Wednesday, February 07, 2007

27w2d: The Ultimate Indignity

Pregnancy and childbirth bring about a lot of indignities, most of which are suffered and quickly forgotten. I still have a snapshot in my head of a moment just before G was born. Someone put my glasses on so I could see her crowning and I looked around the room and realized that there were an awful lot of strangers standing about staring at my privates, which weren't exactly private just then. Indignity, yes, but quickly dismissed.

There's other indignities in pregnancy that no one really ever tells you about. Let's talk varicose veins. My husband has them all over his legs; he says they don't hurt him very much but they look insufferable. I've never had varicose veins on my legs and I've been fortunate enough thus far to not have them in pregnancy. But did you know that you can get them in other places? Specifically, varicose veins in the vulvular area are not exactly uncommon.

For about a week now I sometimes have this feeling that something's going to fall out down there. I've also felt for a while now that things are very swollen down there. Today I started getting a bit of a burning sensation after I'd been standing a while. So I finally made myself check it out. Yep - I've got several rather large pockets.

Of course Dr. Google and I have been in lengthy consultation today. I've learned that this is not uncommon for pregnant women and usually goes away within a day or two of delivery. There's really nothing to be done for it. Ice packs can help relieve the pain and sitting or laying will help as well. The sensation that things are about to fall out is common and goes with the territory.

Can I start whining now? My bum hurts and I can only assume that it's going to get worse and I've got a good 12 weeks to see how bad it can get. Between that and the now-ever-present pain of stretching skin just below my left breast I'll have to admit that I'm a basket-case at the moment. G's been off the last two days and won't nap and whines enough for the two of us. I sat down and had a real good feeling-sorry-for-myself cry today but it didn't really help.

I know the product of all this will make it worth it in the end - especially when it's nothing but a bad memory. But right now I'm just about ready to crawl in bed and put myself on self-proclaimed strict bedrest for the next 12 weeks!

1 comment:

Christina said...

Wow, I had no idea you could get varicose veins there. I occasionally have the feeling that something is going to fall out, but that's because baby #2 is just like the first, and aims at my cervix for kicking and punching practice.

I'm two weeks behind you, and things are getting uncomfortable for me now, too. My entire pelvis is starting to hurt, and just trying to sit or sleep in a comfortable position is difficult. I had forgotten this part of pregnancy.