Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Pregnancy: Week 32 and Lovenox

Week 32:

Baby’s development:
-brain is taking on its characteristic grooves and indentations
-bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells
-baby’s wrinkled skin is smoothing out
-lanugo is disappearing
-baby is gaining more body fat
-sleeping in cycles of 20 to 40 minutes
-looking more like a newborn

Pregnancy symptoms:
-heartburn, pretty much all of the time
-backache/pain
-general uncomfortableness when I try to move from sitting to standing, laying to sitting, rolling over, etc.
-insomnia (REALLY hoping that this doesn't continue, but it is not a surprise for me to have sleep problems)

Cravings:
-chocolate chip flavored Greek Yogurt
-sweet potatoes
-anything pumpkin flavored
-cashews
-sweet drinks (which I normally dislike)
-certain smells (I never knew that it was possible to crave smells!)

Aversions:
-none

Movement:
-yes, all of the time! I sometimes wonder what he is doing in there. It feels like an earthquake and shakes my whole body.

Gender: boy

Total weight gain/loss: +27

Belly button in or out? it's an outtie now

Best moment of the week: having success with giving myself shots, since I was really nervous (more about that below...)

Looking forward to: getting our basement finished this week and the new floors put in


My tummy is getting huge! I feel like I am running out of room, especially when I sit down.

Lovenox Shots

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may remember back when I was hospitalized for blood clots and pulmonary embolisms, during the same time that I was getting chemotherapy. (See this post and this post about it). After being on liquid IV antibiotics and Lovenox shots for several weeks, I was finally allowed to switch to a pill called Coumadin, which I was on for about a year and a half. Since last winter, I have only needed to take baby Aspirin to keep my blood thin enough from clotting. However… 

Late pregnancy, labor/delivery, and the time immediately following delivery are known “triggers” for blood clots, especially if you have already had them before. Blood clots and PE’s are extremely dangerous for mommy and baby, so my OB believes that it is absolutely necessary for me to be on stronger medication to prevent them. Since Coumadin is not safe for pregnancy, I will now be on Lovenox shots for the remainder of the pregnancy and the week following delivery. (See this post about needle phobia). 


I have already started the shots, and have successfully injected them into the sides of my tummy every night for the past week. During the final week of pregnancy, I will need to start giving myself the shots twice a day, instead of only once, and it will be Heparin instead of Lovenox, because Heparin leaves your bloodstream more quickly and is safer for delivery and getting an epidural.

This means that, so far, I’ve got 7 down and 64 more shots to go!

Okay, so honestly, it takes a while before you get used to voluntarily stabbing yourself with a needle and accepting the burning and stinging sensation that occurs for the next 10 minutes as the medication enters into your bloodstream. But, if all of my experiences have taught me anything, it is that sometimes you have to just suck it up and do things that are unpleasant, simply because you have to. 

It really depends on a person’s perspective. If you would have told me two years ago that ALL I had to do was take a shot a day, and then I would get to live life like a normal person and even have another baby (my biggest dream and passion!) I would have not believed you, because that sounded too simple and too good to be true. The torturous chemo side effects, weakness, fatigue, inability to walk, and excruciating mastectomy pain seemed to be never-ending, and my biggest hope was to just not die. I had to focus all of my concentration on suffering through each obstacle, and therefore, any other dreams/goals that I might have had were distant and seemed completely unreachable. 

But now, I am blessed with a new life that is far better than what I had before or could have ever imagined. I thank God every day for that. I would gladly inject myself with millions of shots for the rest of my life to ensure my health and the health of my babies/family. The 4 of us will have many exciting times and big changes coming up in the very near future. Please pray for us that we adjust well and stay healthy! 


Belly Pics

I can't imagine how big my tummy will look after 8 more weeks! Ahh!

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