Category Archives: braxton hicks

40 Weeks of Pregnancy – Week 23

It is Monday, which means we are looking at yet another week of my week by week pregnancy guide. Today I am looking at Week 23. If you want to catch up with previous weeks, scroll to the bottom.
Week 23
About now your doctor will probably have you schedule a Gestational Diabetes Test. This test is not conclusive, but can indicate if there is a problem that needs further investigation. The part I hated most about the test is that it can be a fasting test (depending on how your doctor wants to administer it). Which means you don’t eat before taking it, and then you get to the lab, they have you drink a glucose mixture, which tastes like flavored fizzy water, and then you sit for an hour while it runs through your system and finally take the blood test.
When I was carrying Ducky I got the run around from the lab, and didn’t get a chance to get tested until around 1 p.m. Being pregnant and not having eaten since the night before I was feeling pretty light headed (and cranky). I drank the stuff and sat there trying not to pass out before the test. It was fairly easy the previous time with Munchie. So I guess it a matter of luck. Good luck with yours!
I never had Braxton Hicks this early. With Munchie I didn’t really have Braxton Hicks at all. But supposedly this is about the time they start. They are contractions that feel almost real. Especially if this is your first and you don’t know what real contraction feels like first hand. They are normal, and nothing to fret about. If they are super intense contact your doctor. Even if you think you are just being silly, contact him anyway. About 7 percent of women can go into preterm labor around the second or third trimester (anything before 37 weeks is considered preterm). Your doctor should be checking your cervix to try and identify if you are at risk for this, but in case you are getting these contractions before he has had a chance to do this, better be safe than sorry. You will not be the first pregnant woman to go to the hospital with a false alarm.
If you are at risk for preterm labor one of the first things your doctor will suggest is bed rest. Not moving around can at the least lag labor for a few weeks. There are also medications he can give you. So discuss it with him to find the best course of action.
Did you get Braxton Hicks? What was your first reaction?
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Week 15 

40 Weeks Of Pregnancy – Week 16

Welcome to Week 16. If you are new and want to read earlier weeks in my pregnancy week by week series, scroll to the bottom. Otherwise,
Week 16
Your baby now has eye lashes. And that is about as much medical knowledge as I am willing or able to impart. Talk to your doctor to find out about all the other awesome and interesting things your baby may be doing.
As for you, since your blood volume is increasing substantially, there is a chance for nosebleeds. I had quite a few, but they are painless, albeit annoying. It is important to read up on this whole nosebleed business so you can explain it to all those people who don’t know any better and will inadvertently assume you are snorting cocaine while pregnant. Seriously, there was a woman who thought this of me. She didn’t have the nerve to say it to my face and instead loudly proclaimed her opinions to others around. I pretended not to hear her.
Your doctor may schedule you for an amniocentesisaround now. Scary business, and he was talking about having me do one. But then he said it wasn’t really necessary, and therefore optional. I asked whether it will affect my baby if I do it or not. He said no. I chose not to have giant needle jabbed into my belly. Thank you very much.
Have you started thinking about baby names yet? What are some of your favorites right now?
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Week 15

40 Weeks Of Pregnancy – Week 15

Welcome to Week 15 of my personal pregnancy week by week series. If you want to catch up on previous weeks, scroll to the bottom. Otherwise, enjoy!
Week 15
This week all the books, and some doctors, will start talking about Braxton Hicks contractions. I have no idea what those are because I never got to experience the wonderfulness of feeling like I am in labor when I am not. Hubby thinks I had them before having Munchie, but they aren’t fake contractions if I end up giving birth, so I lucked out in a completely different way; I was in labor for 33 hours. Party in the maternity ward! If you do get Braxton Hicks contractions, don’t panic, they are normal. How do you know the difference? Well, you won’t be in real labor this early on, and the real thing is way worse. If you can’t breathe during a contraction, or do anything else for that matter, and you feel this weird pain in your lower back, then you are in real labor. But more on that in a few months.
Your body is totally stressed out right now. But can you blame it? You are making a human being inside, which is way more difficult than making cookies, even Martha Stewart style. So all this being tired starts to mess with other parts of you. Like your brain. You know that commercial where a girl holds up an egg and says “This is your brain.” And then she cracks the egg into a sizzling frying pan and says “This is your brain on drugs.?” Well, it is just like that, except she would be saying “pregnancy” instead of “drugs.”  There will be many of those days that feel like your brain is a giant sizzling pan filled with cracked eggs. It goes away. Like everything else I have been talking about the last couple of months, it disappears shortly after you deliver.
Around now, as you start getting front heavy, you will be reintroduced to your good friend Gravity. And he will constantly remind you of his existence by making you far clumsier then you thought you could be. I am the biggest klutz, and I somehow managed to be even more so. You will get used to it. Most people will tell you to wear comfortable shoes, with a low or nonexistent heel to prevent falls and injury. I will not be the one to tell you this. I wore five inch heels until the day I gave birth (both times) and I didn’t fall. My kids are fine. So, be aware of the change, and feel free to ignore it.
Another piece of advice you will be receiving is in regards to the chemicals you use. Everyone and their brother was telling me to stop dying my hair while pregnant. You know who didn’t tell me this? And who said it is fine? My doctor. So, talk to yours. If you trust him enough to deliver your baby, you should trust him enough to take his advice about hair dye, or anything else you have previously been doing. Unless he is telling you to smoke crack (in which case you should probably find a different doctor). The only drawback about doing my hair while pregnant is that due to the hormones the dye wasn’t always taking well, so sometimes I ended up with orangey splotches instead of my usual red. And nail polish didn’t work so well on me either. So, take all that into consideration, make your decision, and tell everyone else to mind their own business.
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