Pregnancy Update

I thought I'd give a little update on how this whole pregnancy thing is going. Up until these past couple of weeks it really has been somewhat uneventful. It really just started out as me being really tired and getting stomach aches. Everything really has been smooth, a fairly normal pregnancy - except for one small, well I guess it's not so small, exception.

When I had my first ultrasound they found that I have an ovarian cyst (I'm convinced it's been there for several years). It's a fairly common thing, not a huge worry it happens to a lot of women. Usually the are 5-6 cm and will often take care of themselves. Mine happens to be about 20 cm (for you Americans out there it's about 8 1/2 inches). When they found it they gave me a couple of options. First option was to have surgery right away and get it taken care of. It would have been a fairly major surgery with a lot of risks to both the baby and me. I would have had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Second option was to just let it be, for now. There is a chance it could rupture and cause me a lot of pain, but will not harm the baby. If it doesn't rupture then they will do surgery about 6 weeks after I deliver. So that's the choice we made -wait it out and see what happens. The one good thing about it all is that we have had an ultrasound every 4 weeks. They have been watching the cyst to make sure it's not getting bigger and to make sure it's not affecting the baby. It's been fun to see the baby a little bit more than we normally would have and check up on his growth. He has been on schedule and has been developing wonderfully. The cyst has not changed, which is good. I asked one of the technicians if she knew how much it weighed and she guessed it's probably somewhere between 6-8 lbs. It's bigger than the baby! The doctor is confident that we made the right choice in waiting to take care of it. My stomach is lopsided, but other than that the cyst has not caused any problems thus far. There was a small concern that the baby wouldn't have enough room to turn, but he's done his job and turned on his own.

I've been really lucky and not been sick up until last week. I caught a stupid cold that was going around. It started out as a chest cold and moved to my head. I'm afraid now it's a sinus infection. To top that off on Saturday I think I overdid things a bit and strained a muscle in my lower back. It didn't hit me until church on Sunday I could not get comfortable on the bench - so I snuck out a little early. My back would not stop hurting. I tried getting in different positions and nothing would help. I started worrying that I was going into labor because I started having some contractions, and I think that made things worse and I couldn't get comfortable. To make things worse I either worked myself up so much or ate something that didn't settle so well and ended up throwing up all day. It was really bad. Tylenol wouldn't touch the pain. I asked Nate to give me a blessing and when it was time for me to go to bed - after building me a fort of pillows and hot pads I was able to relax and sleep and the pain is somewhat gone. After the blessing I knew that I indeed was not in labor and was able to relax which is what my body needed. After such a horrible day/evening I was exhausted and called in sick for work today. The first time in three years that I've been working that I called in sick. I've always just bucked it up and dealt with it, but I think that yesterday was my body's way of telling me to slow down.

So anyway - I really have been lucky. I know a lot of people out there have it much worse than I. I'm just so grateful for the modern technology and doctors that keep us safe and healthy. I'm also grateful for a worthy husband to give me a blessing when I ask for it. I'm now heading into my 36th week and time is flying by. Before we know it our little guy (still nameless, suggestions anyone?) will be here!