Tag Archives: second trimester
By Madeleine Renée
I am pleased to announce that Mom didn't wake Dad up with a scream of pain one single time last night. For the first time in I can't remember how long, Mom made it through an entire night without popping her pubis symphysis joint once!
Mom has been sleeping almost exclusively on her right side for weeks now. Pregnant women are supposed to avoid sleeping flat on their backs because that can put too much pressure on their Vena Cava and cause all kinds of problems. After a few hours, Mom always wakes up with severe knee, hip, and shoulder pain on the right side and when she tries to adjust she inevitably pops her Pubis Symphysis joint. Mom used to be able to roll over to her left side for some relieve during the last few hours of sleep but now the SPD is making that nearly impossible.
However, last night Mom and Dad propped Mom up with pillows so she could sleep on her back in a reclined position and it worked! Mom did have to change positions a few hours before it was time to wake up because her hips did start to ache but it was much easier to sleep on her side for just a couple of hours at the end of the night then it had been to spend the majority of the night on her side. Hopefully this reclined position will work out for the rest of the pregnancy.
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Update from the City of Altamonte Springs
Mom has been trying to get to the bottom of the Physician Referral Form issue with the Altamonte Springs Recreation website. Mom called the Westmonte pool during their regularly scheduled hours on Tuesday but the supervisor was gone for the day. The lady that answered said the supervisor would be in the next day. Mom called the next day and was told that the supervisor wasn't going to be in at all because of a field trip. The lady on the line was trying to be helpful and, after Mom explained the situation, the lady offered to contact the supervisors supervisor (though she said she was unable to give Mom this new persons name). But Mom didn't receive a call back that afternoon or the next morning so Mom called again yesterday afternoon and finally reached the supervisor.
The supervisor said she had just received a response from her supervisor that morning and the official response was that the form must be signed by an MD or PA (not a nurse as Mom had previously been informed). When Mom asked about DOs the supervisor did not have an answer and instead provided mom with her supervisors name and phone number. Mom called the supervisors' supervisor immediately and left him a message. For the first time since she began dealing with the folks at the Altamonte Springs Recreation website, Mom actually received a call back the very next day.
The man said that he had been in contact with their Legal and Risk Management departments to get more information and he wanted to give Mom an update. He said that, historically, the staff had been instructed to accept signatures from MDs and PAs only. However, as people seem to be seeing DOs and chiropractors more frequently "these days" it was definitely time to review the policy. He asked Mom to give him a few days to continue working on the issue with the other departments and he would get back to Mom in a few days. So we're still waiting but at least someone is taking the question seriously now.
Getting Concerned
You may recall that Mom was diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction back in November. Mom has been receiving treatment at Rivera Family Chiropractic and it helps to relieve some of the pain temporarily but, between appointments, the pain is getting worse and worse. The likelihood of permanent damage is supposed to be quite low, however, the look on the chiropractors face when Mom mentioned a new symptom was cause for concern.
A while ago Mom noticed that her Pubis Symphysis joint would actually pop, like when you crack your knuckles, but not from anything she was doing intentionally. It could be a slight movement, or the stretch of her arm, or even a tiny sneeze – all kinds of small things were causing this little pop to happen but it only happens when Mom is in bed. At first it was just a couple of times a week but, for a while now, it's been happening at least once a night. Lately it's been happening with more frequency and a bigger pop. So much so that every time it happens Mom is fearful that this will be the time that she finds herself paralyzed. So at her appointment this afternoon, Mom described this to her chiropractor and the look on the chiropractors face really scared Mom.
The chiropractor said that she really wished she could X-ray Mom to see what the symphysis was looking like but she was sure the midwife would never go for it because she may need to put Mom on bedrest soon if the SPD keeps progressing. She also agreed that Mom should ask the midwife for a prescription for a mobility scooter.
Honestly, this is starting to get a little scary.
Mom and her friend really enjoyed the water aerobics class today! Unfortunately, they may not be able to return.
A week ago Mom called and asked for clarification on the required Physician Consent Form. There are lots of different kinds of physicians out there and no where on the Altamonte Springs Recreation website does it offer any specifics as to exactly which medical professionals they accept signatures from. Some definitions of the word physician simply define a physician as "a person who is legally qualified to practice medicine" and, at least in the state of Florida, a licensed midwife is legally qualified to be the sole medical professional for pregnancy concerns. But since the Altamonte Springs Recreation website doesn't specify who can sign the form, Mom called to make sure a midwives signature would be acceptable. The woman that answered said she wasn't sure and she would check and call Mom back. At a minimum, she suggested, Mom and her friend should just get the forms signed and show up because they only glance at the form before the class to make sure it's signed. They don't actually review the signature until after your first class when they are registering you for your membership. Since Mom never received a call back, Mom and her friend went ahead and had their signed forms with them when they showed up to try the class. After the class when they asked to get registered they ran into some issues.
It turns out that the city requires a doctor or nurse to sign the release form and they won't accept the signature of our midwife. Mom and her friend don't understand why the state of Florida says a midwife is the only medical professional that they need to see during their pregnancies but the city of Altamonte Springs disagrees but the lady at registration said that's the information her supervisor gave her. Apparently Mom needs to call next week and discuss this with the supervisor who is out sick this week…
What's New in 2013?
Mom and her friend both had their intake appointments at the Inspiration Family Birth Center two weeks ago and it was quite a smooth process. Today was their first appointment and it went wonderfully. All of Mom's and my numbers lined up exactly where they should be AND the midwife signed off on the release forms letting Mom and her friend sign up for a water aerobics class at the Westmonte therapeutic pool in Altamonte Springs. This is great news for mom because water aerobics seems to be the only exercise that she can comfortably do.
Baby News Being Pregnant	Leave a comment
I've been trying to get Mom's attention for a while now. I keep dancing around, stretching, and kicking. I know Mom can feel me moving sometimes but it's taken a while for her to be sure she was actually feeling me and not just gas. ;p But Sunday night Mom finally felt me kick! I mean an actual kick! First she felt it, then she looked down in time to actually see a little ripple on the side of her tummy as I kicked again, and then she got her hand there just in time to feel a third kick! Man, I'd been working so hard to get her attention that I was exhausted and the show was over for the night.
Just a few minutes ago Mom woke up, as she does a few times a night, and felt me kicking again! She was tempted to wake Dad so he could feel it too but she didn't want to wake him. All of a sudden one of the cats tried to crawl on Dad and woke him up. He got out of bed, ushered all the cats out, and closed the door. Mom was so excited that she could share this with Dad. He put his hand on her tummy and I kicked a few times to make sure he could get in on the action.
Another milestone down. 😀
Be Careful What You Eat
Talk about a tough day! Everything seemed fine when Mom woke up this morning. Then, about an hour after breakfast Mom felt some stomach cramps. They got worse, then Mom went to the bathroom, then they got better. But then they got worse again, a lot worse. Mom called the birth center and described the symptoms. The midwife thought it was either food poisoning or some really bad virus that has been going around lately. Regardless, the best thing to do for a stomach issue is the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast.
Mom ate some toast and there wasn't any big problem so she took it easy for a while and eventually started feeling better. In fact, Mom felt up to having a little snack to get up her energy before heading out for an important appointment with her friend. (Today they found out that Mom's friend is pregnant with a boy!)
Mom was feeling back to normal after the appointment so she and her friend decided to grab some lunch. About half-way through her sandwich Mom realized she had made a big mistake. As her friend was driving them back, the stomach cramps returned with a vengeance. Mom, writhing in pain, broke out into a sweat and her poor friend got a little worried that Mom might dodge out of the car into traffic or something! Finally, as they approached their destination, it seemed the pain was subsiding and Mom said she was relieved that she hadn't gotten sick or had an accident in her friends car. But, it seems, she spoke too soon. Just as they pulled into the parking lot Mom asked her friend to pull over. Mom couldn't even stand. She rolled out of the sedan, onto all fours, and quite embarrassed herself in the middle of the parking lot. It was just as horrible as you'd expect, but at least Mom felt much better when it was over.
It looks like Mom got everything out of her system with that. It's been about six hours and there have been no more problems. Mom had toast a few hours ago and then had a light dinner about two hours ago and no sign of stomach cramps. It was pretty darn bad but at least it didn't last that long. Hopefully we've seen the last of it, whatever it was.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
One of Mom's friends is pregnant and they've been going to all of their appointments together. Unfortunately they've both experienced some pretty bad customer service at the birth center where they started their prenatal care. So today Mom, Dad, and their friend went to tour the Inspiration Family Birth Center in Winter Park.
Granted, it's not quite as pretty as the previous birth center but that's not what's important. Unlike the old place, every single member of the staff at Inspiration is extremely friendly and helpful. Even when they're busy, they don't suddenly feel like the people around them are inconveniences. Between an hour long phone call last week and the tour today, they went out of their way to spend a LOT of time with our group and answer an endless stream of questions.
By the end of the tour, Mom and Dad decided to switch birth centers and so did their friend. Fingers crossed that this experience will be better than the last!
As of yesterday, mom is 22 weeks through the 40 weeks she'll be pregnant with me. Now that it's 2013, it's officially the year of my birth. How exciting is that?
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Yippee!!!
Mom entered a contest at her Holistic Health Coach's website crunchybeginnings.com and, guess what? She won! Yippee! Mom scored a sweet headband for me from Cutie Patootie Headbands!
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