when shopping for clothes before! Do other pregnant women know about these?!

I didn't actually buy anything, because I don't really need anything, but I did come away feeling rather refreshed. Maternity stores--who knew?

And, by the way--Matt did an incredible job on my scrubs, not only putting in a stretchy belly panel that I can wear up or fold down (in lieu of the ever-more-inconvenient drawstring, which rides up, falls down, digs in, and generally obstructs my need to go to the bathroom about ninety times a day), but also putting in a hem on pants that had always been too long.

On second thought, who needs maternity stores when you have a live-in tailor?

A cure for a common complaint

photo by letouj

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that I was having more frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions. I've been feeling them since 8-10 weeks, so their presence was nothing new, but the frequency was changing. I made sure I was well hydrated (since dehydration can bring on contractions), and then guessed that they might have something to do with an existing or potential urinary tract infection.

Unlike most people who have had UTIs and speak in horror about the crippling, excruciating pain they inflict, I've had two or three in my lifetime and can't say any of them has been painful. What I usually notice is either an increased frequency of urination (which is pretty much impossible at this point since I'm going about every 20 minutes anyway, as a result of drinking plenty of water + being pregnant) or kind of a warm/tingly sensation when I go. I didn't have that this time, but I thought I'd dip my urine to be on the safe side. (Urine dipsticks, by the way, are something I think every pregnant woman--maybe everybody, period--should have on hand. They are so invaluable for those times when you feel a twinge of something coming on but you're just not sure, and don't want to pay for an office visit just to be told that you're fine. They can also tell you, via specific gravity, how well hydrated you are--or aren't--which I find very helpful. Understanding what your dipstick means is something a little light internet research can teach you and which I believe is well worth the effort.)

What I found were leukocytes, or white blood cells--no blood, no nitrites (indicating the presence of bacteria), both of which are common with UTI's--just leukocytes, which likely indicate that the body is fighting some sort of an infection. (The linked article notes that leukocytes alone are often an indicator of a yeast infection, but I've also had enough of those to be familiar with the symptoms.) Because I've seen so many pregnant patients develop uterine irritability in response to urinary tract infection, I suspected I was probably in the early stages of fighting something off in that department.

Being a person who hates running to the doctor's office for every little thing, and who hates even more being on antibiotics and their subsequent side effects (for me, an upset stomach and a yeast infection almost always follow), I figured I was early enough in the game to try some gentler alternatives. So I turned to one of my favorite pregnancy books, The Natural Pregnancy Book, and was pleased to read that most urinary tract infections, if caught early, can be treated at home.

The author gives a few tinctures (goldenseal in particular) which can be helpful, but also recommends regular old Vitamin C (500 mg every 4 hours; I did this 4x a day so as not to exceed the recommended dose of 2,000mg) as well as unsweetened cranberry juice (32 oz a day), plus a total of 64 oz a day of total fluids (juice and water). Not having goldenseal or ready access to it, I decided to start conservatively, with Vitamin C and juice. Blueberry juice has also been shown to be just as effective against UTI, and so I drank a 3:1 mixture of blueberry to cranberry for the sake of palatability. I was pleased to find that Trader Joe's carries an unsweetened, not-from-concentrate version of both juices for around $4.99 a bottle, which is an absolute steal. You want to be sure to check the ingredients, though, so that you're not getting anything sweetened or from concentrate (in which case you're basically paying for water). Knudsen's Just Juice is another good brand, though it costs about twice as much.

After just two days of this regimen, I was thrilled that my Braxton-Hicks had disappeared (or at least returned to their previous occasional state) and my urine dipped clear as a bell. As a maintenance measure, I've started drinking cranberry spritzers instead of plain water throughout the day: about an ounce of cranberry juice in 8-12 oz of water is pleasantly tart and refreshing, and I also mix it with orange and carrot juice first thing in the morning. As a result, I wind up getting close to 8oz of pure cranberry juice a day (at a total of 70 calories, pretty negligible from a sugar/caloric standpoint--often a concern with juices) plus approximately 8 glasses of water a day, and I feel hydrated and refreshed. Plus I've saved money on an office visit and a prescription, and more importantly, spared my body and my baby from an unnecessary course of antibiotics--strengthening my body's ability to fight infection instead of compromising it. That's what I call a win-win course of action.

In case you were wondering...

...whether I ever change my clothes/actually get dressed (the answer: no, not very often), here's the baby bump in something besides a tank top and sweatpants. For a change.

Contact!

Matt got to feel the baby move for the first time, last night while we were reading in bed. That was lots of fun. The baby has really revved up his/her activity in the past couple of days, and appears to really be getting around, since I feel movement up high, down low, and on both sides at various points in the day. Unless, of course, there's more than one in there :)

I'm back feeling much more positive about things now, and as a display of my boundless optimism, have once again attempted to get off of my Unisom and B6. Two days and counting; we'll see how it goes...

On the other hand, being halfway done reminds me that I'll still be pregnant again as long as I already have been...which feels like a long time!

Halfway mark

13 weeks, 15 weeks, 18 weeks, and 20 weeks

And the rain.

Because along with the joys of the second trimester have come the downsides, and I would be a dishonest pregnancy blogger if I didn't mention those as well. Namely, the stretch marks. Weight gain, I can tolerate in good faith because at least theoretically it's reversible. The stretch marks, on the other hand? Not so much. Oh, I know some day they'll fade to silver (and, as my cousin tells me, "look more like wrinkles!"), but for now, the D-cup bust I was so excited about (because suddenly it was up from a small B) looks like it just went several rounds with an angry tiger. Talk about taking the wind out of my sails. Add that to the fact that most of the women I talk to fit into the "Oh, I never had a single stretch mark!" category (much like the way that my informal survey has revealed that approximately 90% of my acquaintances and patients were remarkably free of morning sickness), and it all has me feeling like life is a little unfair. It's kind of like going through puberty again--you don't know what the hormonal lottery is going to award you--except that I ALREADY WENT THROUGH PUBERTY. And spent the last fifteen years making peace with what it gave me. And now what it gave me is gone, and in its place I feel like there's something completely different. Even the most body-positive among us, I think, have to admit that that's rather unsettling.

Here Comes the Sun

photo by James Jordan

I feel like the second trimester is finally here for me in the sense that finally, I'm feeling pretty good. While I notice sharp twinges in my ligaments if I move too fast, and my back gets achy if I'm in the same position too long, I'm so thankful to be rid of the nausea and exhaustion that were so much a part of early pregnancy. I'm still on Unisom and B6, because otherwise I have a tendency to get gaggy in the morning, but by and large I feel a sense of wellbeing. I feel healthy, I feel like the baby and the pregnancy are healthy, and I'm just happy and thankful for that to be the case. I feel like my whole outlook has just lifted and now I'm really enjoying myself. I still feel like I'm peeing about every 20 minutes, but that's something I can tolerate.

This morning I also woke up starving. For the most part, my appetite during pregnancy has been pretty restrained, ranging from unable-to-tolerate-food to probably just slightly under par for my pre-pregnant days. I've already noticed that I eat a little less quickly, and possibly a little less, period (though possibly also just spread out into smaller, more frequent eating). I've gained about 14 pounds so far, which is pretty much on track, although I prefer to focus on eating high-quality foods and listening to my body rather than the scale. Given that I was close to 8-1/2 pounds and Matt was close to 10, I'm not anticipating that this will be a tiny baby, and my goal is to make sure that we're both optimally nourished for things like birth and breastfeeding that lie ahead. I won't lie and say it wasn't a little anxiety-producing at first to watch the numbers of the scale escalate, but I try to keep a sense of priorities in mind and honestly, I'm at the point now where I'm pretty comfortable with where my body is at (and where it's going). Things that have sounded particularly good to me lately: oatmeal, peanut butter, and the occasional bowl of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. (Favorites: Phish Food and Peanut Butter Cup.)

Otherwise, my bra size has jumped a cup or two and the inevitable stretch marks have followed, and though my belly is considerably bigger, I don't have any there yet. My belly button is on its way out of town though, which is an interesting phenomenon. I haven't noticed much difference in my hair and nails, like lots of women talk about, although my skin has been a little crazy. For the most part, my face has stayed clear, except for constant breakouts on my chin--but the real change has been breakouts on my chest and back, something that was never really a problem before. It's interesting how pregnancy affects everybody differently...

18 week update

4 weeks, 13 weeks, 15 weeks, and 18 weeks

As you can tell, I am really looking pregnant these days. I'm generally feeling pretty good, although there are still times when I'm gaggy in the morning and sleepy in the afternoon (especially after lunch and dinner). I've started to feel little flutters of activity, although nothing definitely identifiable as a kick yet. It's hard to believe that in two weeks, I'll be halfway done!

Feeling Faint

...happened to me today at work, for the second time. Today I was in a training from 9-1, which actually ran until 1:30. Just before that time, I started to feel really crappy, so at least I had the good sense to sit down. Once my vision was almost totally black, I turned to the person next to me (whose face I couldn't make out) and said, "I am feeling really faint and I think maybe I need something to eat." A glass of juice, a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, and a few minutes later, I was feeling much better.

I've always tended toward low blood sugar and feeling crappy when I don't eat at really regular intervals, and evidently pregnancy has really exaggerated this tendency. I think it was also worsened by the fact that I'd felt myself getting shaky earlier, but the only thing around was a mini-Twix, which I'd hoped would bolster my blood sugar until I could get home and eat lunch (which I usually do around 11, even when I'm at work). I think it probably caused an insulin spike which just made things worse, especially since I've more or less done my best to cut out refined sugar since I've been pregnant, and so it's not something my system was especially used to. Luckily, I was surrounded by maternity nurses at the time, who took great care of me and who didn't seem especially concerned-- the reaction from most people, when I told them, was "Well, duh, you're pregnant, and you waited too long to eat!" Still, there are few things worse than that terrible feeling you get before you're going to faint!

The game plan: drink even more water and eat even more protein, to keep my blood sugar levels steady. I have also always tended toward swelling easily (in heat, in cold, after exercise) and that too seems to be worsened by pregnancy, but I've read it can also be improved by adequate intake of protein, fluids, and salt (so that fluids stay in the cells where they belong, instead of seeping out into the extracellular space). The Natural Pregnancy is a wonderful book by a midwife and herbalist which contains tons of helpful information on nutrition and all kinds of pregnancy topics, and she recommends dandelion tea for help with circulation and swelling (and it's also a great source of all kinds of trace vitamins and minerals).

The extra protein has been a challenge for me because I've never been a voracious meat eater, and it's appealed to me even less since I've been pregnant. I'm just getting to the point where I can eat eggs again, and I drink 2-4 big glasses of milk a day, and try to eat plenty of cheese and nuts. Still, I know I could be doing better--the incident today is a reminder of that. Tomorrow is another day!