My apologies, but this week I may not sound quite as chipper. I’ve come down with a cold and it’s turned me into a huge wimp. Without the help of my beloved Theraflu or the miraculous Afrin nose spray, I’m kind of miserable. My eyes are itchy, my head is completely clogged up, and with every sneeze I worry that my baby is being hurled into the side of my uterus. With this lovely mood that I’m in, now might be a good time to share the not so cute side to being pregnant.
Let me reiterate that I’ve been very fortunate to have an easy pregnancy so far. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s been all rainbows, kittens, and pickles. While so far the baby is doing great, I do have a few worries here and there.
To start it off, I’m Rh negative. This means that I have a negative blood type, which is somewhat rare. Todd is a conformist with his positive blood, so I have to get a shot called Rhogam in order to keep my blood from fighting the baby’s blood, if indeed the baby is born with Todd’s blood type. I think it used to be more of an issue back in the olden days, but supposedly with this shot there’s nothing to worry about. But of course I still worry.
Usually we pregnant, negative-blood-having ladies receive this shot at around 28 weeks. However, I was called in to get my first round of it last Friday because of yet another thing that’s been on my mind. Apparently my placenta is slightly low-lying and that can cause bleeding (which I’ve been fortunate not to have so far). To be on the safe side, they went ahead and injected me early. Apparently this low placenta thing is very common and my version of it is very mild. Ninety-five percent of the time the issue corrects itself, so they’re telling me not to be concerned about this either. Still, I worry.
To top it all off, my chart at the doctor’s office has a big fat red sticker on it which reads, “HIGH RISK.” This has nothing to do with my blood type, placenta, or the fact that I want to eat nothing except mashed potatoes. This stems from a past surgery that I had years ago and my doctor wants to keep a closer eye on me. She doesn’t foresee there being any complications and to tell you the truth, I actually prefer that they are treating me with a little extra attention. I wouldn’t have already had two ultrasounds, with at least one more on the way and I wouldn’t have the peace of mind that I do, despite the few worries that I have.
Maybe these are the things I’m not supposed to blog or talk about. It seems like a lot of the horrible, gross, scary things associated with having a baby you don’t hear about until after it’s too late (i.e. – pregnant). I don’t mind sharing and in the grand scheme of things, my worries really aren’t that bad. I feel blessed to be this far and if anything, it makes me want my baby here to love even more.
All of that being said, you may have noticed the title of this blog post being a little redundant since last week I also had a 17 week post. I had my monthly doctor’s visit today and all is well, except she doesn’t want to officially change my due date. She reinforced my fear that I might just be having a big baby. So, my due date is once again October 12th. I’ll leave you with a bit of bright news – I’m pretty sure I can feel the little one kicking me in there! It’s so surreal and it really makes me realize, hey – there’s a person in there! So crazy. And I love it.
