Holy cow! Can it really have been almost 2 months since my last post? I guess so!
I have to say, I love being pregnant. Sure, the achy muscles at night, the amount of time-strength-energy it takes to turn over to your other side, the back aches at the end of the day are not fun, but the end result is awesome.
Brian and I had a minor scare on Halloween ... ironic. I guess technically, it was the Saturday before Halloween. I was in a lot of pain that morning, more than I've ever been in. My muscles were sore, it was hard for me to walk, and it was the first day of my third trimester. I started thinking that if this is what the third trimester was like, then I didn't like this preganancy thing AT ALL. I had Brian drive me off to the mall so we could purchase a maternity band. I had some relief as I figured it was because Mr. Harrison was sitting so low. I took it easy after that and then had to go to work. My back was aching for most of the work day, so I just took some extra breaks and generally tried to take it easy.
Sunday came and I felt much better. I still felt a little sore, but nothing like I did on Saturday. Brian and I hung out all day, went downtown to a used record store (yes, I said record), and later met up with my family at Cold Stone Creamery to have ice cream with my nephew, Logan. We went home, relaxed, and went to bed.
Then came Monday ... Halloween. I don't have a clock next to my bed as I generally don't really want to know what time I wake up during the night. That's one benefit of working in the later hours. What I can tell you is that, aside from the normal 2-3 nightly pees, I must have woken up sometime close to 4:30 - 5:00am. I just couldn't go back to sleep. My back was KILLING me. I tried my other side - no relief. I tried wedging up one hip so I could try sleeping on my semi-back. No relief. I moved the the "other" other side. No relief. When Brian finally woke up and said that he needed to get up and get his day started, I lost it. I just started crying uncontrollably and asked him to snuggle with me. Poor guy. I don't think he knew initially that I had been awake for a good hour and in pain in bed. He cuddled right up and, through the sobs, I told him how much pain I was in. He immediately said he would stay home and take care of me (it was my normal day off). I told him no, that I needed him to go to work and that I would feel better once I got up and started moving around. I really should have listened to him. I got up and walked awkwardly to the living room and put my feet up in the lazy boy reclining sofa. My back was still aching, and now I started to notice a slight tightening in my belly. I got a large glass of water and started guzzling that down. Since I hadn't yet had anything to eat, I went through my semi-sick dry yack and burp routine. (It's really quite an amazing thing). Brian gave me a hug and I told him that if I started to feel any worse, I would call the doctor. Fifteen minutes after Brian left, I made the phone call. I described everything going on and they wanted to see me as soon as possible. I called my mom to see if she could take me to the doctor and off we went. I sent Brian an text to let him know and told him not to worry, that I would fill him in as soon as I knew what was going on.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner checked me out and, I'm happy to say, I was still all closed up, keeping Harrison locked in tight. She checked Harrison's heartbeat and it was a steady 155 bpm or so. She hooked me up to a monitor next to check the contractions. The whole time, you see, I was thinking I was having Braxton Hicks. NOPE. They were actual contractions. I was given a shot and was told that if I had more than 6-8 contractions in an hour, to call the doctor or to go to the hospital. She said that if I had one or two, it was okay for me to take 3 200mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours. Although everything calmed down after the shot, I had to take some ibuprofen the next day and the day after, but then I was fine. I was under strict orders to take it easy, rest, and drink a lot of water.
Ever since then, I realized what I probably put Brian through. I feel horrible about it. If the tables were reversed and I was the one who went to work while he was in so much pain, I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on anything. Brian is my rock. He is there to care for me and our growing son. I think part of the reason I encouraged him to go to work is because I know how much he worries about us. Outside of his normal morning prayers, I know he prays for my health and the health of Harrison. I know he prays that I stay as stress free as possible so Harrison stays in what I call his "bubble of positivity." I learned several good lessons that day. Relax. Continue to learn how to give yourself to someone else. If you don't take care of YOU, you can't take care of your son or your husband.
