Pregnancy Problems That Never Occurred to Me

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In all the thinking I did about being pregnant (and staying pregnant) before this particular pregnancy, I just did not think about some of the challenges I would confront as a woman with child. Hyperemesis aside, here’s what’s surprised (and pained) me so far:

  • My Feet. As in, I haven’t seen them in 2 weeks, and I’m barely halfway through my pregnancy.
  • My Clothes. As in, everything is too small for my belly and too big for the rest of me, including maternity clothing.
  • My Pants. As in, I can’t put them on without my belly getting in the way. I have to bend my knee way far out to the side so my thigh doesn’t smush up against baby, leading to my feet getting caught and my falling over.
  • Socks and Shoes. As in, I haven’t been able to put them on normally in almost a month because the belly gets in the way. Instead of sitting on the floor or edge of the tub / bed / chair and just bending over, I sit on the edge of the tub / bed / chair and laboriously cross one ankle over the opposite knee so I can put my sock on sideways. Then I switch. Rinse and repeat for shoes (which are difficult to tie sideways / upside down).
  • Peeing. As in, will it ever stop?

Dear Babies:
GET OFF MY BLADDER. Did you not get the memo that the second trimester is supposed to mean LESS peeing and not more? You guys are killing me.
Love,
Mommy Continue reading →

Getting Used to the New PICC Line

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Although the new PICC line is awfully pretty, what with its purple and its not oozing, it feels weird. When I straighten my arm quickly, I feel an odd motion in my arm, like someone pulled the string on one of those whirligig things we played with when we were kids, or like you pulled back and released one of those matchbox cars that will roll. Or maybe like a cell phone vibrating in my arm.

At any rate, it’s strange and although it doesn’t hurt, it’s kind of disquieting. I told my nurse about it and she called the radiology place to check. Apparently it’s not all that uncommon for people to feel the PICC moving slightly in their arm when they change positions. It’s not like it happens to everyone, but it’s not like something is horribly, horribly wrong either. So that’s good I guess.

The other weird thing that’s happening is that now when I lie on my left side, I get heart palpitations. As soon as I roll to my back, or even halfway to my back, it stops. Apparently this can happen depending on the length of the line, because when you roll on that side it pushes in ever-so-slightly farther and tickles your heart. Again not dangerous, but kinda awkward. The first time we have to change the wing guard, I’m going to ask my nurse to pull it out slightly to relieve that. I miss sleeping on my left side!

Allergic Reaction to PICC Line Wing Guard

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Things have been trucking along just fine for the last two months or so here in Hyperemesis Land. Not great, but sooo much better than I was the first few months, when I thought I would die and actually kind of looked forward to the relief death would bring. When I had my PICC line inserted on July 7, my world went from black and gray back to having some colors again, and I stopped feeling like death was immediate.

Then the last few days, I kind of wanted to cut off my right arm. There were no classic signs of infection: no fever, no [unusual] nausea, no dizziness, no swelling, no oozing, no malaise. But my arm was itching like crazy! And every time I closed my eyes and put my finger where the itching was, my hand landed on the wing guard that actually holds the line into my arm.

Yesterday when my nurse pulled off the wing guard during my dressing change, skin came with it and we could see immediately that no, it wasn’t my imagination. The whole area under where the wing guard had been was covered in weeping blisters that itched so much that I almost cried because I couldn’t scratch them. Can you say “breeding ground for infection only centimeters from the PICC insertion site”? Can you say “Kristen and the nurse almost had heart attacks”? Continue reading →

Are They Multiplying?

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It’s started to feel like there are more than two babies in there, or perhaps they have sprouted additional limbs. Generally, Left Baby is the really active one who kicks and rolls and does laps daily. But this weekend Right Baby started to get in on more of the action. Last night and this morning made me wonder if this might not be what’s going on in there:

If nothing else, these two are practicing for their future career. And they are certainly keeping me on my toes. It’s been interesting to feel the two of them interacting more with each other, too. The kicking is not only going out toward the edges, but into the middle, where they just have to be making contact with one another.

It’s been something of a relief, really, to feel Right Baby move more. She(?) is always the one I worry about because I don’t feel as much movement on that side at all. It might be a little uncomfortable, but it’s also reassuring that everything is going okay. Phew!

When did your pregnancy start to feel like octopus parties? Leave a comment sharing your experience!