Casualties of Pregnancy

Four women are currently pregnant at the children's museum where I sometimes work as a teaching artist. For the first two trimesters of pregnancy, I would just smile as they outlined all their pregnancy ails--morning sickness, extreme fatigue, urinary tract infection, etc. My pregnancy had been a breeze. I had gotten a little tired during the first trimester, but nothing that couldn't be taken care of with a brief afternoon nap.

Enter the third trimester. The first DAY of my third trimester I had a rash all over my body, my back began hurting, and my ankles started swelling. I called my midwife. She suggested my rash was probably due to a lack of proper liver functioning--a fairly common problem in pregnancy and recommended I take milk thistle. For my back, she gave me the business card for her chiropractor, Dr. Stewart. She said it was too early for swelling. Given Spencer's recent report to her regarding my protein intake, she deducted a lack of protein must be the culprit.

Fast forward to a month and a half later. The rash is gone, and I don't think it was my liver. I think it was a skin allergy. Dr. Stewart has resolved the back pain issue. And the swelling....I started charting my protein intake and realized I really had to make every meal and every snack count. An apple won't do the job, but an apple with 2-4 tablespoons of peanut butter will. I kept my swelling down when I ate between 60 to 80 grams of protein a day.

For the past two weeks, the swelling has returned. Apparently, it is appropriate at this time given where I am in the pregnancy and the extreme Arkansas heat and humidity. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to look down and not recognize a part of your own body.