13 Week Update

I have started feeling normal again. I really think my prenatal vitamins are making me feel worse during the day--need to make sure to ask the OB about that next time I go. I'm really hesitant to say I'm feeling better, for some reason!

I'm really going to be one of those moms--I can already tell. Want to know how I know? I keep looking at my ultrasound pictures, and I am sad that my next appointment does not involve a look at the nugget.

I got a bunch of my maternity clothes in the mail this week. It was fun trying them on, and trying to imagine myself fitting into them in just a couple of months. I got 2 really nice pairs of jeans from Old Navy--one demi panel, and one full panel. I'm really impressed with ON's maternity selection. Plus, with my discount, I was able to get 3 tanks, 4 shirts, and 2 pairs of jeans for $100. Score.

Confession: I wore the demi-panel jeans to community group this week. Oh, my, gosh. I don't need them desperately yet, but my tummy is definitely bigger, and jeans really cut into my tummy in a painful way already. That demi panel was amazing! I can already see myself on What Not To Wear in a few years, as one of those non-pregnant ladies still wearing their pregnancy pants!

I have done 3 weddings, 3 weekends in a row. I usually spend all day Sunday on the couch, sleeping and icing/heating my back. I am headed to Philadelphia/New Jersey next weekend for a double-wedding weekend. Should be interesting.

I have always had lower-back problems after a long wedding-shooting day. But after the first wedding I did this month, I started getting sharp, stabbing pains right between my shoulder blades. They hurt a lot worse after sitting for a while. Last week, after suffering through wedding #2, I couldn't deal with it anymore, and went to a chiropractor that my stuntwoman friend recommended. Because I am pregnant, he can't do X-rays to determine if there is anything structurally wrong, but based on my symptoms, he believes that there is. He is treating me as if there is a structural problem.

Basically, my trapezius muscle (wraps around your shoulder blades and attaches in the middle of your back) is strained. This has caused neck aches and headaches that I have had for a long time. There was one examination that he did where he put very light pressure in a spot on my shoulder, and told me to let him know if I felt anything--my right hand went numb in about 3 seconds. He said on a normal person, he could put pressure on that spot for 4 minutes with no effects. Someone with acute problems would feel something in about a minute. And I felt it in 3 seconds.  He said I have probably had problems for a long time, but because I am an athlete, I probably put things off (he asked if I have any trouble when I run--and I mentioned that my hands go numb, which I thought was a form thing--but he said it was this muscle controlling that).

The treatment is a few stretches that I need to do throughout the day, and then icing as I feel sharp pain. I also go to the chiro at least twice a week for treatment. He stretches me out, does a short eval, and then gives me electro stim treatments--exactly like what I used to get at Cedarville when I strained/tore my quads! It feels AMAZING. He also does an adjustment each time I am there.

This last time when I was leaving the chiro, there was another woman that was leaving, and I would say she was 7 months pregnant. The Dr. said she is having the exact same symptoms that I am having, and she is doing the same treatments that I am doing. When you are pregnant, the hormones and chemicals running through your body really soften your muscles up, so it is much easier to strain them. He told me I am going to need to be really careful about lifting or pulling things away from my body, because it will put a lot more stress on my muscles than I am probably expecting. He also said I need to try to avoid doing the "athlete thing", and ignoring the signs that my body is telling me. This is going to be really tough, since I carry 15lbs. of equipment with me every weekend for weddings. I'm just going to have to be really conscious about how I hold my camera.