For me, myself, and I

This post is solely for myself, and for any girl that kind of wants to get pregnant but wants someone to talk her out of it at the same time. Even the easiest of pregnancies are susceptible to a variety of rare issues and complications.

The reason I feel the need to write this is because I'm experiencing so many new things with my body that I want to be able to know when it happened and compare it to when I deliver, and then maybe next time I'll be able to predict when I'm delivering a little better. Yes, I know every pregnancy is different, but maybe there will be some similarities.

• I pee about 30 times a day, and go through a roll of toilet paper EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
• Back pain began at about 20 weeks.
• Joint pain in my hips began at 25 weeks.
• Braxton Hicks contractions began at about 25 weeks, as well.
• Sometime in the 2nd half of my 2nd trimester, I began having breathing problems and heart palpitations in the mornings about every other day.

That was it, for a while. Then 32 weeks happened.

At 32 1/2 weeks, I got stretch marks on my stomach. A few days later, I had a rash break out on my stretch marks. Its called PUPPP. It only happens to 1/2% of pregnant women, and 70% of whom are first time mothers carrying baby boys or multiples. It is incredibly itchy, and although I tried to prevent stretch marks every day with stretch mark cream, I no longer cared and HAD to scratch. A few days after that, it started to spread. In about a weeks time, it covered my hands, my forearms and elbows, the backs of my thighs, and my ankles. I tried EVERYTHING. I tried Hydrocortisone cream, baby oil, diaper rash cream, regular lotion, calming lotion, scrubs, you name it. Then I ordered Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap from GNC. People swear by this, and I just got it in the mail today. This is the worst smelling soap ever, but I will be bathing with it at least once a day, and it hopefully will help. I have an appointment on Thursday, so if it doesn't, maybe my doctor can help.

Enough about that.

• At 33 weeks, I noticed I lost 3 lbs. I think that has to do with Simon leaving, though.
• At 34 weeks, I began having "period" like cramps a few times a day, one day a week or so.
• Today (35 wks 1 day) I noticed stretch marks on my chest. They're growing againnnnn.
• My back pain has evolved into an all consuming pain about one day a week over the last couple weeks.
• I may or may not be nesting. I'd like to call it being responsible and wanting to be prepared for when the baby and my mom come.
• Dizziness, nausea, and general weakness have occurred randomly throughout.

Almost nothing about pregnancy is fun. However, I try to focus on good things even when I'm completely miserable. Sometimes I enjoy his kicking (when its not in my ribs or bladder), and I like organizing his room and buying him things. I don't buy anything he wouldn't use, so I bought him 2 newborn sized pajamas at Target yesterday, and it has kept me happy ever since.

I like to think about my diet and workout plan for after the birth, too. Knowing that I can more or less undo what has been done (with a TON of effort, of course), keeps my spirits up.

With that said, I think I only have about 3 weeks to go until I deliver. My mother and my sister both gave birth early, and my baby is large enough that I'm sure he's already over 5 lbs. We'll see!

That's all for now.
<3 Kristin

Edit 4/23: The Pine tar soap did NOT work, and neither does Benadryl, cortisone cream, numbing cream, or pain relieving spray. The only thing that works for about a few minutes at a time is drenching myself in Witch Hazel. The last thing that I haven't tried is topical steroids, which I am inquiring about at my next appointment.