Postpartum references: an overview (but skip crunches in the exercise section because that can make a diastasis worse!), a week-by-week view, and a guide to postpartum exercise.
Besides the obvious (no longer huge, meeting the new kid), one nice thing about the post-partum is no more heartburn. Whew! I had been dreading dinner for a while, but no longer! I even had spicy marinara sauce (on ravioli) last night because I could. When pregnant, the tomatoes, garlic, and spiciness are all heartburn triggers. I like eating my own regular cooking again.
I had forgotten: one of the enjoyable touches in the Maternity ward is 8 oz cans of Caffeine Free Shasta Cola. As a flavor, it’s ranked 4th after Shasta’s Cherry Cola, Black Cherry, and Tiki Punch.
Hydration, Weight Gain, and Pregnancy
I have this theory, based mostly just on my personal experience with pregnancy, that a lot of the avoidable problems and discomforts of pregnancy are related to excess weight gain or to dehydration.
Heartburn is a good example. When my week-to-week gain has been very high, I’ve been particularly bothered by heartburn. My two friends who gained 40 and 60 pounds while pregnant had a lot more heartburn. So while I certainly don’t mind gaining weight while pregnant, I think pregnancy weight gain needs to be moderate for my non-heartburn comfort. I know not to eat less while pregnant (or nursing), but I’ll go for another walk or otherwise add more light exercise.
One suggestion to stop preterm labor is to drink 2-3 glasses of water or juice. (The other tip is to lie down on your left side.) Pre-eclampsia (dangerous high blood pressure while pregnant, often resolved by delivering early) could also be related to hydration. My friend who delivered her first son when her prenatal appointment indicated pre-eclampsia said, Yes, actually, she was thirsty when she got to this appointment, and no, the hospital didn’t offer her water while waiting to see if her blood pressure would go down. When I got the “we don’t like your blood pressure” routine, I made myself much more comfortable (I went to the bathroom, then I drank 3 glasses of water and went again), sat still a few minutes more, and my blood pressure dropped dramatically. I’m sure all of what I did helped, but I think drinking water is the most overlooked simple resolution for blood pressure issues.
I also notice that I’m more likely to have heartburn or swelling when I’m dehydrated. So drink some more water already!
Another quick and easy prenatal appointment! I was late since Karston needed many extra cuddles (hard to resist!), but I still didn’t have to wait long for my (8 AM) appointment. Blood pressure 94/62 (no pre-eclampsia here! I was putting my water bottle to good use too), and The Bump measures 37.5 (still growing, no worries, but the classic would be to measure 39 at 39 weeks).
I’m not that good at being pregnant; morning sickness takes me down for the first trimester to first half. Then, after an all-too-short respite, I’m bulky with the large complaints of pregnancy like heartburn. Despite that, there are a few nice things. It’s atypical, but my skin clears up and my face breaks out less. My thick hair gets softer and less unruly. (My hair also gets much darker and straighter, so I go from dark blonde and wavy to brown and straight.) For some odd reason, since I would expect the relaxin and imbalance of pregnancy would not mix well with my benign hypermobility, my joints hurt less. Yes, my feet and knees ache from carrying extra weight when I stand a lot. Sure, my lower back is aware of that big belly. But I ache less overall if I exercise sensibly, and that’s a pleasant surprise. People, even strangers, are exceptionally considerate. So it’s not all a miserable waddle to the finish. Plus this baby rarely kicks, although he moves a lot, so I’m less uncomfortable this time.
PregnancyMarch 3, 2008 10:53 pm
Finally! I found a reference that isn’t too touchy-feely for me. The childbirth cheat sheet for dads-to-be at BabyCenter is just the basics. Whew!
I installed a Labor Timer just to get ready for the big day when we meet Karston’s baby brother! Hopefully it’ll be a while before we use this, but I don’t want to have to rush to install this either. Looks easy to use … we’ll see if it’s useful! (I didn’t have any contractions to time last time.)
Very quick prenatal appointment this morning: I was in and out in 15 minutes! We measures 33 inches (a bit small, but not unusual) and 140 bpm. Next appointment is in two weeks. After that, I’m down to weekly appointments, ugh.
I asked about my glucose numbers, and they were much improved. My fasting glucose was 61 (last June, pre-pregnancy, it was 76), and my 1-hour challenge was 109 (below the worrisome threshold of 135 to 140, and even below the 126 during my first pregnancy). I attribute it to improving my diet and exercise since the first test with this pregnancy when I hit 139.
Even with six weeks to go in this pregnancy, I can already tell a personality difference between my sons. When I was large-pregnant with Karston, he would get his feet under my ribs and kick. This time, the kicks all have a reason. Thumper kicks when I get hungry (he’s hungry too), when cold touches my belly (he doesn’t like to be cold), and when I lean into something (he doesn’t want to be cramped anymore); he doesn’t kick just for the sake of kicking. He’s a very sweet boy!
I had no idea I would be able to tell something about his personality before he was born, but I learn new things all the time.
