The Slow Cooker

I had an "emergency" appointment at the OB's office today. I've been feeling like crap this week. Having a lot of stomach pain, which I thought wast digestive issues. Since the beginning of this pregnancy, I've had issues like that but this week it got worse. Wednesday I could barely move. I couldn't sit down and be comfortable I had to either lay down or stand up to tolerate the pain. It isn't a "doubled over" kind of pain, but enough to make me miserable and waddle around. TMI, but constipation is a common side effect of pregnancy, but I feel like I have some extreme version of it. Not so much the constipation part, but some strange digestive problem that wants me to suffer on a daily basis. I did have stomach issues (IBS) before pregnancy so I'm sure that's not helping things. My next OB appt is scheduled for Monday and I debated waiting until then and just try to "ride" this out. But I knew that wouldn't be smart in case there was something wrong with the baby. So I called to see if there were any cancellations. The receptionist said they didn't have any openings but that I could talk to a nurse if I wanted to. So the nurse and I talked and she thought it would be best for me to get checked out and miraculously there was an opening in the schedule. Sense my sarcasm there? They had an opening for Friday, but then she said if I can get there by 2:45 today there was a cancellation. So I took it. I was worried though, because I did take Miralax yesterday and this morning to see if it would "help" my stomach issues. And I was afraid of crapping my pants on the car ride up there. haha. Yes, it was a legitimate fear! My husband was on a job in Vermont today that he was just finishing up so he was upset that he didn't think he'd make it back in time to go with me to the appointment. I told him not to worry about it and I'd be fine.

So I get up there and I walk into the waiting room, which I've now nicknamed "The Slow Cooker." It's a tiny closed in waiting room and it was probably 2000 degrees in there. No windows. And there's a huge flat screen TV on the wall that's probably giving off a ton of heat as well. I nicknamed it "The Slow Cooker" because it's hot in there and it takes a long time to be seen. There's always a wait. But I don't mind this that much because that means they are taking there time with each patient and I appreciate the extra time they take with me while I'm in there. There's also a small "wine" type fridge in there where they keep water bottles. But the bottles are never cold. I still take one because its a free bottle of water, but drinking warm water to me is like drinking your own saliva. Anyways, I'm sitting there wondering all the horrible things that could be going on in my belly or with the baby, and who do I see walk in the door? MY AMAZING HUSBAND. I think my heart swelled up 3 times it's size just seeing his face. He had rushed back from Vermont because he didn't want me to be alone at this appointment. Now, THAT...is love:)  I'm a lucky girl.

The appointment went pretty quickly. Peed in a cup, they took my weight, they checked baby on the doppler....

And baby is GREAT! Heard the heartbeat at 155-160 bpm! :) At our last visit it was 180 bpm on the u/s machine. I now know the sound Ive been hearing at home on the doppler at home is definitely the heartbeat! And then she talked with me about my pain. The diagnosis is: Digestive issues combined with round ligament pain. The downer is there's nothing I can really do about it, besides all the things I've already been doing. Heating pad, don't eat certain foods, take Miralax everyday if I want to...

So, there's no miracle pill for this pain. It's pretty scary and frustrating to feel like this everyday, but I'm so thankful the baby is doing well. I just kept thinking that there's no way my stomach can hurt this much and the baby is still okay! But he or she is perfectly fine! :) 

I decided to keep my original appointment for Monday, because I mean, who doesn't love a good ole pap? And I think I'm due for blood work. So back to the "slow cooker" in a few days. Oh well, I'm wanting this month to go by quickly so we can get to the anatomy scan in December. I knew today if they couldn't find baby's heartbeat on the doppler they would probably do an ultrasound. And would be able to tell the gender by this point. But I was so grateful she found it on the doppler, even though it would have been cool to get a sneak peek at the babe! 

I'm praying this pain goes away. It's really hard to function while feeling like this and I'm waddling around like I'm 9 mths pregnant already. I just want to feel good. This second trimester is supposed to be the best one! :) Did you hear that, stomach? :)