Pregnancy Worries

This pregnancy has brought more joy than I could ever imagine. My husband and I feel closer and more in love than we ever have in our entire relationship because of this little peanut growing in my body. I love waking up each day knowing my little one is safely growing bigger and bigger in my womb. With all this being very true there are some fears that like to seep into my joyful days.

All mothers worry about their children. I believe it is human nature and it is unnatural not to have worries and fears. CF brings fears for your baby and some extra fears for yourself. I want to share these fears with you because I am sure you will/are/did experience several if not all of these fears during pregnancy. 

My first set of fears revolve around my little baby. I sometimes get stopped in my tracks for fear of the meds I take hurting my little one. I feel an immeasurable amount of guilt that something I am taking to keep myself healthy could potentially negatively effect my little one. I then have to reassure myself that I have been given the okay for my meds by my CF doc, a high risk OB, my regular OB and an on call nurse (I was freaked out in early pregnancy and had to call an on call nurse to ask yet again about my meds) and that getting sick and needing IVs often would be worse than my daily meds. I also remind myself that I have yet to come across a cyster that has had a child with problems due to my set of meds. This will reassure me for a while, but I can't help worrying that my albuterol may be hurting my precious baby.

I also worry about breastfeeding. To me breastfeeding is the single most important aspect of the after birth. I know not all women can breastfeed, but through working at WIC (in college) and getting my degree in nutrition I know that most lactation consultants or willing doctors can  overcome virtually any breastfeeding obstacle from very low milk supply, trouble latching, to inverted nipples (which I luckily don't have). My concern does not come from breastfeeding itself, but my ability to maintain enough weight to breastfeed as the calorie demands are quiet high and after the stresses of pregnancy and childbirth I hope my body can keep on the weight. <-- must sound funny to all those women who give birth and want to lose weight as fast as humanly possible. 

I also worry slightly about needing IVs after birth that may make breastfeeding unsafe. Although you can always pump and dump during the course of IVs. My goal (my CF doc was 100% with me on this) is to breastfeed a minimum of 3 months if my health is not great (but not horrible) and as long as baby and I feel necessary if my health is good.

I also have fears about my own health. I worry that pregnancy/birth will be hard on my body and I won't be well enough to really enjoy my baby. I worry that I will need IVs and too much sleep and miss out on being a mommy in those early days. I also worry that if my overall health declines that I won't be everything I need to be for my little one. 

I think it is okay to acknowledge these fears and of course they enter my mind. I also know there is no use in spending all my energy worry about things that never happen. I try to allow myself to feel these fears and worry a little (I don't think it is good to suppress feelings) and then I try to let them go. Most babies are born healthy. Most cysters I have come across are great mothers and everything their children need even if their health declined and they are not the same as they were CF wise before birth.  This is my biggest dream coming true and I can't waste such a precious blessing by worry all the time. 

Limes

Today I am at 11 weeks and can't believe how quickly time is going by! My baby is now the size of a lime according to the bump. Although I do like using the fruit they mention as a way to track how big baby is I don't think it is all that accurate. The baby is supposed to grow from the size of a lime to plum to peach to a lemon. I thought a peach was bigger than a lemon...whatever.

I have been feeling really good this past week, but I think it has a lot to do with being off work. I am getting about 11 hours of sleep each night and have yet to need a nap during the break. I am sure I will go back to being tired and needing naps on Monday when I start working again. All my other symptoms besides peeing several times a night have seemed to died down as well and I am hoping they stay that way. I just need to make it through 3 weeks and then I get 2 weeks off for Christmas so I am pretty sure I can manage that.

I am a little worried about work finding out too early. Ideally, I wanted to wait till after Christmas break to tell coworkers, but I am not sure how realistic that is. My belly is definitely getting rounder and what little waist I had is now completely gone. My mom bought me a bella band because my pants are getting too tight which was a life saver for Thanksgiving. If my coworkers don't notice my expanding midsection they will wonder why in the next three weeks I have to go to 3 doctors appointments! Sheesh!
Dec 2- High risk OB (this is a new high risk OB because of my insurance)
Dec 7- 1st real prenatal appointment (the last appointment was just a pregnancy dating appointment)
Dec 13- An ultrasound (NT scan) to check for chromosomal abnormalities.

I also have an early pregnancy class the 12th, but it is in the evening and so I won't miss work. I have no idea what I will be learning, but I am excited to meet other women in the same stage of pregnancy. I am also going to take a prenatal yoga class once I hit my second trimester so I can meet more moms-to-be.

Last thing in this random post. After finding out I was preggo I requested a set of my annual labs (even though I had just gotten them a few months prior) to ensure all my vitamin levels were okay. Just got the results and A,D,E,K are all in the safe/normal zone. My A1C is low which is great (high would indicate diabetes), liver (which has been high in the past) and other organs looking good, and overall  nutrition looks good.  The only  bad number...my IgE. This relates to allergies and asthma! Hah! I could have told you that. Fall is beautiful, but something in the air never plays nicely with my body. Overall, very happy with how this pregnancy is developing and I am hoping my good luck continues into the next 2 trimesters!

Pregnancy Meds

Disclaimer: I am in no way giving medical advice. I am not a medical doctor and have no medical knowledge other than what my doctors have told me. This is the interpretation of what I believe they told me and am not giving advice. Always talk to your own doctors before changing any of your medicines and always consult with a doc before getting pregnant with CF. Now that nobody will sue me on with my docs opinions of CF meds and pregnancy.

I know as cysters wanting to have babies our biggest question is what meds are safe during pregnancy, which meds can we stay on, and how will we survive without some of the meds!?! I am going to share with you the opinions of both my high risk OB and my CF doc. They had slightly different opinions  which makes it a little confusing.

Prior to pregnancy I went to a high risk OB who looked over all my meds. My med list is as follows:

1. Singulair (year round)
2. Albuterol (2x/day via neb)
3. Advair 500/50 (2x/day)
4. Hypertonic Saline (2x/day)
5. Pulmozyme (1x/day) I used to do 2, but I cut back recently
6. Cayston (3x/day month on/month off)
7. Azithromax (1x/day)
8. Rhinoquart Aqua (2x/day)
9. Enzymes (not a med, but whatever)

My high risk OB said all of my meds are fine to take during pregnancy. The Albuterol and Advair have the highest risk, but said she all her asthmatic patients are on them and it is more important for baby to get enough oxygen so she said it wasn't a problem. She said everything else was fine and that some were more that fine! HTS = salt water= perfectly safe. Enzymes= perfectly safe. 

Fast forward to my first CF clinic while pregnant. My CF doc told me that although the high risk OB said everything was fine, he is slightly more conservative. He told me to stop Azithromax for the 1st trimester because he didn't see it having an immediate effect on my lungs. He said only use Singulair when needed, same with the nose spray. He also lowered my Advair to 250/50. Everything else was fine in his opinion.

Huh. This left me in a predicament. Which doc do I follow? I want to protect my little baby, but I am also afraid of getting sick and needing IVs which would be much more powerful meds than what I take now. I figured that the High risk OB has the baby's interest in mind and would not allow me to take something that they knew would be too dangerous (even though there are always risks, just some meds have higher risks than others). The CF doc has my interest in mind so if he made the changes and had my best interest in mind then I could listen to him and should still be healthy.  For 3 weeks I stopped the allergy pills (but I usually get November allergies), I stopped Azithromax, and switched Advair with the lower dose prescription. This is what happened:

My allergies went crazy! I was so stuffy for 2 weeks that I could barely breath out of my nose, had post nasal drip which led to a morning cough and a sore throat. I was worried the post nasal drip and excessive mucus would effect my lungs. I decided to start the allergy pills again and the symptoms immediately disappeared. I figure after November I will try to get off them again because November and the spring are when my allergies are the worst. I feel okay with the lower dose Advair and will wait until my next clinic to see if my numbers are still doing okay. If they are I will stay on the low dose. Stopping Azithromax hasn't been a problem and I think I will wait until the baby is born to start again.

It is such a fine line between protecting your baby's exposure to meds in pregnancy and keeping yourself healthy enough to have a healthy baby. I knew parenting would be hard, but with CF the hard decisions start immediately after conception! 

Although I am not on any of these meds I was told that Tobi is usually avoided during pregnancy and that meds like Cipro and Levaquin are not safe. There is a window of opportunity that my high risk OB said Bactrim is safe, but other times in pregnancy that it is considered dangerous. My doctor said that in the case of a flare up there are some safe IV meds. My high risk OB said that Prednisone can be used, but my CF doc refuses to allow me to ever go on Prednisone (pregnant or not). I know it is a ton of info, but I hope that it gives you a little insight as to what you may or may not be able to take during pregnancy.

10 Weeks

I am 10 weeks pregnant which means we have only known about our baby for 6 weeks now. This seems crazy because it feels like I we have been a family of 2 1/2 forever now! The baby, who we have named Peanut, has become so much of our daily lives that I sometimes forget Peanut is only the size of a prune and won't be joining us in the "real world" for 30 more weeks!

Peanut is constantly involved in every aspect of our lives. The days I leave to work before my husband I give him a kiss goodbye and he says goodbye to each of us individually and then send us each off with some message about taking good care of each other (me and Peanut). When he leaves first he always gives me a kiss and then plants one on my stomach for Peanut.Throughout the day Peanut often butts into our conversations because he/she is very opinionated, Peanut helps us decide what to eat for dinner and when to go to bed, and he/she is constantly flip flopping which parent is the favorite. We have so much fun being Peanuts voice, I really pray that our neighbors can't hear us through the walls because we sound like the most delusional crazy couple that ever existed. I have decided that pregnancy is the most fun job to have and I can't wait for this baby to get bigger and strong enough that we can feel him/her.

Symptoms! So I am still feeling really well! If it wasn't for that little ultrasound I would wonder if there really was a baby in there! I have yet to experience nausea, food cravings/aversions or any of those unpleasant food related symptoms. I spent so much of my non-pregnant life nauseous (orals meds or just random bouts of nausea) that I still can't believe that when "normal" people get nausea I lucked out! My chestne disappeared, but I need to invest in cover up because my skin thinks I am 16 again and I am definitely experiencing breakouts on my face. Yuck! Gotta love hormones! I also invested in  Poise (yeah, I know you wish you could be like me) and now I can sneeze worry free!! The last symptom that has appeared in the past week is that I NEED a nap by 5:00pm. I can easily nap for 1-2 hours in the evening and still fall asleep at 9:00 like clockwork. So besides my much needed naps and new zits I feel great and am loving being pregnant!

Last thing I wanted to add is this has to be the most beautiful fall ever!! When the rest of the country was experiencing fall we had fall like weather in that the harsh heat of summer faded, but our leaves had yet to change. We are always a little late with our cold seasons and a little early with our warm seasons. Well, this year we have had such a gradual change in weather that our trees turned brilliant oranges, reds and yellows what seemed like forever ago and they have yet to drop their leaves. Everyday I drive to work in awe at how pretty the leaves are this year. It is as if autumn arrived and then time froze and we are in a perpetual state of early fall. I keep waiting for the morning that I wake up to barren trees, but those stubborn leaves won't budge. I wouldn't mind if they stayed that way until Spring!

Say What? Scale Drama

I have a little story about a scale...these never end well.

 After my positive pregnancy test I ran out to buy a scale. Unlike most pregnant woman I was not using it to ensure my weight did not climb too high too quickly, rather I wanted to make sure my weight did climb and as quickly as it wanted. Of course while making the purchase a little detail about myself slipped from my mind- I hate scales!! Let me explain why.

So I know weight fluctuates. Your scale will read differently in the morning vs night, different days in your cycle (when your not pregnant), and sometimes just when it feels like throwing a different number at you to throw you off. So I told myself I would weight myself once a week just to ensure I was maintaining or gaining. Yeah, here is the issue. I pee 100 times a day. The scale is in the bathroom. On my way to pee I see the scale and think, Ooohh I should just jump on real quick for fun. So I do. Not the best choice. I do try to weigh myself around the same time each day (before the shower and before bed) besides all the other random times I jump on just for kicks. This would be great and all except my weight jumps around like crazy!!! Two nights ago my weight read 126lbs which is great! Last night it read 124lb which is a little low. Tonight...125lbs. I have read everything between 122lbs (say what?!) to 126.9lbs (woohoo) and everything in between during the course of this week and it is only Wednesday.

I am sure bloat comes into play, but how can I possibly know if I gained actual weight or not? I know, having a degree in nutrition (but any google search would tell you the same thing. So much for 4 years of college), that a pound is the equivalent to 3,500 calories. Meaning to gain you need an excess of 3,500 cals and to lose you need a deficit of the same amount. Also, pregnancy in the 1st trimester uses only about 300 cals/day. So in order for me to gain 1lb I need to consume an excess of 3,800 extra calories. Wow! To lose I need a deficit of 3,200 cals. Again, Wow! There is no way I am losing/gaining that many calories in the matter of 24 hours! Impossible!! So how do I know how much I have gained and how much is my crazy scale (which is pretty consistent when weighing my husband) and how much is bloat? I don't. So for now I curse when I see my scale and refuse to even tap it with my toe...until I wonder if maybe, just maybe I gained a little weight and jump on. It usually ends with me staring dumbfounded at the numbers glowing on the display screen and walking away scratching my head.

Currently, all I can say is I may have lost 3lbs since becoming pregnant or I may have stayed the same or I may have gained 2 pounds or well...hell your guess is as good as mine!!

I Hate Tape

*Gross topic/pics ahead, don't read if gross things make you queasy*

I hate tape with a passion. No, not Scotch tape or duct tape, but any adhesive for your skin. The last few PICC lines I had such severe reactions to adhesive that the Infusion Center nurses didn't know what to do with me. I developed small oozing blisters everywhere that came in contact with any type of adhesive that would leak so badly that the adhesive would literally fall off. We tried EVERY adhesive and every type of prep (chloroprep seems to give me issues too) and the nurses finally gave up. The last PICC line my husband learned to clean my PICC site and we covered the PICC site in gauze and then wrapped the gauze with Coban (the tape that sticks to itself, but does not stick to skin). It was good in that it allowed my skin to heal, but it was bad because it needed to be changed everyday because it was not as sterile as adhesive.

Now to the reason I currently hate tape. Along with pregnancy comes a lot of blood draws. No big deal except that they always want to tape the stupid cotton ball to my arm after a draw. I usually tell the nurse I am allergic to adhesive and they allow me to hold the cotton ball to my arm instead. Unfortunately, this last draw on Wednesday I was in the middle of a conversation with the nurse when BAM she slapped on a big old piece of that stupid white tape over my cotton ball. I tried ripping it off immediately, but it was too late. it is now Saturday and the entire area that was covered in tape is super itchy and I have even developed a few small blisters. Ugh!

With my PICC the doc gave me prescription cream to reduce the swelling and inflammation and also to reduce the itch. Being pregnant I am sure I cannot use these creams so I am testing my will by not scratching! As I said I HATE tape.

Below is a pic of my blistery arm several days after my PICC was pulled after a week of using only gauze AND after I had been using prescription strength creme to calm my angry skin down. The little area right around my PICC site was what my entire arm looked like. I was worried my skin would never be smooth again, but thankfully besides the PICC scars all those nasty bumps healed perfectly smooth. 

Can I go on Maternity Leave Yet?

I realized my posts are getting incredibly long. So long in fact that I don't want to proof read them. So I don't. Yeah, sorry about that!

All day at work all I wanted to do was go home and look at my babies little face, his/her nose in particular because I can't believe I did such a good job making a little baby nose. You shouldn't have to go to work when such exciting things are going on. At least it is a 3 day weekend!

In other news I think my neb compressor may die soon because it is currently about 100x louder than it was before. Is that a sign it is going to die? Or do I need a knew filter? So between my Vest (the old school kind) and my compressor, my treatment time is deafening. Any suggestions for compressors? I currently have a proneb ultra that has lasted for YEARS. I try to leave it on a few extra minutes to dry the tube and then sometimes I just forget to turn it off. Environmentalists hate me :( Point being this neb has been pretty trusty and has worked a lot of overtime, but I am all for suggestions!

Enjoy your long weekend!!!

Cutest Fetus Ever!!!

Okay, I know ALL mothers say this, but I am pretty sure I have the cutest fetus in all of existence! Seriously, we have one cute baby!

So I had my appointment and it was a LONG one and full of information! When we arrived I was given a mountain of paperwork which took me quite a while to fill out! They asked every medical history question you could possible imagine. I then had to make decisions about prenatal testing. Lots of questions regarding if CF runs in the family and would you like to test the baby for CF...it felt kinda surreal having CF and seeing it all over the paperwork as something for parents with an unborn child to worry about. Of course I never want my child to have CF and my husband was tested before we even started trying, but it was kinda sad to think that some parents fill out the paperwork knowing they would abort a baby with CF considering how much I love my life.

They then did a internal ultrasound. I believe time sat still as we were waiting to see the image of our little one for the first time. At first all I could see was a blob and I instantly started trying to make out a baby and then suddenly out of nowhere there on the screen was a profile of our picture perfect little baby! The doctor then pointed to a little spot in the chest and said, "Can you see the baby's heart?" And there was the lightest little flicker of a teeny heart beating. My whole self melted. There was our beautiful baby with a little flickering heart nestled in my body. The doc took several pictures and said she would give us some to take home. She confirmed there was only one baby (whew), there was a good sac of fluid (yay), the umbilical cord looked good (nice), and that our baby looks great (sheer joy). She then said that I was exactly 8 weeks and 5 days and that my due date would be June 14, 2012. At this point she had to leave to fill out some paperwork and print the pictures of the baby. My husband and I beamed at each other and said a million times how CUTE our baby is. I think I went crazy with joy and couldn't stop saying, "Oh my god our baby is SOOO CUTE!"

Seeing your unborn child for the first time is something I could never find the words to describe. Awe, overwhelming love, pride, peace, relief, and amazement are some words that come to mind. Seeing the little heart beat has to be one of the most moving and amazing moments in my life. To witness the tiny heart of a life I created with my husband was so beautiful and awe inspiring. To think a little person uniquely ours is in my body developing and growing each and every day is enough to make me feel like I have eveything in the world I could ever want.

When she returned she gave us 5 photos of our little one and then had to leave again. We quickly took pics of the sonogram pic and texted the picture to close family and friends. We wanted everyone to see what a good job we are doing on making a baby. I cannot explain how over the moon with pride we are. It feels so much more real now that I can picture our little baby in my body.

I then had set up a bunch of appointments. SO MANY appointments. I realized as hard as I tried not to I am still going to miss a lot of work. I also signed up for a early pregnancy class this December. I have no idea what we will learn, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Finally, I went to the lab and the woman working the front desk asked me how far along I was. I told her 8 weeks and she replied she was 7 weeks. We beamed and shared about our pregnancies together and then I was called back to pee in TWO cups. Which was fine because I pee like a race horse these days and easily filled both cups. I then gave 4 vials of blood and was on my way.

This day may be one of the best days of my entire life!! I am overwhelmed with love for this little life and will sleep much more soundly knowing our little one is healthy and growing tremendously each day.

Tomorrow..dun dun dun

So first off I want to say THANK YOU so much to everyone that gave their input about my sub job. I really appreciate people that truly understand what it is like to have CF. I feel that so many people cannot even begin to understand what our days entail and therefore can't offer relevant advice even though they mean well. So again THANK YOU!!!!

So I have to say that my first trimester is going quite well. No nausea yet. YAY! I do have one very unusual symptom: my normal love for anything sweet has disappeared. Kinda freaks me out. I have a little pile of Halloween candy (the good stuff too- Snickers, Milky Way) that has been sitting on my dresser for weeks and a tub of ice cream in the freezer that I have barely touched. I worry this baby will be just like his/her father and hate sweets. Yikes, then I would be the only sweet tooth in the house. Could be good...more for me!

On to exciting news: I have my first prenatal appointment tomorrow FINALLY!!!!!!!!! It is amazing how little the nurses and doctors care about your pregnancy until you are at least 8 weeks. I am over here so excited that my life has changed forever and want to badly someone to tell me that everything looks good AND I am trying to be a good mom and get prenatal care asap and the appointment center said the docs refuse to see anyone before 8 weeks unless there is an issue. Uh...really? I have to sit here for a month and wait?! I thought the 2 week wait for the positive pregnancy test was hard and now I have to wait 4 weeks to have someone tell me my little raspberry is okay? Sheesh. Well, enough complaining because tomorrow is the DAY!!! I will be sure to give you every detail after my appointment!!! Fingers crossed all goes well.

Need Some Advice from My Cysters

Along with pregnancy came a lot of job related luck. It seems that job opportunities keep coming my way, BUT being pregnant makes it feel like the least desirable time ever to get job opportunities. I feel like nobody understand the struggles of CF and really very few people in the world know much about pregnancy and CF (myself included) and so I need help from my beautiful cysters that at least know more than my friends/family about having CF. I know ultimately the decision is mine, but I would love some input.

So the day before I found out I was pregnant I accepted a tutoring job which I talk about it an earlier post. It was an easy way to make money, but also added 1 1/2hours  to my workday not including commuting. Because I had no idea how pregnancy would effect me as far an nausea and fatigue I decided to cut back to 2 days a week. Within a few days of cutting back my tutoring hours my principal approached me and asked if I would teach an after school class 3 days a week for 6th graders that were struggling in Math. After a LOT if indecision and worry I decided to take it because it was only a six week course and we have a few days off and Thanksgiving break in those 6 weeks. Okay, so between my job, tutoring, and teaching I seem to be doing fine.

So NOW I get a call that a teacher is going to be out and they need a long term sub. So here is my predicament. My current position is fine and dandy, but it is not the same as teaching which I LOVE. My current position is less time consuming. I work an hour less than I would if I took the sub job because teachers have to stay longer before and after school than I do. Also, I don't have to grade and prep on my own time because I am allotted time during the week to do those types of things. As a teacher this would all be on my own time. Oh and I would still take the Math class after school for an extra hour 3 days a week.

If I wasn't pregnant I would take this opportunity in a heart beat. I love teaching, but I am pregnant and I want to make sure that my baby is cared for first and foremost. As of now I am feeling fine in my pregnancy besides needing a lot of sleep, but I don't want to sacrifice my baby's health for a short term position. It is so hard because CF pregnancy is such uncharted territory. I would hate to miss out on a really fun opportunity that I would LOVE if I feel fine, but I would hate to take it and have my health suffer.

Also last thing (this is sooo long) nobody knows I am pregnant at work AND I am not planning on going back to work next year because I want to be a stay at home mom for a few years so it is not like this sub job will not help me secure a job next year because I won't be there. Also, at this point nobody knows how long the sub job would go for.

Okay after that novel, I know nobody can decide for me, but any insight or words of wisdom? My doctors don't seem overly concerned about anything at this point, but said around 6 months I may need to cut back or quit work depending how I feel. I am so torn and feel that nobody understands CF and pregnancy and so I can't get real advice or insight from anyone. If you have any thoughts or ideas please send them my way. I have to decide by Monday!! Thank you!

The Less Attractive Side of Pregnancy

I have always thought of pregnancy as a beautiful fleeting moment in a woman's life. I find pregnant woman beautiful as fascinating. I often stare, but try not to stare at pregnant bellies out of the corner of my eye. I have never been so rude to ask a pregnant woman to touch her belly, but have always wondered what it felt like to feel a little kick or a nudge from an elbow. While I still think pregnancy is absolutely beautiful I also realize that our bodies do some no so beautiful things in order to accommodate this little soul. So far I really can't complain as I have yet to get an ounce of nausea or deal with any other hellish symptoms, but I have already experienced a few less than flattering side effects.

1. Chestne: Yes, you have all heard that pregnancy can cause breakouts on the face making a pregnant woman look like a teen again, but I got a different variation of this fun little pregnancy symptom: chestne. This is what I like to call acne of the chest. Do I have a speck of acne on my face? No. On my back? No. Oh, but wait what are those little red dots all over your over sized (for me) chest? Yes, you guessed  its the ace-attack. Now it just started this week (week 7) and I am hoping it will be short lived. The only good part is now that all my conservative shirts are suddenly slutty with my new found cleavage I have to hide my chest anyway. 
2. Lack of patience: I like to think of myself as a very patient person. I have to be patient considering I work with little munchkins all day, but these past few weeks I find my patience wearing thin faster than it ever has before. I have yet to have crazy mood swings that you hear about in early pregnancy so I guess being a little less patient is fine by me.
3. Fatigue: I find that by 8:00 I am ready for bed. Actually, more like by 7:00. I find that I can't lay on the couch without passing out. I need to start doing my full treatment session right after school or I worry I will fall asleep before getting them done. Last night I fell asleep on the couch around 6:00pm only to wake up at 11:30pm and had to do my hour of treatments before returning to bed. Can't say it is any worse than the fatigue that accompanies an exasperation though!
4. The last and WORST unflattering symptom. Because my bladder is full almost all the time I could probably pee every hour if given the opportunity, but working in a school does NOT allow for that many bathroom breaks. Having a perpetually full bladder coupled with a weakened bladder due to coughing a lot I find that if I sneeze or cough too hard I seem to have some errr...leakage. A little scary since the baby is still too small to put pressure on my bladder. I think in a few months I may have to live in panty liners. I a such a sexy pregnant lady!! Hahah

With all that has been mentioned I still love being pregnant and get sad thinking that 9 months will fly by even though then I get to have my little baby in my arms. I want to relish in each and every day because I am sure this will be my one and only pregnancy.