swollen

Well, couldn't think of a cutesy or clever title for this post. Maybe because my feet, ankles and calves are so swollen that it's clouding the clever part of my brain.

I have to say, the swollen lower extremities is so far one of the most unpleasant parts of being pregnant. And these aren't just mildly swollen, people; these are just, well, ridiculous. I'd post a picture, but I'm not that brave. They truly are kind of disgusting. I can barely tie my shoes (like, I can't tie a bow, only a very tiny small knot) and my work shoes barely fit. I just take them off while I'm at my desk, and put them on to hobble to the bathroom.

To be fair, it's not this bad every day. I went to my childbirth class and breastfeeding class yesterday, so I was sitting in a little classroom for 5 hours. Then afterwards we went out to dinner; so, more sitting. So today I am paying the price. Tonight I'll go home and put my feet up really high for the entire night to hopefully remedy it.

I also usually wear compression stockings (I know; can you handle the sexiness???) to help out, but they were already so swollen this morning, that I didn't think it would help. You're supposed to put them on first thing in the morning before your feet get swollen.

It's kind of funny how cocky you can get about not having certain pregnancy symptoms, and how quickly you can be proven wrong. Like, I remember thinking "no stretchmarks yet! I just have a feeling I won't get any!" and then BAM! A few days later, they arrived. And they arrived with a vengeance. And just a few weeks ago, my mom asked if I had any swollen feet issues, because she had struggled with that in her pregnancies. "Nope!" was my blissfully ignorant answer. And then, BAM, BAM! Swollen feet, ankles, calves. So, lesson learned. Just because something is going one way during your pregnancy at that point in time, doesn't mean it can't quickly take a turn in the opposite direction!

Thanks for listening to my whining! I'm off to hobble to the bathroom. (Do you think they make Crocs that are acceptable for work?) And then tonight; many hours of blissful feet putting up.

~M

that’s about the size of it

So, there’s no denying it; when you get pregnant- you are inevitably going to get bigger. You can’t avoid it. And when you’re pregnant with twins, you’re going to get even bigger than that. And when you started out as not a small person to begin with; well, say goodbye to your toes. You won’t be seeing them for a while.

Having a gigantic belly is something I’m quite aware of. There isn’t really any part of the day where I’m surprised to look down and see the basketball sized bump under my shirt. And for the most part, people have been very nice about the fact that the bump just keeps getting bigger and bigger. In fact, I read other blogs or hear other people’s stories about how people are always commenting on how big they are, and up until a few weeks ago, I thought I was one of the lucky ones that was going to escape people’s comments.

I was wrong.

Now, I haven’t had too many yet; but they’re starting to escalate. And since I look like a full term pregnant lady (women with twins generally measure 8 weeks ahead of those having one), I assume once I PASS looking full term, and just ginormous, the comments will continue to happen.

Some people (these are people I know- not strangers) just keep saying “Wow, you just keep getting bigger and bigger” or “wow, you’re just huge!”, every time I see them. Ok, yes. This might be true. But so far this is only women friends saying this to me. Now, ladies. Even though I’m pregnant, (and as I mentioned before, it’s a given that I’ll get bigger), when have you EVER wanted someone to say “wow! You’re big!” to you? Maybe you don’t care if you were already petite to begin with, but if you’re ever someone who has struggled with body image, having someone say “Holy crap! You’re huge!” doesn’t really feel good. Yes, I know it’s hard not to comment. But couldn’t you say something like, “Those babies sure are growing!” or “what a lovely belly!” or SOMEthing?

Now, as far as the comments from strangers, I’ve only had two official ones. I HAVE, however, had lots of people blatantly stare; and not look away for a long time. The first comment was a gentleman visiting our office. I was seating him in a conference room, and he asked when I was due. I gave my standard response, “Around the end of June, with twins.” I have to add the “with twins” part, so that people realize why I already look like I’m going to pop. His response? “Oh, with twins. Well, that makes sense. I was going to say, ‘End of June? But you’re already so big!’ but now that I know it’s twins, that makes sense.” Um, was it really necessary to tell me what rude thing you were GOING to say?

And finally, I had a very “New York” rude comment this morning on my way out of Grand Central Station. This guy with a very thick New York accent saw me walking down the street and as he passed me he LOUDLY said “Whoa! That HAS to be twins! Whoa!” and just kept walking by, like he wasn’t saying it to me, just generally commenting. Nice.

Sigh. I know that some people just can’t help it. And most of the time, I honestly don’t care. But I just wish that sometimes people would think about what they’re saying, BEFORE they say it. I’m not saying you have to ignore the fact that it looks like I’m smuggling a watermelon, but you know, try to be nice about it.

~M

oh, I see. that’s what they mean by uncomfortable.

Well, it seems as though in the last week, I am starting in on the “I’m getting uncomfortable” phase. Before, I had moments of being uncomfortable, but I’m starting to see a glimmer of it happening much, much more frequently. I have to pee all the time, which is nothing new, but it seems to be extra frequent now. Sitting OR standing for any length of time is uncomfortable. I’m starting to get puffy ankles if I sit for too long (probably won’t be as bad today though, since I’m wearing my compression maternity tights; can you say SEXXXY? I mean, they look like regular tights, but still.) It seems as though my back and pelvic bones just sort of ache frequently too.

Rolling over in bed is funny when you have a big pregnant belly. Frequently I have to switch from one side to the other. In doing so, I just try to roll over, but it’s not that easy when you have the weight of two babies and a giant uterus all out in front of you. I’m sure it’s comical to watch. :)

Also, the first trimester fatigue seems to be back. I’m quite sleepy all the time.

It’s so crazy, most of this really did all sort of start happening within the last week or so. I’m kind of hoping that it just stays at this sort of “mild-to-medium” uncomfortable level for the next few weeks, as I still have about 8-9 weeks left.

However, one awesome thing is that my itching has pretty much disappeared! I’m so happy that the miserable-ness of that is over. I really hope it doesn’t come back, but from what I understand, it’s possible that it can; especially since I still have two more months of skin stretching ahead. I’ll just keep using that awesome Pine Tar soap that Ian found me, and hope I can keep it at bay.

I wish I had a swimming pool! Seems like feeling weightless and all floaty would feel pretty awesome right now. :)

~M

*psst! We're almost in the top 50! :)

itchy

I tried to think of something else to blog about but ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT is how itchy my belly is. I knew that this was something that happened during pregnancy. Especially when you're on your way to Gigantictown like I am.

Well, last week I started getting itchier. So, I did what you're not supposed to do, and I scratched. Not thinking it was a big deal. Well, it seems as though I really pissed off my stretchmarks. They are now all swollen and angry and raised and SO SO SO itchy. I also have a few bumps which I believe were caused by me getting all those histamines flowing through my body from my stupid scratching. There are a few scary things online about rashes you can get during pregnancy, but I honestly don’t think I have one; I think my sensitive skin is just really, really irritated.

I moisturize my belly twice a day, and have without fail since about week 8, with either Vitamin E or Belli Elasticity Belly Oil. So, I've done what I can to prevent the itchiness, and still the itchiness came. And now my belly is ANGRY. Very, very angry.

My stretch marks are bright red and just so irritated. This weekend was really hard because it was all I could think about. The only relief I got was from icing my stomach. We have two ice packs, and I just would ice my stomach for a few minutes, and it would usually last me about an hour before the insane itching would start again. I also used Calamine lotion a few times, which helped a little, but not for long.

Hydro cortisone cream is something that if you look it up online, they say that pregnant women can use sparingly, and that they don’t know if it has an effect on the unborn babies. So, I am naturally hesitant to use it. I did once, and it helped for a while, but not really any longer than icing does.

So, I’m just hoping that if I keep my hands off of it, keep it moisturized and can handle icing it multiple times a day (which I totally have, even at work today) that it will get better. Just to be safe, I put a call in to my doctor this morning to call me back, so we’ll see what she says. I’m hoping she has a super awesome solution that I’ve not heard of or read about; but I think this is unlikely.

For now, I’ll just sit here, itchy, hoping it goes away soon.

Yes, I realize this is a very complainy post, but gosh DARNIT this is not pleasant.

I’ll post something happier tomorrow; promise. :)

~M

*photo- Itchy, from the "Itchy and Scratchy Show" on the Simpsons. I googled "itchy" and that's what came up, and it made me laugh. :)

P.S. Feel bad for me and my itchy belly? Well, click twice and vote for me and it might help me feel better! :)