Week 25

Good Morning dear ones, I hope you had a great sleep. This morning is beautiful, sunshiny and I am so excited to have the day off.

Today I will be going to the dentist ~ MAKE SURE YOU TELL THEM YOU'RE PREGNANT before you get in the chair or when you make your appointment. You may want to see your dentist an extra time while pregnant as everything in our bodies change from carrying our littles including our teeth! We want healthy, clean, strong teeth and to do that we need to make sure we are flossing, brushing but NOT rinsing with mouthwash. That stuff isn't good for you or your babe.

So this week I began to really notice Braxton Hicks contractions - nasty things. They are intense and I tend to get a little grumpy if I have too many in a row or they are particularly strong. I got woken up by one at 3:15 AM and was not impressed. However, the great thing about them is that they are your bodies way of practicing for the real deal! This means you will be all ready to rock on your delivery day and won't be surprised as you'll already know what to expect for the early stages of labour. Braxton Hicks contractions are irregular (you don't want more than 5/6 per hour) and they have no rhyme or rhythm to them. If you can time them, if you have any change in your discharge or if you have cramping with them this may be signs of early labour and you need to go to emergency or call your health care provider to see what he/she recommends.

This 25th week I had a 3 day work week, worship practice, I swam, had an orthodontist appointment, a Dr. Appointment and I was not constipated which for me is a two thumbs up! A lot of women have to deal with this uncomfortable side effect (which can lead to hemorrhoids - varicose veins in your anus) and so I make sure to put a lot of fibre into my morning shakes and try and have a bowl of bran or a few prunes throughout the day as well. It may be too much information for you from me but I'm trying to be honest here. If you can avoid laxatives then why not???

This week baby O really picked up her game kicking and fluttering and moving which was comforting and fun to feel. I love knowing she's happy and healthy and ALIVE inside of me.

We also had to go through another trip to the ER as a family because on Thursday I had some spotting. It wasn't a lot and it wasn't fresh blood but when I contacted my midwife she said to go as soon as I could. Spotting in the third trimester isn't a joke, and so if you see anything irregular make sure you call your health provider and see what she says to do about it. Don't go online and freak yourself out but call someone who has been seeing you throughout your pregnancy and knows your body and baby. If you don't have anyone then just go into the ER to get checked out. Spotting can come from a lot of things; sex, an internal exam by someone on your medical team, tearing of the placenta or it could be your cervix. Two of those aren't worrisome and two are. For us I believe it was from the internal exam my OBGYN performed on Monday and everything ended up being fine. I got an ultrasound as they are making sure my cervix isn't shortening due to the genetic issue I have. I also got a stress test done on baby O (which she rocked at for being so small still) and had my urine checked and a blood sample taken (which I am getting great at - praise God!)

The weed ended with 3 appointments. One was the all girls bible study that I attend once a month (which isn's an appointment really) and it was amazing as always, next up was an echocardiogram (an ultrasound on my heart due to EDS and pregnancy) and last was a massage because my boss bought me one for my birthday a couple of years ago and I was holding onto it for the day I would NEED it and what do you know, my neck pinched a nerve and I was desperate for relief. The bible study was so much fun, the Echo results came back GREAT (my aorta valve is closed!!!) and I loved my pregnancy massage and my neck feels so much better.

This sunday is Easter Sunday which I'm really pumped about and I get to sing with the worship team which I love so this week over all was two thumbs up. When you live with pregnancy pain or chronic pain it's good to measure your week in two ways (at least). For myself it was a good week, I had a good attitude, God gave me the strength I needed and turned everything for good every time and while my body had a hard week with pain and spotting I separate the two and say two thumbs up for me, all of the praise and honor and glory go to God and my body did its best!

Keep searching for the sunshine and healing! Don't give up, God is waiting to heal you - I promise!
Love,
Laura xo