Pregnancy issues / health concerns / scares

boscobel · February 2, 2012

Has anyone had any pregnancy issues / health concerns / scares during pregnancy? I've shared my prior pregnancy stories in the loss thread, but I don't think I've talked about my scare(s) for this one.

If it's not already a given, this thread can get to be TMI, so read at your own risk. I don't like to filter too much and I like to share as truly as something happened, so...read at your own risk!

Obviously, given my history, I was super nervous about this pregnancy and I remember in the very beginning, maybe about 9 weeks? I had the day off of work and my sister and I were getting a pedicure and I used the bathroom before we left and there was blood. Not a lot like period blood, but it was def red blood which is considered the more dangerous kind (then brown). Luckily I was right down the road from my RE's office (RE = reproductive endocrinologist) and I called crying and they had me come right in. They were able to see that all was well with the pregnancy and that the bleeding was a result of the sac growing and it hit a blood vessel (or something). So the blood was just a temporary thing and all was well, but scary as hell!!! I think I bled for about 3 days? But always light and fresh blood.

I've had other complaints throughout the pregnancy, but so far nothing that's made me completely miserable. I'll list them.

lower back ache - ever since my first surgery, I've had back problems and this pain hasn't let up yet this time
insomnia - if you read the other threads, you know that I had a bad year last year and was already going through a lot. I was able to take sleeping pills to help with that but once I got pregnant, I had to stop taking them and I've only had a rare good nights sleep since. I take melatonin to help me sleep and I also tried a Bach flower essence remedy called "rescue sleep" and I think that helped me as well. I also have my husband sleep in the guest room sometimes so that I have less disruptions.
pee, pee and more pee - I've always had a small bladder, but man, I wasn't ready for this! Most nights I pee at least every 2 hours and some nights once per hour. It's more often during the day too.
pelvic pressure - this is a more recent development and maybe it will sound weird, but the way I verbalized it to my mom was "I feel like my vagina is falling out". The pressure is crazy and it's always worst when I first stand up and walk and as I move around it gets better.
upper back pain - this is also a fairly new development and I'm assuming it has to do with the changes in the way that I walk/stand/sit b/c of the extra weight in my midsection. It's not terrible, but it's def there.

So far, I think that's all I have to share and like I said earlier, none of these "complaints" are really complaints, they are just observations about what's going on with my body. Ok, maybe the lack of sleep is a real complaint.

LCBride2007 · February 2, 2012

i want to come back to this, so I am posting as a reminder ... !

katrina · February 2, 2012

I didn't have anything atypical which was good since there was two. My biggest issue was that I was measuring about five weeks bigger than a normal pregnancy and my belly was so heavy. I gained 38 pounds and no joke it was all around my waist. Might sound fine in theory but it was extremely difficult to carry around. We also had one heartrate scare where I was sent to triage but that was it. I was pretty lucky.

boscobel · February 2, 2012

I think an extra 38 lbs around the belly def sounds like no joke! I've gained just under 15 so far and I'd say that 95% of that is just my midsection (it's hard to tell, but I don't think anything else has gotten bigger) and I already feel the pressure on my pelvis and back!

~Nicole~ · February 6, 2012

OMG Katrina! I can't believe you carried 38lbs around your waist for that long! Crazy!

Well besides being on edge all the time..... we had a scare at 15 weeks when my dr couldn't pick up a hb. We had to go for an emergency u/s and it felt like the longest half hour of my life. All the horrific memories of my m/c came back. To keep myself together i had to shut down. I just blocked it out. When i got in the room the tech let me hear the hb and OMG!!!! The happiness, i can't even explain it. I don't take any days for granted thats for sure. I just can't wait for this little one to arrive!

LCBride2007 · February 6, 2012

oh thanks for bumping this - i forgot to come back earlier! i'll be brief since i don't have much time, but here goes ...

- I am diabetic (type I) so i was high risk and closely monitored from the start, even when trying to conceive i had to go to my endo (diabetes doc) more often

- i tried to get pregnant 4 times, got prego 4 times, but just carried the 2 to term.

- i had 1 successful pregnancy, then 2 miscarriages (1 i had to get a D&C), then a successful pregnancy. the 1st m/c was early, i'm calling it a chemical pregnancy but was never diagnosed. the 2nd i lost around 10-11 weeks but had the D&C around 11-12. was living in london for both so the medical care was a little different.

- my quad screening came back w/an elevated risk (1 in 100 or something around there) for trisomy __ with both of my pregnancies . i can't remember which one. but with both i went in for a level 2 (detailed) u/s and they saw no signs of anything wrong so all was well.

- with my 1st pregnancy i had my daughter at 32 weeks ... a real preemie. turns out i had "ruptured membranes" when i went into the ER one night - that was a Wed night ... I had her that following Mon morning at 32 weeks prego on the dot. she was in the NICU for about 5 weeks and is now the happiest and healthiest 3.5 year old! oh, and i was traveling out of state for work when this all happened, so she was born in CA (we lived in MN)

- with my 2nd (to-term) pregnancy i had a scare at 25 weeks, i thought for sure i was going into labor. turns out i had some kind of infection. i got some antibiotics and was fine. looking back i wonder if that's exactly what happened with my 1st prego - untreated infection that caused premature labor.

- because of the diabetes, past pre-term delivery, and now age i was high-risk for several reasons! i was at the doctor 2-3 times a week starting around 29 weeks (and every week starting at 17 weeks for the shot)

- i was getting progesterone shots from 17 weeks on with my 2nd pregnancy to hopefully prevent preterm labor

- i was so big (big baby + excess fluid) that they wanted to give me an amnio just to drain the excess fluid. it didn't happen because the on-call doc disagreed, but man was i uncomfortable. i was measuring at 44+ weeks prego when i was 35 weeks. ouch.

- i gave birth via c-section to my son at 36w5d ... almost full term! he's now a happy, healthy 15 mo. old!

i feel like i am missing some of the smaller issues i had, but that's the big stuff.