Finishing the Second Trimester!

Starving at Week 25.

Approaching week 25, I prepared for my glucose test by attempting to eat healthier. I tried to stop with the burritos at lunch, and instead opted to bring leftovers from home. I'd read too many articles and knew there wasn't much I could do to change the results of the glucose test, although exercise and a healthy diet is always recommended. Gestational diabetes is most highly correlated with age, and diet isn't shown to have impact on how one's body processes sugars in pregnancy. But this didn't stop me from trying. I ate as much healthy food as I wanted throughout the day and even right before bed. This led me to another problem. I'd wake up 3-4 times through the night STARVING. The hunger was painful. It felt like my stomach was shrinking violently and all the air was being squeezed out. I was too tired to get up, so I'd drink some water, only to wake up again less than an hour later with the same feeling. I got up and had some fruit and yogurt, or cereal. I'd wake up again 2 hours later with the same feeling. This continued for a few days before I contacted my doctor. Her response was that it may have been heartburn. I was having acid reflux (probably from the constant eating), but my gut told me it was hunger. I lurked around some pregnancy forums and found other women having the same problem at 25, 26 weeks and they were suspecting a growth spurt. I started to worry my body was telling me that baby's not getting enough nutrients and decided that "healthy" may not have been enough for him. After all, a burrito contains many nutrients that cannot be found in pasta, fruits, and vegetables. Even that pecan tea cookie might have butter and nuts that can be good for baby... right? Well, once I decided to indulge in all those things I started to wake up only once a night! I not-so-guiltily put off my glucose test another week.

End of Week 26

Just as one problem was fixed, another problem began. People at work started asking me whether I was sleeping well, and I was! The hunger issue had already been addressed, and I felt I'd brought it upon myself anyway. I didn't know what sleep issue they meant to ask about anyway. Constant peeing? Hunger? What were they expecting unique to Week 26?

And then I found out. My back sleeping started to hurt. I laid awake and exhausted hours before I could fall asleep. Then I'd wake up sore and uncomfortable, tossing and turning throughout the night. Back sleep meant I was crushing my other organs, and yes, I could feel it. My spine, lower back, and upper back felt strained even on my extra firm mattress. I tried to side sleep. My sciatica began to regress and pain crept on my other hip as well. What to do?! I'd read so many bad reviews on the Snoogle, and hadn't found a body pillow I liked yet. When we found out we were pregnant, I promised myself to avoid purchasing things that would contribute to my mini-hoarding problem and wanted to avoid sending things to a landfill too. I also hate taking time to repackage and return things. However, I knew the sleepless nights would only get worse as the baby grew. 

A few days later, I desperately ordered a Snoogle despite fearing that I'd hate it and have to buy other body pillows. Nope. I loved it. I mean, I agree with all the complaints I'd read, and the pillow wasn't perfect. But it worked. I was just SO grateful to be able to fall asleep. I'm still getting a second body pillow so that I don't have to try to flip it when I switch sides. It is difficult to get out of when I need to pee in the middle of the night. I shower before going to bed, so I just use a regular pillow case like a condom over the head portion to avoid purchasing the "difficult" case at the price of the pillow itself. So, all in all I'm happy with my purchase. I wish I'd had it at least two weeks earlier than I did, but I didn't really need it before that. 

Week 27 Stretch Marks

Happy that I passed the glucose test WITH indulgences and WITHOUT eating complete crap, I can say that I'm finally getting the hang of being pregnant! I'm healthy, baby's healthy, sciatica pain/numbness is manageable, and I'm getting sleep. I'm still going to complain though. Hasn't this baby left me with enough scars? All that acne from trimester 1 left me with pock marks and keloids all over my face and neck. Now I'm getting stretch marks :( I'd been putting on cocoa butter every night (the cheaper stuff, since stretch marks are dependent on mostly genes and growth rate). 

During a family dinner, I mindlessly began scratching my stomach only to go home and find a purple and black SPLODGE where I'd scratched. I wasn't even aware I scratched that much! My husband thought it was a rash from allergies, but I knew better. I showed my sister and she confirmed it was a stretch mark in the making. :Cry: I'm now vigorously rubbing Vitamin E oil on my torso prior to the cocoa butter, and upped the water intake I'd been neglecting the past week. Visually, I can't tell that the baby's gotten bigger. When he comes out though, I'm going to point to my scars and tell my kid, "This is how much mommy loves you!"

Aching Ribs

Two weeks ago, at about 22 weeks gestation, I started getting aches along the left side of my ribs, where the upper arm comes into contact with the torso. I initially mistook it for muscle soreness from swimming, but it only hurt when I was sitting or laying still. It hurt especially more after I ate.  I forced myself to eat smaller meals frequently instead of big meals to help ease the pressure on my ribs. This week the pain has subsided, but will come back if I attempt to lay on my side to sleep. Everything I've read online has recommended against back sleep. My doctor also asked me to not sleep on my back. But I figure I can trust my body on this one, since the advice also tells expecting moms not to worry if they wake up on their backs. Back sleep it is.

The second trimester has otherwise been pretty smooth. I did have two small back to back colds in the last two weeks (and another cold sore), but did not experience the exhaustion I went through with the cold during the first trimester. And although my sciatica hasn't improved, it hasn't gotten worse either. I can put up with the numb calf and foot as long as I'm decently mobile.

Arginine in flu vaccine.

I found a forum where others suspect that their immune system took a temporary hit after the flu shot, resulting in a cold sore outbreak.

After researching further, I also found that there is arginine in flu vaccines. How much? I don't know. Enough to warrant a "do not take if allergic to arginine" warning. It seems to be in only the nasal spray form of the vaccine. I took the shot specifically for pregnant women, so theory #1 sticks better.

Cold sore. Pregnancy. Flu Shot?

My usual recipe for a cold sore involves at least 2 of the 3: excessive caffeine, unusual stress, dry air. Unusual stress usually means something's keeping me awake at night or my body is going through an especially strong hormone fluctuation. So when I'm stressed out, I avoid caffeine and try not to turn the heater on at work, where the AC makes my cube colder than the outside on a winter day. Rarely will I ever get cold sores from an actual cold.

To nurture my precious bao bei in the womb, I've been sleeping a lot, avoiding caffeine, taking my vitamins and lysine, and trying my best not to stress at work. But I still woke up with a raging cold sore this morning! I would've expected my cold sore to flare up during the first trimester when my hormones were out of control and I felt like walking death. But in the middle of my second trimester, I've been happy and energetic aside from the sciatic pain (much more on that later). The only thing I can think of is that the flu shot from three days ago has been calling all my white blood cell soldiers to create antibodies, and no one is left to stand guard against the monster that is HSV-1. I do get the cold sore and the flu shot around the same time every year. Or it could be the dry weather. Time to break out the humidifier.

10/11/13 - I woke up with a second cold sore, and I've never had two at the same time before. After spending over an hour reading several product reviews, I found that maybe I've been wasting my money on Abreva. One review stated that the clinical trials proved Abreva only shortens the healing time for 17 hours -- 17 hours in an 8-10 day cycle is not worth the ~$20/tube.

11/30/13 - Update: I'd gotten at least 4 rounds of cold sores, with at least two of them being double cold sores, since I first posted on this topic. Also found that Lysine+ preceded by the liquid version of Campho Phenique works better on myself than Abreva. 2/3 the price and way more product, yay!