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May. 7th, 2003 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckMy feet have continued to swell. My OB's not concerned about it, so I'm just muddling along. I'm drinking at least 3 liters of water a day, plus some juice and pop. Supposedly, adding more liquid will help, but it's counterintuitive, and I'm really not convinced it's all coming back out again. After all, I've gained 10 pounds in the last two weeks, and I'm really not eating all that much. The biggest drawback to the feet swelling is that my shoes won't always fit. I can't bend and breathe at the same time, so I need shoes I can just step into, but my loafers have a limited ability to stretch (their length is fine; it's the width and height that are insufficient).
The baby's head down now, and when she turns her head, she rubs my bladder and my intestines. Both are sensations I could live happily without. The pressure on my bowels has combined badly with the anti-nausea suppositories to give me occasional cramps. Ah, well, at least, I'm not fighting constipation... (I feel like I should knock wood!)
I saw both the OB and the physical therapist yesterday. I was glad to get both appointments on the same day since it's become rather difficult to get to the hospital for those appointments. My OB had me talk to a nurse-midwife. We discussed the various current physical difficulties without reaching any real conclusions. We also talked about IVs. I don't know if she actually understood my concerns or believed me about the level of pain I've experienced with them in the past. She told me that an IV will be absolutely required if I want any pain medication during labor.
I also asked her about getting a green card so that I can ride taxis more cheaply while my mobility is limited. She'd never heard of such a thing but said she'd have the staff social worker, who ought to know, talk to me about it. The timing didn't work out for me to talk to the social worker just then, so she's supposed to call me today or tomorrow.
It took me half an hour to get my next OB appointment set up and to get to PT. I'd hoped to have a little more time to take the journey so that I could stop halfway and rest. I probably ought to have stopped at the front desk and requested wheelchair transport, but I wasn't sure how long I'd have to wait, and I knew I had just enough time to walk it. The PT clinic I go to is the one furthest from the main entrance to the hospital, and it's always a little frustrating to pass the other clinics on the way (none of them deal with the sort of PT I need, so it's not a matter of having been assigned to an inconvenient location and wanting to switch).
The therapist showed me another exercise. It requires that I have an assistant since I'm just supposed to relax and let someone else move the things that need to be moved. Scott and I worked on it last night, and he's not really very happy with doing it. Apparently, it strains some things in his body. Basically, I lie on one side, and my helper kneels (or stands if I'm close enough to the edge of the bed) behind me. He puts a hand under the knee of the upper leg and keeps his forearm under my calf. My foot braces a little against his hip while his other hand holds my hips in position. Then he gently pulls the leg back (and up a little to keep from hurting my pubis) until I get a stretch in front. He has to hold my leg for 30 seconds before putting it down again. Scott's having trouble with the putting it down again part which is bad because I've got no control to bring my leg down myself; the nature of the position is such that I really can't do anything.
The baby's head down now, and when she turns her head, she rubs my bladder and my intestines. Both are sensations I could live happily without. The pressure on my bowels has combined badly with the anti-nausea suppositories to give me occasional cramps. Ah, well, at least, I'm not fighting constipation... (I feel like I should knock wood!)
I saw both the OB and the physical therapist yesterday. I was glad to get both appointments on the same day since it's become rather difficult to get to the hospital for those appointments. My OB had me talk to a nurse-midwife. We discussed the various current physical difficulties without reaching any real conclusions. We also talked about IVs. I don't know if she actually understood my concerns or believed me about the level of pain I've experienced with them in the past. She told me that an IV will be absolutely required if I want any pain medication during labor.
I also asked her about getting a green card so that I can ride taxis more cheaply while my mobility is limited. She'd never heard of such a thing but said she'd have the staff social worker, who ought to know, talk to me about it. The timing didn't work out for me to talk to the social worker just then, so she's supposed to call me today or tomorrow.
It took me half an hour to get my next OB appointment set up and to get to PT. I'd hoped to have a little more time to take the journey so that I could stop halfway and rest. I probably ought to have stopped at the front desk and requested wheelchair transport, but I wasn't sure how long I'd have to wait, and I knew I had just enough time to walk it. The PT clinic I go to is the one furthest from the main entrance to the hospital, and it's always a little frustrating to pass the other clinics on the way (none of them deal with the sort of PT I need, so it's not a matter of having been assigned to an inconvenient location and wanting to switch).
The therapist showed me another exercise. It requires that I have an assistant since I'm just supposed to relax and let someone else move the things that need to be moved. Scott and I worked on it last night, and he's not really very happy with doing it. Apparently, it strains some things in his body. Basically, I lie on one side, and my helper kneels (or stands if I'm close enough to the edge of the bed) behind me. He puts a hand under the knee of the upper leg and keeps his forearm under my calf. My foot braces a little against his hip while his other hand holds my hips in position. Then he gently pulls the leg back (and up a little to keep from hurting my pubis) until I get a stretch in front. He has to hold my leg for 30 seconds before putting it down again. Scott's having trouble with the putting it down again part which is bad because I've got no control to bring my leg down myself; the nature of the position is such that I really can't do anything.
