A Bundle of Myrrh

I thought I’d take a minute………s to write down how this pregnancy is going. First, I can’t stop thinking about ice cream. This past month I’ve had way too many milk shakes. I know, bad bad Aubri.  I’ve learned to make due with what I can find in NE, but oh I ache for my long lost Blue Bell ice cream that you can only find south of Kansas. I mean really, look, they hoard the stuff!

I’ve been sick so much of this pregnancy with colds, sinus infections and Blue Bell Deprivia that it’s hard to know how it might have gone otherwise. But I don’t think it’s not been too bad. The crazy things I normally get while pregnant started early this time, the dizziness and shortness of breath and I had the worst 1st trimester I’ve ever had but even that was “not too bad.” And FYI, this could be our baldest baby yet. The Fire of Death didn’t start until 23 weeks this time instead of right away! Woot to that.

Though with this pregnancy and for the first time ever I did fail my one hour Glucose Tolerance Test. I’ll have to retake it. It will be the three hour fasting test. I’m hoping this first fail was a fluke but I could have Gestational Diabetes this time around. No Woot to that. Maybe I should lay off the ice cream.

But I have been blessed with six now seven very “uneventful” pregnancies. I certainly have my list of “things” that pain and burden but my list has never included some of the awful “things” that other mamas lists include. I’m thankful.

A few months ago my friend Rebekah emailed about  pregnancy and the toll it can take on the body. She asked,

“How do you feel physically when it comes to bearing children?  Do you ever have that “it would be nice to have my body back” feeling, not so much in the need to look hot way, but just to not feel so dang exhausted and weak and like you are shriveling away. Aubri, I know you don’t nurse, but the back to back pregnancies surely take a toll somewhere I would imagine.”

I wanted to write on this a little. Where has 6 (7) pregnancies left my body?

Most of what pregnancy brings me disappears once my babies are a couple weeks old, the carpel tunnel, the heartburn (almost immediately!), the restless legs, the cramping toes/feet/calves, the swelling in weird places, the Symphysis Pubic Dysfunction is so so thankfully gone, the constant urination, the UTIs, I finally stop itching ALL over, my breath returns, the horrible ligament pains disappear, I can sleep on my back again and I can bend over…kind of.

Now having experienced 9 months without a pregnancy before this one, I have a taste of what “normal” feels like post-partum and I don’t think I’ve been left in too much ruin but there is a toll with having had babies, especially a lot of babies.

Here is my “toll” list:

1. I can’t jump, sneeze, cough or laugh too hard without tinkling my pants. Makes Cold Season a real pain. Seriously, I did have to wear Depends and our cloth diapers with my latest cold.
2. My belly button is a little herniated. I think. That’s what my doctor thinks at least. I occasionally have an intense pain and tenderness in my belly button region, shooting downward pain and sometimes I feel something move in that area if I cough too hard. Not sure if this will ever go away.
3. Diastasis Recti or Abdominal Separation. Basically I’ll always look about 6 months pregnant. After Mercy’s birth I concentrated on doing some exercises to help heal my abdominals. After a while I started back to normal abdominal workouts, not too intense because that aggravates my poor herniated belly button, but I think that helped. I started to feel like maybe I only looked 4 months pregnant for a while!
4. Saggy Baggy Belly. Need I say more? Here’s to hoping tunics never go out of style or maybe Unit Belts will come back.
5. My hair, it’s always falling out. In gobs. I was used to this happening during pregnancy, but really afterward too?! This is gerbils in the drain kind of hair loss! I was so relieved to hear that a friend of mine who has birthed 5 babies has this problem too.
6. Skin issues. First, skin tags. I got some while pregnant, they’re still hanging around. Second, brown spots, liver  or age spots maybe? Not sure what they’re called, but they came some where along the way I think with Clara and never left. So now you know why I only let you see the left side of my face! Third, little moles, I’ll just stop there.
7. Oh and my feet are “deep and wide” now.
8. I suspect my back is out of whack too since I have frequent neck and head aches. I might get that checked one of these days.

There are I’m sure other permanent changes that I’m not even aware of, but these are the day to day results that bearing children has left on my body. I hope sharing my “things” helps you feel better about your “things!”