Week 18
~ Catch Me if You Can . . .
The week didn't start off like I thought it would. I went to work on Monday and didn't feel too well, but I just thought it was because I had worked a lot in the previous week. The nausea seemed to be at bay, but feeling exhausted and left with no energy really hit me. Then came Tuesday and getting ready for work proved to be just too much. I ate breakfast before getting ready, relaxed for about 30 minutes, took a quick shower, started my make-up and then next thing I remember is not being able to see myself in the mirror and the room turning black. "Catch me if you can because I'm going down." I will admit this has been an on-going problem with me. I will faint or became extremely dizzy that I can't even function. I've complained about it to my doctors and they said it is normal to feel these things and perhaps we need to change my diet to include more protein enriched foods. Check . . . did that! Next, I need to eat and wait for it to digest before getting ready for the day. Check . . . also did that!
I recovered about 30 minutes later and went to work. I called my doctor's office and explained how it keeps happening and on average about every other day. I was asked to come in immediately. I left work and ended up at the doctor's office waiting for an hour. Oh well! My doctor seemed very concerned and thought my body should have adjusted to the extra blood flow by now. He diagnosed me as having "extreme syncope" and made me an appointment to see a neurologist right away. He also put me off of work for 2 1/2 weeks until we can figure out what's going on. Work was not going to be happy, but since the extreme dizziness has happened while driving I knew it wasn't safe to be on the road.
The neurologist got us in the next day. He was a really nice guy and explained why it was happening and how the body distributes blood. He performed a few tests to determine if it was something more. Everything seemed fine! This is the scenario he painted for us: The heart pumps blood and for pregnant women it pumps about 50% more, when you go from a sitting position to standing your blood first goes to your feet and then back up to your head. In a pregnant women it goes to the feet and then to the uterus. After which it goes to your head. But oh no not in my case . . . my blood flow stops in the uterus and therefore does not reach my head. When this happens you faint! There is nothing I can do to get the flow of blood to my head, and usually when this happens to someone who isn't pregnant they would put you on medication. However, he can't give me anything. He said it will either last until I give birth, or perhaps my body will adjust to the changes.
So it's been a week and it has only happened twice, mainly because I'm lying on the couch all day. We have an appointment with our doctor next week. What is more exciting is that we find out the sex of the baby in one week. I'm so excited! We really think it's a boy, since the baby has been moving so much that I don't think he/she sleeps. Also, because I'm carrying the baby all in the front and up high. Of course there is no proven fact for the above; it's more of what we think. Either way we will just be so happy; it doesn't matter if it's a boy/girl. The entire family also thinks it's a boy except for our 3 year old niece Karina, and my mom. It will be a fun surprise!
Enjoy your week . . .
~Loni
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