fingers crossed

One thing I’m thankful for is that we still have our little monkey in full-time daycare (at least until the end of this month). This means if I get up and help get her out the door, my husband drops her off and I can rest for most of the day. But yesterday I got this call from her daycare providers saying she had a low grade fever and was acting tired and perhaps might be coming down with something. They didn’t think I needed to come get her, but they wanted to let me know what was happening so I could be prepared to get her if she got worse. Being at home I felt guilty, and thought to myself, “if she needs to rest and I’m home, I should pick her up”. It was tough to get out of bed and bring her home but she actually was pretty mellow and took a long nap which allowed me to do the same.

Then, lo and behold, I actually slept last night without having to take medication through the night (except my friend Mr. Gaviscon). I am attributing this new feeling of improvement to having made my grandmother’s homemade chicken soup yesterday… she calls it “Jewish penicillin”, and I think she’s on to something.

Maybe I’m going to kick this nasty illness after all and have some enjoyable relaxation time before baby arrives? Keeping my fingers crossed.

Long days, longer nights

So, I stopped working at the end of last week. It was a difficult decision, but one that I now know was nothing short of absolutely vital. I don’t want to turn this into a complaining blog, but I honestly have been in bed resting for most of the past five days and I’m still feeling like I’m being ripped to shreds by whatever it is that has gripped my body. Mostly, I think it’s a case of severe heart burn that is making me feel like my stomach is actually in my throat. I’m on medication, but this baby is resting high and seems to want to climb out my esophagus.

I had one night last week during which I seriously contemplated a trip to the ER, but thankfully found the phone number of a doctor who was on call (from my physician’s call group), and got some good advice to get me through without a trip to the hospital. Oh, and I learned that in your final weeks of pregnancy, if you’re having a serious problem, you’re supposed to go to the Labour and Delivery ward, NOT the Emergency Room–a bit of advice that I was pleased to hear, because there is little worse in our western world than the perils of sitting for hours in the ER surrounded by sickness & trauma and not getting the help you need.

Anyway, I have two and a half weeks until baby is scheduled to arrive. It seems like a long time to continue to bear this hacking cough that has left all the muscles around my upper back and ribs in some sort of permanent state of spasm. I’ll spare you the other details; they aren’t pretty.

My wonderful husband is really picking up the slack around the house, but I don’t want him to burn out as well. You see, I was suffering from a very similar illness in the weeks prior to Maya’s birth, and he got so run down taking care of me that he was in rough shape on the day of her birth… and the days that followed. And now there’s a lot more to deal with since we have a toddler in the mix this time.

Hopefully, my body can heal a bit with additional rest… but my doctor seems to think that it may just be that I have to get through it somehow. The days have suddenly become very long, the nights… much much longer.

hitting the wall

The last weeks of pregnancy are hard for anyone. Last time I was pregnant, I had a breech baby which meant I suffered through the intense pain of a head poking me in the diaphragm, causing terrible heartburn, and a brutal cough that caused stabbing pain. A few days ago, I was bragging about how much easier it is not to have a breech baby. I didn’t have that brutal pain in my diaphragm and the cough wasn’t nearly as bad, even though my heartburn was intense.

It seems I spoke too soon, because the cough has intensified (not sure if I’m sick or it’s just from the severe reflux/indigestion) and I am getting a hefty kick in the ribs every time the coughing resumes (this time from a foot instead of a head).

I am resting at home, but rapidly running out of sick time. The plan is for me to continue at work for 2 and a half more weeks, and baby is set to arrive via scheduled c-section a week after I stop work. But I’m starting to think that I need to rest before having major surgery. I can’t teach in the state I’m in and no amount of lying in bed seems to be helping. Off to the Dr. tomorrow to see what they can do.

Anyone know of a natural remedy to help with a terrible cough? Even hot tea with honey and lemon don’t seem to help, nor do throat lozenges or gargling with salt water… definitely feel like I’ve hit the wall and the universe is telling me it’s time to slow down.

Or not…

Have you ever eaten so many sour candies that you got sores on your tongue? Well, this happens to me if I eat a lot of sour things.

I have discovered that this is also what happens to me when I drink apple cider vinegar. My heartburn has eased, but I have terrible canker sores-ick! And so, my natural remedy has backfired. Defeatedly, I return to my previous regimen of prescription medications and watermelon. Ho hum.

Cure the Burn

I have struggled with heartburn for the past 9 weeks, and I’m only 29 weeks pregnant. Needless to say, 20 weeks is relatively early to start feeling the burn, and it was really intense for me. Eating was hard. Tums and other such remedies failed. In the end, I decided to take Zantac and then later, at my doctor’s urging, prescription strength Zantac. In spite of this, the heartburn seemed to be getting worse and worse.

Naturally, the doctor wanted me to take stronger prescription medications. Don’t get me wrong, I like my GP, but she sure likes to prescribe. So, I went in search of other more natural remedies, like papaya enzymes. Then, when I asked my doctor about it, she just gave me a puzzled look and announced, “I know nothing about it”. That said, I tried papaya tablets (from the health food store), which has been moderately helpful. I also read on one of my favourite blogs about watermelon being very effective, and so I’ve been eating loads of it, and it has helped a bit.

Since midwives generally go the natural route, I’ve been asking friends who were patients of midwives about what was recommended for them, but most have simply replied, “I never had heartburn when I was pregnant”. Finally, a friend came to visit yesterday who was a patient of a midwife who also suggested papaya. My friend didn’t take it, but she found instead that apple cider vinegar was highly effective. She’d add a tablespoon of it to her drinking water and down a glass with each meal. Well, I tried it today for the first time, and this is the first day in MONTHS that I haven’t felt the need to take a prescription pill. Halleluyah!

Anyone else know of a natural heartburn cure? Share it here!