A Pain in the Tooth

If it's not one thing, it's becoming a mother (again).

So the contractions are irregular, the hips are cooperating, and for about 27 hours I felt really good. Then I woke up with the worst toothache in my life. Anyone who knows me knows about my teeth calamities, so when I say this was the worst, let's just say I had visions of Dustin Hoffman in "Marathon Man" thinking at least they got the damn tooth out.

Long story short - my dentist sent me to an oral surgeon and I freaked out for about 4 hours that I was going to have surgery while on blood thinners and 7 months pregnant, but luckily my OB and oral surgeon are awesome and they figured out a way for me to avoid surgery until after the baby is born. I got antibiotics which seem to be working cuz the pain is almost gone, and I have backup painkillers in case the pain comes back.

I had dental issues when I was pregnant with Charlie too, and once I've shared this latest episode with people I've heard that it's actually quite common. Pregnancy is really, really weird. But it's also one of the coolest and weirdest things I've done. Baby Lionel (he still doesn't have a name) is way more active than Charlie was, and doesn't just kick, but rolls, stretches, does the Worm, spins on his back a la Turbo and Ozone. There's a creep factor there, but overall, it's amazing. I also am fascinated by this bowling ball of a tummy I have. I have been blessed with good genes (thanks, MOM!) and have hardly gained any weight, although Lionel is measuring well. I get a lot of shocked reactions when I tell people I'm due in 2 months. That feels good.

So though it feels like I'm doing a lot of complaining, I really am grateful for this time in my life. It took me this long to finally accept that this one was going to make it to the finish line.

If it's not one thing, it's your hips

So I think the contractions have basically stopped for now. I mean, I had one 15 minutes ago, but it's been so irregular that it's nothing to be concerned about. Of course, now I have a new symptom that makes me feel like I'm 99 years old - my hips, o my hips? WTF? This didn't happen when I was preggers with Charlie. It's not like I'm carrying around a ton of extra weight either. I'm almost embarrassed to say I have gained only 15 pounds so far. People treat me like a freak of nature when I tell them I'm 30 weeks.

So these hip joints are killing me and I can barely walk today. This is the first time all pregnancy this has happened. But even though I feel like a geriatric patient instead of an OB patient, I'll take this over contractions and dilation because I haven't read about anyone going into early labor due to hip pain (yet - I still have time to scour the internet for that one article to keep me up tonight."

Tomorrow Jase and I are gonna go get me a 4-d ultrasound because my doctor "doesn't believe in them" i.e. doesn't want to spend the money himself. I asked him specifically, "Is it harmful?" and I got him to admit that it's not, so screw it, I'll pay the 100 bucks and get it myself. If he doesn't look like a troll I'll post pics. If he does, I'll tell you it was too early to get a good pic and I'll try in a month.

THEN, Jase and I are going sans Charlie to meet Joe and Kris at this diner that they heard about on the most awesome show on the Food Network - Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I'll let you know how the food is. Even if I have to use a walker, I'm gonna get me some good diner food.

What could happen next? How about a little preterm labor!

The last time I posted I was 17 weeks, about. Maybe still on modified bedrest. Definitely still with morning sickness.

It's 13 weeks later, and I am officially 30 weeks pregnant. The morning sickness is gone, but the modified bedrest is back with a vengeance. Last week, at 29 weeks, I started having contractions every 10 minutes for over 3 hours. I went to labor and delivery (L&D) and the contractions continued for about 2 more hours. I was dilated 1 cm. It was looking like preterm labor. I got a steroid shot in case the baby was born in order to strengthen his lungs, drank a ton of water (literally, it was probably at least a ton) and finally the contractions eased up. I was able to go home. No baby born yet!

I haven't done much since then and the contractions, though they have returned, they haven't bothered to stick around on a consistent basis. I'm drinking so much water I'm peeing every 7 minutes, including in the nighttime, while most of you have sweet dreams. I go to see my actual doctor tomorrow and hopefully my cervix will be closed for business and these contractions will be just an annoyance.

Of course, tonight they have returned - not as consistent as last week, but more than I like. So we'll see...