News from the baby world.

[rivka]

Entry for the baby book: Dec 3, 2004 - first clear response to an external stimulus.

On Friday, for the first time, my physical therapist ended the session by icing my back. As soon as she placed the ice pack against my middle back, I felt a flurry of kicks and pressures on the extreme lower front of my belly. Li'l Critter was trying to move away from the sudden cold sensation.

It was the coolest thing! The first evidence that she senses and responds to her environment. Such a clever baby!

Other than the back pain, which is still intermittently troublesome, I am feeling pretty well these days. Major sixth month symptoms so far: breathlessness, dizzy spells, emotional lability.

Major emotional lability. It's so strange to have these powerful emotions coursing through me and know that they're chemically caused, and yet to not have that knowledge make a bit of difference. It's fine when they're happy and excited feelings, and even sometimes when they're sad - I don't mind crying my eyes out at sad movies, or getting tearily sentimental. But last night I came perilously close to a full-fledged panic attack, just because we were stuck in traffic and late for minnaleigh's birthday dinner. And a brief thought about miscarriage or fetal death can leave me jumpy and upset for hours. That side of emotional lability just sucks.

The dizzy spells bother me, because I'm not sure they're normal. It's pretty normal for a pregnant woman to feel dizzy when changing positions, because the uterus's extra demands for blood sometimes shortchange the brain. I have those dizzy spells. But I also have longer periods of dizziness that are quite disconcerting. Especially the one that happened in a steeply-banked theater balcony, as I was trying to move down stairs and across a row to my seat. I am trying to eat more frequently, on the theory that the dizziness might be due to low blood sugar, and I intend to mention it to the midwife at my next appointment on Wednesday.

The breathlessness is kind of a pain, as well. I have trouble with steps taken too quickly, and with almost every position involving bending over. I got down on the floor today to sweep up broken ornament pieces with a whisk broom, and then spent several minutes gasping for breath. We have agreed that curiousangel will handle all bending and stooping tasks from now on.

But mostly I feel great, and happy to be pregnant. I feel the baby almost every day now, and her movements still don't hurt at all - they're just fun and exciting. I tire easily (especially with the breathlessness), but I've still got energy for my normal day. I'm a little worried that I haven't gained more weight (I'm just about up to my pre-pregnancy weight now, which is only seven pounds over my lowest pregnancy weight), but I also recognize that if I were larger I'd have even less mobility than I do now.

Li'l Critter seems so real to me already. I'm so looking forward to meeting her, in just a few short months.

Comments

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad that the pregnancy is progressing well for you!

[saoba.livejournal.com]

I once stopped a person who was teasing me in my seventh month of a difficult pregnancy by looking him in the eye and saying in a barely controlled voice, "There's not a jury in the world who would convict me for killing you with my bare hands."

He started to laugh it off, checked the expression on his wife's face and apologized profusely.

The box of chocolates he sent me the next day didn't hurt either.

[geekymary.livejournal.com]

Yay for fluttering critter! That's the coolest feeling.

I have those dizzy spells. But I also have longer periods of dizziness that are quite disconcerting.

You might want to have your iron level checked. I had a lot of dizziness when I was pg and it was caused by anaemia. It went away after I had Eddie, but they had me on iron and it helped a lot.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I thought of that, but it seems so unlikely. My prenatal vitamins have iron in them, and I'm eating tons of red meat. But I know I have bloodwork coming up soon, so I'll make sure they check.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

...although anemia would also explain how quickly I get short of breath. Huh.

I checked my vitamins: they contain 150% of the RDA of iron. I wonder if that's enough to prevent pregnancy-related iron-deficiency anemia, or not.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

For me, that would probably not be enough to keep my iron high enough to give blood. And I'm not pregnant, nor have I ever been. (All the pregant women and new moms on my flist are giving my major baby cravings, but I'm just not in a position to have a baby right now.)

[geekymary.livejournal.com]

I just checked my prenatals and they have 156% of RDA and I still had to take iron supplements. So maybe.

[melebeth]

Ok. That is SO CUTE!!!!!!!!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

See? :-)

-J

[rivka.livejournal.com]

You don't have to tell me how cute my baby is. She's the cutest baby EVER!!

...Man, what's going to happen to me after she's born? I've already lost any tiny shred of the semblance of objectivity.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're supposed to be objective with regard to your own child/ren. Go with the flow. :)

And I think mine may be just as cute as yours. But I'm just saying. I may also be a teeny tiny bit biased.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

And I think mine may be just as cute as yours. But I'm just saying. I may also be a teeny tiny bit biased.

I suppose it's possible that the Electric Baby is just as cute. But she's had four weeks more practice, you know. ;-)

[boxofdelights]

It's so strange to have these powerful emotions coursing through me and know that they're chemically caused, and yet to not have that knowledge make a bit of difference.

Isn't it? That experience is what convinced me that it was okay to take drugs for depression.

It's pretty common to have sinus congestion that interferes with your inner ear during pregnancy. That's what the dizziness in the steeply-banked theater balcony sounds like to me. Your sense of balance is a three-legged stool: when the cunning little inner-ear mechanism isn't working, you've still got your eyesight and gravity pressing against your feet. But when the ground isn't level and there is no horizon to look at *and* your inner-ear signals are confused, you're wobbly!

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

I agree. I suffer from Meniere's syndrome (an inner ear disorder) and suffered mightily my first trimester. Lots of stuff going on that can mess with your vestibular system. But still - definitely worth asking about. And big sympathies - I can totally relate, and it's miserable.

[pameladean]

Welcome to a preview of perimenopause! At least you won't be blindsided by it.

In the meantime, I'm delighted to read about your clever baby, and your clever self, too.

Pamela

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Welcome to a preview of perimenopause! At least you won't be blindsided by it.

Oh dear! Something to look forward to for the next 15-20 years, I guess.

[ailbhe]

Yup, that's an autonomous being you've got in residence there! Amazing! *gurgles incoherently for a bit*.

Re: Dizziness: I went downstairs on my butt for months. My sense of balance was *just* off enough that I couldn't trust myself to walk it. Remember that your centre of gravity is in a new place too so your whole balancing posture has to change, which is also pretty weird.

Rah for pregnancy! Yippee!