Oh Baby

If you haven't already guessed it (or been told) . . . I'm pregnant. By the way, the above picture is not of my belly, I just thought it was cool/ creepy and thought I'd include it in my blog. I'm 17 weeks along (due at the end of August).

Weird Pregnancy: I've prided myself on being a pretty tough pregnant girl, but this pregnancy is getting the better of me. My first trimester was pretty normal, I was tired and would feel sick after I ate. The weirdness began pretty much right when my second trimester began (isn't that supposed to be the honeymoon trimester?!) Now I share this not to get pity--so no need to share condolences, my main purpose in sharing the following is to maybe get pointers from people who have had similar experiences, or to give tips to those that might encounter these problems in the future. Here's what's been going on (and why I've completely given up on blogging until now):

I went 2 solid weeks without sleep (I couldn't nap, and couldn't fall asleep at night). I see midwives and they were completely at a loss as to what was going on. I talked to nurses and OB's and no one had a clue. My midwife first had me try Unisom, which did nothing, then she wrote out a prescription for Ambien, which did nothing for my sleep but caused me to be an emotional wreck the following day. I tried warm milk, taking a hot bath before getting in bed, I even resorted to acupuncture, which also did nothing. I ended up cancelling all of my voice students because I was non-functional and in process of doing this, spoke to a mom of one of my students who lo and behold had the same problem in one of her pregnancies. She told me it was my thyroid and that I needed to get on iodine. After hearing this, I went back to my midwife and had them test my thyroid. It came back normal. I asked if I could try iodine and was told it could cause goiter in my baby and not to take any. All this time I was losing sleep and getting a little closer the edge every day. Then someone in my neighborhood told me I should try getting a vitamin B shot. So I again went to my midwife and was told that the shot would only give me more energy and wouldn't help me sleep. I called my student's mom again and told her what was going on. She then gave me the name of the doctor that had helped her with this same problem 15 years ago--he was still in practice. I immediately called the doctor and as fate would have it, someone had canceled their appointment that day so I was able to get in just hours later. Dr. Remmington (based out of Provo, Utah) sat down with me for a good half hour going over all of my symptoms. He told me my thyroid may be normal, but that the hormone receptors need iodine in order to function (if the receptors aren't working right, your thyroid is basically useless), and that certain forms of iodine are perfectly safe to take when you're pregnant. He put me on Lugol's iodine drops. Next, he had me get a vitamin B shot, informing me that sometimes the B shot can help with sleep. He also gave me a sample of Lunesta and an herbal supplement for sleep (neither of which I've taken yet). That night I didn't sleep, however the following night I did. For 4 nights straight I was able to get to sleep, but then the insomnia started up again. I saw Dr. Remmington again and was told that sometimes the B shot lasts only 4 days--they gave me another shot and again I slept. So as long as I get a B shot every 4 days, I sleep.

The second major problem I'm having is that my heart won't stop racing. My resting heart rate is consistently over 100 and I get winded doing simple things like walking up the stairs. At my last midwife appointment (yesterday), my midwife couldn't tell the difference between my heartbeat and the baby's, so I had to go in for an ultrasound. All is well with the baby, thank goodness, despite all this craziness. It's possible that my iron levels are low, which can cause your heart to race, so I had my blood drawn and I'm waiting to hear the results. My midwife also referred me to a cardiologist, just to be on the safe side.

Today I'm feeling pretty good. I had a good sleep last night, and I'm feeling like I'm finally getting on the right track to getting these issues solved. Noah's been amazing through all this and is continually cleaning up the house, or taking the kids so I can rest to mention a few things. I'm also feeling really grateful for good insurance now that I have three doctors taking me on.

Has anyone else had any of these things happen during pregnancy???