A Pain in the Butt

Well, to be more specific, it's probably more like sciatica, pelvic girdle pain, or round ligament pain - although I don't know why round ligament pain would hurt my backside. Anyway, it's been getting worse and worse over the last few days. Every step hurts. Putting my pants and socks on is torture. Standing up and sitting down make me cringe.

Sunday afternoon and evening it really intensified, and then yesterday I was just miserable at work. I called the OB's office, and they had me come in. I suggested that it felt like sciatica or pelvic girdle pain, but the nurse practitioner thought it could be round ligament pain. She explained that at this point in my pregnancy, my uterus is experiencing a lot of growing and stretching. However, from what I've read round ligament pain is something that is usually felt in the abdominal area. In any case, she was very concerned about the amount of pain I was in, and she advised me to take some time off of work to rest and see if it goes away.

So, I'm on a leave of absence until I see the doctor again on the 21st. If the pain has subsided, then I will return to work. If it hasn't, I won't. Since I've been out of the classroom, my new responsibilities have me all over campus and working with every grade level. That's just not doable in this kind of pain. Sigh...

I was able to schedule a last-minute prenatal massage this afternoon. The massage therapist worked my sore side as much as I could let her. It really hurt! I'll go back in a couple of weeks for another session with her. I'm so high maintenance!

Eleven Months

Michael in Hong Kong

Another month has passed. Another month closer to a sweet reunion.

While perusing a copy of People magazine last week, I came across a book review for Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo. It's the retelling of a little boy's visit to Heaven during an appendectomy. Some of the things the review mentioned were really compelling to me and I had to order a copy of the book for myself.

I have been very careful to only read things about Heaven that are in alignment with what scripture says. There are a lot of books on the market about near-death experiences, but I'm skeptical about a lot of them. I found Colton's story to be compatible with what the Bible says about Heaven.

Some of the things that struck me were that he met his sister - a sister he didn't know he had. His mother had experienced a miscarriage several years before, but Colton did not know that. He also met his great-grandfather who had died nearly thirty years before Colton's lifetime. The thing I took away from that is that our Earthly family ties are still very important in Heaven. For those of us who have lost a family member, or spouse, that is incredibly comforting to know.

He also had some wonderful things to say about the throne room of God. The incredible colors displayed there. He described Jesus as having "markers". When his dad asked him more about that, Colton pointed to the palms of his hands and the tops of his feet. He said Jesus loves the children, and that Colton sat on Jesus' lap and He was his teacher. He said there are many children in Heaven, and lots of grown-ups, but no old people. Colton also said Heaven has all kinds of animals.

Colton's account includes many more incredible, Biblically appropriate details, and the amazing thing is that he was not quite four years old when he had this experience. I was moved to tears several times as I read his childlike but poignant descriptions of my final destination. I can't tell you how emotional and how comforting it is to imagine Michael in that place and most likely all the children we conceived via IVF - all eight of them! How I long to be there with them - in the Lord's timing, of course.

I feel like in these eleven months of living without the person I love the most, the Lord has revealed so much to me about Heaven, and that He has given me an understanding of Biblical prophecy through a lot of study. That knowledge has given me such comfort and hope. It sustains me while I wait, and I do believe that Heaven is close.

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. ~ Mark 10:15

Twenty-Six Weeks

Eye of a twenty-six week old fetus

Drum roll, please! According to several sources, this marks the beginning of my third trimester! Other sources consider the twenty-eighth week to be the start of the third trimester, but I'm going with the former sources.

From thevisiualmd.com:

It's the start of your third trimester! And you can breathe a little easier: otherwise healthy babies born this week have a 90% chance of survival with no lasting physical or neurological impairment. Right now your ever-growing baby may be nearly 10" (25 cm) long from crown to rump, about the length of an eggplant, and weigh almost 2 lbs, 4 oz (1,000 g).

Baby's eyes are now highly developed, with retinas that contain nerve cells called rods and cones. Rods permit vision in low levels of light, while cones produce sharp images and allow us to see color. So your baby is now sensitive to different levels of brightness, as some light does penetrate through your abdomen and into the womb. Babies' eyes are usually blue or brown at birth, depending on race. Many blue eyes change color in the weeks following after birth, though, because the final formation of eye pigmentation requires exposure to light.

This week I've experienced lots of aches and pains. My tailbone is killing me. From what I've read, this is normal as the bones and ligaments prepare for birth. The last couple of days, I've had more digestive upset - reflux mostly and it's too much like nausea. My bottle of Mylanta is just about empty, and I've been to three or four pharmacies searching for a new one, but to no avail. Googled it tonight and it turns out that Mylanta was recalled at the end of last year due to some labeling errors. It's still safe to take, and that's a good thing because I've taken a lot of it. I'll be switching over to Maalox now instead because it has the same ingredients.

This morning I'm going over to the lab for my glucose test. I have to fast and the lab doesn't open until eight o'clock. It's going to be a tough morning for me as I usually eat as soon as I get up. I have to because I'm starving!

I treated myself to a humidifier the other day. I've been so stuffy since I've been pregnant, and that combined with getting over a cold and such dry winter air has made it difficult to sleep at night. I can't believe the difference it makes for me. Now if I could just get comfortable. Between my sore tailbone, and cramping feet and legs, sleep comes in fits and starts. Pregnancy is so hard! Waa!

Work has been "interesting". There was no schedule set up to determine how I was supposed to spend my time until today. So, I had very little to do all week long. I took a novel to work on Tuesday, and I'm halfway through it now. I am sharing a room with some really nice staff members, and I've enjoyed being around them, but overall it's been very frustrating to me to be removed from the classroom and left with close to nothing to do. That will change next week, however. My proposed schedule almost seems too full, so I'll see how that goes. Ten weeks to go until I can begin my maternity leave and I'll be counting them down with relish.