Paying The Price To Have My Babies

Some women are really lucky that they don’t suffer much from pregnancy problems while some are plagued with all the classic pregnancy symptoms. I fall into the group of unlucky pregnant women for I suffered from many problems during all 3 of my pregnancies, especially during my first pregnancy. I had a sensitive uterus, bleeding gums, bad bout of morning sickness, acne outbreak on my face, rashes on my body, dry and peeling skin, varicose veins, sciatica, nose bleed, heartburn and dizziness. The varicose veins on my thighs worsened during each of my pregnancy. It was so bad during my third pregnancy that both my thighs and ankles have big, ugly patches of purplish spider veins and my legs hurt too. I couldn’t stand too long or walk too much, otherwise my thighs will be more swollen. When I could no longer stand the sight of my unsightly legs, I bought a pair of compression socks and wore them for 4 months every night before going to bed and the condition improved. Immediately after the birth of Baby C, most of the varicose veins miraculously went away.

It’s already 4 months since the birth of Baby C and my tummy still looks like a 3-month old pregnant belly. Despite me jogging and doing crunches on my fitball everyday, the stubborn belly fat ain’t going away. I am even thinking of getting some compression garments to wear on my belly to rid the bulging belly. I saw some compression garments at recoveryelements.com and I am thinking of getting either a binder or an abdominal girdle. They look good and I think the compression garment will be able to help me flatten my belly. I may even want to get a gel eye mask from this online shop to soothe my very tired and puffy eyes. I’ve only been getting about 5 hours of sleep for the past few months. Well, that’s the price I have to pay to have 3 beautiful angels and I have absolutely no regrets with it!

I Am On My Way To Having Flawless Legs Again!

This is what pregnancy hormones can do to one's body. After the birth of Baby C, the unsightly varicose veins on my legs started to subside.

BEFORE DELIVERY (around 6-7 months pregnant)



AFTER DELIVERY. This pic was taken 6 days post delivery.

Pregnancy Tumor

That's the term given to the cyst that grew on my gums when I was pregnant with Alycia. The cyst or rather the overgrowth of the gums (between the teeth) was so huge that the dental surgeon and the Periodontist (gums specialist) told me they have never seen anything so huge before. Thank God, the cyst went away after I delivered Alycia. Now, the cyst is growing again, at the exact same spot that I had it 4.5 years ago. Luckily it did not grow much earlier. When I was carrying Alycia, the cyst grew during the initial stages of my pregnancy and bled so much. Well, I only have 1 more week to suffer and hopefully by then, the cyst would have subsided too.

Bad Sciatica Attacks

I'm having bad Sciatica attacks today, almost the whole day. It happens each time I walk or stand. I can feel my baby moving and kicking all the time and when this happens, the Sciatica tends to attack me. It gets so bad that I have to wince and flinch in pain and half squat while walking or sit down immediately if I am standing. If this continues, I think I need to be on partial bed rest for the next 2 weeks till I deliver.

I Am Just So Very Tired

Must be the pregnancy hormones... I am feeling really lethargic, sleepy and moody these days. Just don't have the mood to do anything but sleep, though I've been getting 6-8 hours of sleep every night. The moment I am seated in front of my PC, my eyes tend to droop and my mind goes blank! I was reading a story book to Sherilyn a moment ago and less than 2 minutes into reading the book, I could not open my eyes again. I told Sher that mummy needs to nap but she wouldn't allow me and I was forced to finish reading the book to her, with my eyes half closed. My brain can only function after I have taken a 10-15 minute cat nap to have it recharged, once or twice a day.

Pregnancy Problems

Of my 3 pregnancies, this is the only pregnancy that I have not suffered from constipation and vaginal yeast infection, knock on wood! I suffered from bad constipation and VYI when I was carrying Alycia and Sherilyn. The VYI was so bad that I got it every other month, despite being prescribed oral and topical antibiotics. But for all 3 pregnancies, I tend to have minor piles that don’t cause bleeding, just some discomfort. The piles will go away after delivery of my baby. Did you suffer from piles too during your pregnancy?

Body In Discord

The left side of my body tends to be weaker and more prone to disorders ranging from an outbreak of unsightly Varicose & Spider Veins on my left leg, leg cramps (always happens to my left leg and never the right leg), Sciatica, a pregnancy tumor on my left gum when I was carrying Alycia, short sightedness and carpal tunnel syndrome. I wonder if some of the pains were partly caused by the spinal cord anesthetic administered to me during the c-section for both my kids. Does this sort of thing happen to you too?

Pregnant Belly At 35 Weeks

That's my big baby belly at 35 weeks. Most people have commented that my belly looks small for the gestational age and that I look neat. They think I am having a real smooth pregnancy because of the neat and 'small' belly but they don't know that I am actually having lots of discomforts and pains now. I can't walk or stand too long, otherwise my Braxton Hicks contractions and 'tummy tightenings' will become more intense. When the baby kicks me too hard and hits some of my nerves, I will have Sciatica, which is a sharp pain that attacks my buttocks and legs. I have Sciatica attacks everyday. Sometimes the pain is so bad that I have to sit or squat immediately and wince in pain. I started to have Sciatica when I was carrying Sherilyn during the last trimester. The pain went away after I delivered Sherilyn.

I have 3 more weeks to go before the big day but I am really hoping that the baby will come out a little earlier, naturally and without much labor pains.... to save mummy from having to go through another scary major surgery and to save daddy from having to burn a big hole in his pocket.

Go Easy On Your Sugar

When I was carrying Alycia, my gynae ordered me to do a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) and I really hated it. First, I had to fast overnight and the next morning, I had to drink a few glasses of yucky ultra sweet glucose solution before my urine was taken and tested over a period of a few hours. I passed the test but when I was 34 weeks pregnant, there were traces of sugar in my urine during one of the routine urine tests. For my subsequent pregnancies, I begged my gynae not to have this test done. The day that my gynae told me I had mild gestational diabetes (luckily only for a short while) till today, I have been really very watchful over what I eat. Since my late maternal grandmother had diabetes, I am also at risk of having diabetes if I don’t watch what goes into my mouth. Diabetes is really a dreaded hard-to-treat disease and if anyone has it, they really need to get a high risk life insurance from wholesaleinsurance.net to safeguard themselves. So the easiest way out is to watch our diet and go easy on sweet stuff.

Braxton Hicks Contractions

I've been getting quite a bit of Braxton Hicks contractions and tightenings on my tummy lately. I am 31 weeks preggers today. I hope this is not a sign of preterm labor. I've also experienced these contractions and tightenings for both my previous pregnancies but thank God, I did not go into preterm labor. When I was carrying Alycia though, I had to be on partial bed-rest when my cervix started to shorten at week 20+ of my pregnancy.

Pregnancy Problems - Leg Cramps

People say that pregnant women are more prone to leg cramps. I think it’s quite true coz I am one of the victims. Last night, I had another attack of leg cramp, my second attack in 1 month. When the cramp attacked, the muscles on my leg (it always happens to my left leg) hardened and I could not move my leg. Leg cramps are terribly painful and each time I have an attack, I would be screaming in pain… in the middle of the night. Thankfully dear hubby would always be by my side to massage my leg to release the tensed muscles. I wonder if my body is lacking in certain nutrients.

Feeling Really Tired

I have been feeling really really tired, lethargic and moody these days. Though I get 6-7 hours of sleep every night, I still find it difficult to pull myself out of bed in the morning these days. During the initial stages of my pregnancy, I still have the stamina and enthusiasm to wake up at crazy hours to check for offers. Now, sleep is really important to me. If I don't get enough sleep, I feel as if there is no energy in every part of my body and I feel terribly moody too. I wonder if it's caused by the wacky pregnancy hormones. I just can't wait to pop my baby out and have a look at her.

Relief For Varicose Veins

Read more about it here.

Any relief for itchy peeling skin?

My dry and peeling skin is becoming from bad to worse. The peeling skin is causing my skin to itch terribly too. It's so itchy till I can't sleep at night. The Palmer's cocoa oil and the Jojo E oil do not seem to bring much relief. I had to wake up last night to apply oil on my legs, arms and buttocks to relief the itching. I feel as if I have to keep feeding my skin with oil to stop it from itching and peeling. I normally apply the oil after my bath but within 2 hours, my skin will turn dry and peeling again. So can you imagine me having to apply oil to my skin every few hours to relief the itching? This morning at church, I was scratching my arms and legs away during the service. I felt terribly uncomfortable and I am sure people seated next to me realized that too and I wonder what they were thinking of.

I would appreciate it if someone could recommend a proven relief for dry and itching skin for pregnant women, eermm... something that smells pleasant hopefully!

Pregnancy at Week 19+

Some updates on my pregnancy at week 19+ :

1) Weight stands at 49kg, i.e. a gain of 5kg from pre-regnancy weight of 44kg. I foresee I will gain a total of 10kg this time and that's a lot to me.

2) Appetite is pretty bad as I feel bloated and full most of the time. Though have not been eating a lot but weight is shooting up really fast, gosh!

3) Baby is quite active and movements can be felt almost throughout the day.

4) Skin is ultra dry and looks withered and peeling. None of the oils seem to be helping in moisturizing my skin. Also have red rough patches that are itchy over my neck and belly.

5) Still feel nauseous after meals, thus, cannot really eat a hearty meal.

6) Baby weighs around 390gm as of last Thursday, 29 November 07.

7) Baby's right kidney is still mildly dilated and both my gynaes expect the dilation to increase as the baby grows bigger. Hopefully this problem is just transient and will resolve by itself in utero soon.

Pregnancy Problems

My 2 previous pregnancies were not smooth sailing and so is this pregnancy. Apart from the terrible varicose veins sprouting out on my legs which Sherilyn calls them "monster legs", I have itchy, dry and peeling skin. Now, I have gums that bleed easily. When I was pregnant with Alycia, my sensitive and bleeding gums were so bad that I had developed a big lump on my gum called 'pregnancy tumour'. Yes I know it sounds serious, like it's something malignant, but it's just a medical term for it. After delivering Alycia, the lump miraculously subsided. Now, another lump is slowly forming and I have to be really careful and gentle when I brush my teeth, else my gums would bleed easily.

Apart from sensitve gums, I also have nose that bleeds easily during each of my pregnancy. Now, picture how I look and do you not think I really look like a monster? Sherilyn is so right. Mummy indeed looks like a monster - legs with ugly protruding purple veins, a face with zits (oh how I miss my porcelain smooth flawless skin), skin that's dry and peeling, a pregnancy tumour in my gums and a huge belly that Alycia calls "balloon tummy".

I just can't wait for April 08 to arrive. I can't wait to see and cuddle my baby and I just can't wait to get rid of all these pregnancy problems that's plaguing me now. Most of all, I just can't wait to start jogging and exercising on my fitball again. How I miss working out and sweating it out every morning.