BumpDate: 26 Weeks

The past week has actually been pretty eventful for Little Man and myself. Shortly after my last BumpDate, I started noticing this weird pain near my ribs, right under my bra line on the right side. I wasn't really worried about it but it HURT! Nothing I did seemed to help, except for laying flat on my back, which all pregnant women know, you're not supposed to lay flat on your back. Sitting seemed to make it worse, which was awesome because I sit for a majority of my day. I turned to Dr. Google and found an article that described the exact pain I was having - it was like a burning mixed with a dull ache mixed with a stabbing pain. Turns out (according to Parent's magazine), that as my uterus pushes up, my lungs have less room and the expanding of the diaphragm irritates the cartilage on my ribs. Well, I was happy it wasn't serious and didn't warrant a call to my doctor, but the article also said I could be dealing with it until the baby drops - which is a ways a way! Ug.

Let's be clear, I am not complaining. I am SO beyond happy to be pregnant and to feel his every kick and movement. But man, that hurt.

Luckily, I think the baby switched positions a few days later, because the pain has subsided. Whew.

Which brings me to Saturday. Long story short, I was walking quickly for about 3.5 blocks to get out of the rain. Got into my car, drove 30 minutes home, got out of my car and could not believe how badly my back hurt. Well, me, being the smart one that I am, didn't take it easy on Sunday. Sunday night/Monday morning around 3 am I woke up and oh, man. I had a hard time even getting out of bed to go to the bathroom. I moved myself out to the couch so I could lay on my side and press ice up against it at the same time, but I had a hard time even standing to get the ice pack out.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to work Monday. Let's just say, I would be the world's worst bed-rest patient. I spent the whole day staring at my sewing machine thinking to myself "I could sit with ice on it and work on my sewing project..." Knowing full well that sitting is the worst thing for my injury. (I've been through this a time or two before.) Luckily by the end of the day, I could at least get up to move around. I made it back to work today, but my back is still pretty far from 100%.

Finally, our last event came to a head today. I'll try to avoid TMI here, but I do need to be little descriptive. The past couple of days I have noticed some clear, very watery discharge. Well, I Dr. Googled it again and every site said to call your provider if you have clear, watery discharge. So, called my doctor, got in for an appointment at 1:45 today. Turned out, everything was fine, but they did want to check me just to be sure I wasn't leaking amniotic fluid - especially because what I was experiencing had a sweet smell to it (apparently a sign) - or have an infection. Thankfully, it was no to all of the above, but not going to lie, the possibility of leaking amniotic fluid had both Bryan and I more than a little freaked out.

They say things come in threes, so hopefully the next week will be a little quieter. In other news, I am pretty sure Baby Ripke is going to be a Kung-Fu fighter based on how much he kicks anymore. He definitely is a strong little boy!

Another exciting milestone - I scheduled our maternity pictures today! I was on the fence about doing them, I have very strong opinions about poses I will NOT be doing, including no kissing of belly, no ribbons tied around belly, no bare belly and no hands forming hearts over my belly. (No offense to anyone who likes such poses, they're just not my cup of tea.) I found a reasonably priced photographer in Vinton we are going to use and her maternity pictures she has posted on her website are very tasteful and not too cliche. I figure I'll be glad I took them some day.

Finally, here is this week's belly picture!