The (Not So) Skinny on The Second Trimester

As of yesterday, I am officially in the home stretch of this pregnancy – the third trimester has begun! While there’s still technically 3 months left, it’s likely to be only around 10 weeks before we introduce the Little LaRosa to the world. Honestly, it can’t come soon enough; I feel like I’ve had some exponential tummy growth these last 2 weeks, and I can’t even being to imagine how much more of a nuisance this belly is going to be when it reaches full size! But, this post isn’t about looking forward, it’s about looking back at the last 14 weeks and how things changed during the second trimester.

The Cerclage

As week 14 came around, K and I found ourselves checking into the surgical floor at Texas Presbyterian Hospital. After settling into a bed in pre-op, I was visited by several nurses, the anesthesiologist, my OBGYN, and other members of the surgical team before being wheeled away into the super cold operating room. Once in the OR, I slid onto a much appreciated heated table where I was hooked up to an automated BP cuff, oxygen meter, and EKG leads before an oxygen mask was placed over my nose & mouth, and the sleepy drugs had me out in mere seconds.

I regained consciousness about 30-45 minutes later as a nurse removed a tube from my throat and pulled EKG leads off my chest. It was another 2 hours before I was awake enough to actually leave the hospital. I spent the next 48 hours at home, feeling as if someone had kicked me in the crotch and punched me just above my pubic bone. It was uncomfortable to sit normally and I had to sleep with a pillow between my thighs so the weight of my leg wouldn’t cause more discomfort to my bruised and tender lady bits. There was spot bleeding, a sore throat & raspy voice, and occasionally I’d cough up mucous that found its way into my lungs during surgery. It took several days before the whole-body effects of the general anesthesia wore off and I felt like my body was in working order again.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Several weeks after the cerclage, my post-op visit with Dr. Walsh went well. The baby looked great and my cervix length was good, however, around week 18 I had to start administering progesterone injections to help prevent pre-term “delivery.” And let me tell you something – it HURTS. After the appointment where K learned how to administer the injections, I stood in the parking lot holding back tears while a burning fire radiated from my gluteal muscles (aka, the injection site) all the way into my lower back. And the best part of it all? The fear of having your husband with ZERO MEDICAL TRAINING come at you with a needle and stab you in the butt every week. I believe terrifying is a good descriptor for that scenario. To top it all off, I developed an allergy to the injections about a month into the regimen. After a week of itchy, golf ball sized welts at the injection sites I was switched to something new; 2 months later and everything seems to be going alright, and it appears K’s needle phobia has waned (although my fear of seeing him holding a needle certainly hasn’t).

It may have been stress related, but early in the second trimester, my acne came back with a vengeance. We are talking full-fledged, red, and painful cystic outbreaks. I kept waiting for that “pregnancy glow” and beautiful skin, but it seemed that being pregnant caused a full relapse to the 7th grade version of myself… the pregnant 7th grade version, of course. After trying some over the counter face washes and topical lotions, I gave in and went to the dermatologist for some baby safe, anti-acne prescriptions, but it wasn’t until the second trimester was winding down that the results started to show

One of the best things that happened in the last 14 weeks was when the nausea started to go down; by week 16 it was like a light switch had been flipped and it was totally gone. I mean, brushing my teeth in the morning no longer made me gag and regularly vomit (no one warns you that standard oral hygiene becomes a chore since your gag reflexes go on over drive). It was wonderfully glorious! As were the first (and currently only) pair of maternity shorts that I bought; why aren’t all clothes that comfortable?!

Over the course of the last three months or so, I alternated between my OBGYN and the maternal-fetal specialist for ultrasounds and office visits to ensure that everything was as it should be. So far so good. Week 20, K got to feel the baby kick. Week 24 the little one had hair on its head. Week 26 I could start to see my belly move as the baby was turning and stretching. And by week 28, it was head down, 2.5 lbs, and (per my OBGYN) out of the danger zone – one of the complications with a uterine septum is a breach delivery, but seeing as how our little one was head down going into the third trimester, it is likely to stay that way. Plus, now that we’ve hit the home stretch, there is a 90% survival rate if something does happen and we have a pre-term delivery. We are really rocking this pregnancy, despite the possible complications discovered at the beginning of the journey.

OK, let’s get real for a second. Prepare for some real life, heart-to-heart honesty about some not-so-pleasant aspects of pregnancy… I mean it’s pretty common knowledge that being pregnant makes you throw up. It makes your back and pelvis hurt. It makes you waddle. It makes your hips widen and your hands & feet swell. It makes you frequently empty your bladder, and it makes it hard to breath. But, there are things no one tells you about; for example, the aforementioned struggle of brushing your teeth. There’s the stuffy nose and occasional nose bleeds. There’s also the constipation and crazy-stupid amount of gas your body will make. There’s joint pain and carpal tunnel (which is a big concern for this working dentist, by the way). And, for me at least, there was? is? was body dysmorphia and feelings of failure.

Let’s talk about that for a second… to start with, there were times over the last 14 weeks when my uterine/cervical short comings (pun not intended) made me feel like a failure; after the diagnoses and surgery and injections, I found myself feeling like I was sucking at this whole motherhood thing… and it hasn’t really even started yet. Also, I know that everyone’s pregnancy is different, and everyone’s body handles being pregnant differently, but there were the inevitable times when I'd compare my pregnant body to 1.) My own pre-baby body, and 2.) Other pregnant mom bodies. Especially since I know around 6 other women who are due within a couple weeks of me. The point is, being pregnant is not joyous all the time. And that’s OK.