11 Weeks

11 Weeks. That means almost 12! At the heels of the second trimester. It's literally days away. I'm thrilled that my Mom will be in town with me visiting when Week 12 starts--hopefully, I'll magically feel better!

Hmmm, what has 11 weeks felt like?

A lot more exhaustion. Even more than I felt before. Keeping my eyes open past 9 PM is a difficult exercise. I feel fatigued. Waking up in the morning feels like the next day came after just 15 minutes of rest, and when I finally fall into bed each night, it feels like I haven't slept in days. There has been a lot of fun activity and commotion lately with Sydney's baby shower and visiting with friends and Phillies games, and I'm only able to participate through sheer will. I've found myself falling asleep during Phillies playoff games and Eagles games--this is NOT the Amanda that once was!

I've also had incessant eye twitching--I know many folks (non-pregnant included) experience this at some point. I just learned this past weekend that it's even more common during pregnancy because it's brought on by: fatigue, stress, and/or vitamin deficiencies, all of which are more common during pregnancy as the body focuses so much energy on the growing baby and contributes most of its nutrients to the baby. It leaves little for me. I'm taking a prenatal vitamin and another omega supplement with additional nutrients so I'm getting the intake that I need, but it's still not enough. Why you such a parasite, Little? Taking all my good stuff...

A whole lot more heartburn too. Apparently, the surge of hormones has interfered with the functioning of the valve between my stomach and my esophagus. (That too?!) Many of you know that my valve is already faulty. I've had acid reflux since I was a teenager (it runs in my family) and I've been on a daily medicine regimen for over 10 years. With this new interruption in functioning, I go to bed most evenings in some heartburn pain. THANKFULLY, Tums are okay and they're my new daily additional dose of calcium. It was a tough decision for me to proceed with taking my GERD medication as its Pregnancy Category is Category B. That means: "Animal reproduction studies have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women OR Animal studies have shown an adverse effect, but adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus in any trimester." There are 5 categories ranging from A (best) to X (worst). I made the decision to continue taking my medicine with my primary care doctor and my midwife through a risk-benefit analysis process they seemingly often use to work with women in making difficult decisions to continue or discontinue their medications. Since there are no demonstrated risks related to my medication, and it's a known truth that I would be in intense heartburn pain everyday and all day if I didn't take it, then we decided that I should continue with it because being in pain and experiencing stress from the pain might be a greater risk for the baby then the drug itself. My doctor explained that some women continue to take lower category drugs because they have little choice--some asthma medications for example are in more dangerous categories but not taking them could cause risk of death to moms-to-be. It's a fascinating process and I was lucky to have the thoughtful input of very supportive female providers in thinking through what I wanted to do, but I still have a tinge of regret and fear. My body is my body--it has always been this way--and this is the best option for me now. I'm hopeful that more research will eventually be available so other women who have GERD can make more informed decisions, though human studies on pregnant women are a very risky venture. I was also remiss to learn that there are almost no medications that go into the Category A rating--there is a huge research gap for most adult pharmaceuticals.

OH YES, and the strangest discovery came last week when I went in to get my teeth cleaned. It was a very painful regular cleaning. The dental hygienist told me that the hormones ALSO cause my tissue to become more tender, which can cause some inflammation of the gums and teeth sensitivity. I was cringing through the whole thing, and afterward I felt like my mouth was swollen. About five days later, and my mouth is still sore. My hygienist told me that twice she predicted clients' pregnancies by working on their teeth. Both women said they weren't pregnant, but months later she received confirmation that they were. I was also tickled when the dentist emerged, and she too was pregnant. Yay pregnant club! She asked me how I was feeling, and told me that literally on her first day of Week 12, everything changed. The morning sickness disappeared; it was replaced with a burst of energy. I'm just days away and hoping it'll turn on a dime for me too! When I was leaving, she very sweetly said: "Next time you come, you'll be bigger! And I'll have a child!" Oh boy, that's right. I'm in the getting bigger, lots of changes part. You're in the confronting full-on parenthood, new PERSON ON THE EARTH part!

Hm, and what else? Oh everything! Including exercise. It feels different. I'm now officially ALWAYS the sweatiest person in my gym classes. Before I was just usually the sweatiest person. I get more heated when I work out (cheeks stay red for about an hour), and my body feels a lot heavier even though I've gained just 4 pounds. Some moves now feel like they are anathema to my physical make-up. Like doing abs exercises on my back. It feels very, very wrong. I'm supposed to stop doing them when I start Week 12 so I only have a few more days of them, but I also read that I should do them as long as I can as they're important muscles for carrying and delivering. I'll have to explore abs work-outs from different positions for after this week. Right now, it feels like there's a strangely shaped weight sitting right on my abdomen and I'm trying to stretch muscles around it. Just not a good sensation at all. And exercises where I bring my legs up to my torso feel wrong too--like there's an interior barrier that I just can't move around. It's no surprise since my uterus is now the size of a small CANTELOUPE. That's big!

Little is just the size of a fig, however. He can open and close his hands now, and hopefully all the webbing is gone. I'm also concerned about that tail. I hope that's gone too. Are you a boy, Little? Come on, tell me.