The ups and downs

I am 28 weeks along this week. One week into my 3rd trimester. Time is flying. I feel like the last two weeks "pregnancy" has really settled in. I was going to write this post all about how empowered I am feeling towards birth and the process that I hope to go through in a couple of months. To let you all know how things have been going, what is happening with the baby room, and getting ready in general. I am still feeling those things and will still write about them but this week I have also had an unknown. Unknowns sometimes in pregnancy are scary.

My belly is growing, it's harder to bend down, move around, and in general more uncomfortable. My sciatic nerve has been hurting. Which has led to complications and unknowns this week. I woke up two nights ago and was in extreme pain. My whole right side was hurting and cramping. My hips hurt, my side hurt, and then I had this weird pain in the front just above my hip. It hurt to go to the bathroom. Adam helped massage things out and I did some stretches. I tried to go back to a restless sleep. I got up and tried to shower and get ready for work but the pain was just too much. It scared me. Adam and I tried to figure out what to do. I didn't think it was contractions because it was only on one side but it was not a normal pain. I didn't know if I should call the hospital, wait and call my mid-wife, go to work, or what. We ended up giving my parents a wake up call. Mom's are great for this. She asked all the right questions, are you bleeding, are the cramps regular, etc. Then my dad spent time telling me about sciatic pain and how it could come in the front of your body. We decided to get up and try to go to work, call my mid-wife and see what she said. The baby was still moving around like normal, so we figured it wasn't an emergency. I was moving pretty slow though and in general not a happy camper. My mid-wife said all of my symptoms didn't indicate early labor, placenta abrupt ion, gallbladder or kidney stones, or any other emergency symptoms. She had me go to the lab for testing for a bladder or kidney infection. She also suggested chiropractic care. So I went to the chiropractor, my test results came back negative for infections, and my mid-wife called back with the results of our ultra-sound from a couple of weeks ago. She told me I had a small cyst on my right ovary. Right about the same location as my pain. She wanted me to go and get another ultra-sound to see if it has ruptured. This might be causing the pain, and is completely normal. So that is where I am right now. I will hopefully go and do that soon. Last night I slept better, I am not at work today, so I got to sleep in. I am feeling better. It still hurts after going to the bathroom and moving in some positions. Another theory that people have is that I somehow pulled a ligament that holds my uterus in place. We are concerned but we don't think it's an emergency. We just want to know what might be going on. Things change when you are carrying another being. More than just you is at stake.

But on the flip side, things have been going really well. I am feeling really empowered about this whole process that we go through as women. It's truly amazing what our bodies are capable of doing. I have loved being pregnant. I am excited about the birth process and meeting this baby. Adam and I have been going to our Natural Child Birth Class. Tomorrow night is our last night. It has been so good. I am learning so much about birth, pain relief, breast feeding, and the natural birth process. We have been watching so many natural birth movies from all over the world. Birth is such a natural thing that women have been doing for thousands of years. Yet, in our society birth is a scary thing. We treat it so differently here in the US than other countries. Yes, birth is painful but it can be so much more. We have been learning so much about how the US treats pregnancy and birth and what consequences it has. Our rate of using interventions is huge. Doctors use c-sections, epidurals, and inductions at such a high rate when they are not always needed. Once one intervention happens, others follow and it changes the natural way birth is supposed to happen. Are interventions needed sometimes, yes. There are times when they are needed and we should be glad they are here. But it's such a small percentages of births that really need them. We recently watched an amazing movie called "The Business of Being Born" about what is really happening in our country related to birth. It was really powerful to watch. I don't want to judge people for their decisions they make during birth. I just hope they are aware of what those decisions are and what the alternatives are. I know that I cannot control birth. Things might happen that are out of my control but I want to know what my options are, what the consequences are and that I am making an informed decision, not one that is just easier. I am more scared of having to have interventions than I am having a natural birth. I also know that I am a higher risk pregnancy and so those interventions might have to happen, so I have to be ok with that.

So that is my rant on pregnancy. There are still (hopefully) 3 month left. I have to remind myself to slow down and just take each step as it comes. This baby will be here when it's ready. Adam and I are excited to meet it :-)