1. Carpel tunnel specifically in my left hand is almost completly unusable - ir aches and hurts all night then takes about two hours to become semi-usable again!
2. Hands/feet swelling increased. Vains in hands/feet are puffy by days end
3. Belly is changing. Cant bend over most of the time due to the positioning of baby - either it had a growth spurt or shifted in such a way that my belly just hurts aLOT
4. Have had a cold now for 15 days. The sinusitus passed but still congested and occasional cough. One day im "ok" then next im knocked on my butt! Worst cold ever. Thesinusitus messed up my one tooth with a filling. I wont br surprised if i need to get it looked at soon enough
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Pregnancy 36 weeks
Monday, October 20, 2014
Vaginismus
Disclaimer: This will be a discussion blog where symptoms I experience, my sex life and things I discussed with my OB-GYN today. If that makes you uncomfortable, stop reading now :)
The reference to all of this is www.vaginismus.com for the 'facts' I may quote or where i'm getting my information.
Today I went to an ob-gyn that my midwives referred me to. The reason I went is for a vaginal/anal itch that I've been dealing with for almost 4 years. It worsens during pregnancy. Things I've tried over the years include:
1. Diet - I've concluded that certain foods make it worse, but elimination of any foods specifically don't make the problem go away. (Thus why when I tell people I have a flour/wheat intolerance, it's not for the same reasons that a celiac has issues).
2. Blood reading - I have always been baffled as to why nothing specific has shown up for this issue in the blood reading I regularly receive (but after we get further discussing the vaginismus I now understand why it hasn't shown up in my blood).
3. Yeast - okay, so my last ob-gyn I visited sent me home and told me to eat more yogurt. I about punched him in the face because I have been swabbed, treated, and every other known thing you can do to treat yeast (I've even applied yogurt down there!) and I've never tested positive medically for yeast and rarely in blood reading. ITS NOT YEAST. But this guy was adament and just basically blew me off. I never went back to him again needless to say. But yeast is NOT the cause.
4. Herbals - I take acidophulus, digest enzymes (especially when eating those problem foods I have discovered), multi vit/min, aerobic oxygen, and so on on a generally regular basis.
5. Creams. Oh the creams! My doctor has tried hemorrhoid creams, cortisone creams, some F-____ cream I can't remember the name, and so on.
Anyways, so the big problem is that every time I have been looked at or examined there's never anything wrong in appearance of my lady bits - no rashes, no bumps, no discharge, etc. But it itches like the dickens!
NOW - back to today. I went to see Dr Wood at the Foothills. He was phenomenal! Side note: he had fabulous and kind nurses, and he was a very non-creepy, kind and understanding man who truly seemed to -care- that I was there. So we talk a bit about my history and I will be honest, I was very prepared to defend myself and tell him 'its not yeast!' lol but I never had to go there. He said he wanted to take a look. So (here's where i'm going to start being very detailed), as I scoot into place he asks me if i'm always so 'uptight' when getting examined. I know at that point he's referring to the fact that my legs are basically shaking (with fear) and I cannot relax. I explain that I have never once been able to have an examination without it being completely traumatizing emotionally and physically. Not only is it VERY painful, but I emotionally don't like people down there. (not saying everyone does, but I cannot relax).
Dr Wood explained that he would not be doing an internal exam today but what he wants to do is sensitivity test where he is going to lightly tap my leg and then the outside of the vagina and anus to see if there's any nerve damage from the years of itching - I passed ;) - no nerve damage.
He then throws me for a loop a bit and starts asking about my sex life. Long story short we discussed the fact that it has -always- hurt for me to have sex and it took about a year to discover that if I use a ton of lubrication my husband can at least 'get in' - I explained that my husband is the only partner I've had and that it was extremely emotional that when we went on our honeymoon we didn't have sex even once because it was like there was a wall in the way and I about cried every time we attempted. And then he asked me if I ever feel aroused, which threw me for a loop (going into this appointment I was ready to discuss all the things I've tried for the itch, not my sex life lol) - but I said that I maybe feel aroused once every 30-40 times - and we probably only have intercourse once every 1-2 months.
That all being said he then did a (well lubricated) one finger test which just about made me cry. He said all he did was press against one of the muscles in the vaginal wall and he knew from my cringing in pain and discomfort right then that I am suffering from vaginismus.
My basic understanding is that vaginismus is " vaginal tightness causing discomfort, burning, pain, penetration problems, or complete inability to have intercourse." https://www.vaginismus.com/vaginismus-symptoms - this page specifically goes into really great detail about it that I find fascinating. This also then leads into (on the same site) vaginitus and vaginal atrophy and lichen sclerosis - all things that could be linked to the itching combined with vaginismus which was just interesting for me to read is all.
So talking to Dr Wood he explains that the itching could just be a side affect or it could be something else, but until you get the pelvic muscle tightness figured out, you can't really fix anything. And he said after the baby is born that I can come in to see him again and he can teach me some therapies and techniques (to do on my own time and at my own comfort) to help loosen up the muscles that are essentially in spasm all the time. He did say that he was surprised this was my third birth because most women have some nerve damage after each birth 'down there' and that's what loosens women in that region - it has little to do he said with the stretching from the actual baby exiting.
The other thing that was really enlightening to me is that this really explains alot of other common problems I have:
1. I have never been able to wear tampons - they are SOOO painful
2. Doing canestan yeast treatments or the one time I had to insert a hemorrhoid suppository - OW
3. Having children! I have blogged about this before - but I have never been able to easily push a baby out - because I clench up instead of relax - and this vaginismus totally explains why! I can't relax my pelvic muscles at all. I asked Dr Wood if kegals were good to do and he said they are but I didn't need to worry about it because I have such a strong pelvic muscle base. Kegals strengthen, and that's not what I need to focus on.
I was really excited leaving his office because this is the first time in almost 4 years that I feel like we might actually be in the right direction towards a solution- and it will also potentially help some other problems that I/we have that will only do my body and psyche good.
The sad part is I have to wait until probably 8 weeks AFTER baby is born before I can work with him :( But! I have hope! And I write this blog mostly as an educational piece because I think more people likely suffer from this problem (not necessarily the itch) but it's not as uncommon as people think. Awareness is key.
The reference to all of this is www.vaginismus.com for the 'facts' I may quote or where i'm getting my information.
Today I went to an ob-gyn that my midwives referred me to. The reason I went is for a vaginal/anal itch that I've been dealing with for almost 4 years. It worsens during pregnancy. Things I've tried over the years include:
1. Diet - I've concluded that certain foods make it worse, but elimination of any foods specifically don't make the problem go away. (Thus why when I tell people I have a flour/wheat intolerance, it's not for the same reasons that a celiac has issues).
2. Blood reading - I have always been baffled as to why nothing specific has shown up for this issue in the blood reading I regularly receive (but after we get further discussing the vaginismus I now understand why it hasn't shown up in my blood).
3. Yeast - okay, so my last ob-gyn I visited sent me home and told me to eat more yogurt. I about punched him in the face because I have been swabbed, treated, and every other known thing you can do to treat yeast (I've even applied yogurt down there!) and I've never tested positive medically for yeast and rarely in blood reading. ITS NOT YEAST. But this guy was adament and just basically blew me off. I never went back to him again needless to say. But yeast is NOT the cause.
4. Herbals - I take acidophulus, digest enzymes (especially when eating those problem foods I have discovered), multi vit/min, aerobic oxygen, and so on on a generally regular basis.
5. Creams. Oh the creams! My doctor has tried hemorrhoid creams, cortisone creams, some F-____ cream I can't remember the name, and so on.
Anyways, so the big problem is that every time I have been looked at or examined there's never anything wrong in appearance of my lady bits - no rashes, no bumps, no discharge, etc. But it itches like the dickens!
NOW - back to today. I went to see Dr Wood at the Foothills. He was phenomenal! Side note: he had fabulous and kind nurses, and he was a very non-creepy, kind and understanding man who truly seemed to -care- that I was there. So we talk a bit about my history and I will be honest, I was very prepared to defend myself and tell him 'its not yeast!' lol but I never had to go there. He said he wanted to take a look. So (here's where i'm going to start being very detailed), as I scoot into place he asks me if i'm always so 'uptight' when getting examined. I know at that point he's referring to the fact that my legs are basically shaking (with fear) and I cannot relax. I explain that I have never once been able to have an examination without it being completely traumatizing emotionally and physically. Not only is it VERY painful, but I emotionally don't like people down there. (not saying everyone does, but I cannot relax).
Dr Wood explained that he would not be doing an internal exam today but what he wants to do is sensitivity test where he is going to lightly tap my leg and then the outside of the vagina and anus to see if there's any nerve damage from the years of itching - I passed ;) - no nerve damage.
He then throws me for a loop a bit and starts asking about my sex life. Long story short we discussed the fact that it has -always- hurt for me to have sex and it took about a year to discover that if I use a ton of lubrication my husband can at least 'get in' - I explained that my husband is the only partner I've had and that it was extremely emotional that when we went on our honeymoon we didn't have sex even once because it was like there was a wall in the way and I about cried every time we attempted. And then he asked me if I ever feel aroused, which threw me for a loop (going into this appointment I was ready to discuss all the things I've tried for the itch, not my sex life lol) - but I said that I maybe feel aroused once every 30-40 times - and we probably only have intercourse once every 1-2 months.
That all being said he then did a (well lubricated) one finger test which just about made me cry. He said all he did was press against one of the muscles in the vaginal wall and he knew from my cringing in pain and discomfort right then that I am suffering from vaginismus.
My basic understanding is that vaginismus is " vaginal tightness causing discomfort, burning, pain, penetration problems, or complete inability to have intercourse." https://www.vaginismus.com/vaginismus-symptoms - this page specifically goes into really great detail about it that I find fascinating. This also then leads into (on the same site) vaginitus and vaginal atrophy and lichen sclerosis - all things that could be linked to the itching combined with vaginismus which was just interesting for me to read is all.
So talking to Dr Wood he explains that the itching could just be a side affect or it could be something else, but until you get the pelvic muscle tightness figured out, you can't really fix anything. And he said after the baby is born that I can come in to see him again and he can teach me some therapies and techniques (to do on my own time and at my own comfort) to help loosen up the muscles that are essentially in spasm all the time. He did say that he was surprised this was my third birth because most women have some nerve damage after each birth 'down there' and that's what loosens women in that region - it has little to do he said with the stretching from the actual baby exiting.
The other thing that was really enlightening to me is that this really explains alot of other common problems I have:
1. I have never been able to wear tampons - they are SOOO painful
2. Doing canestan yeast treatments or the one time I had to insert a hemorrhoid suppository - OW
3. Having children! I have blogged about this before - but I have never been able to easily push a baby out - because I clench up instead of relax - and this vaginismus totally explains why! I can't relax my pelvic muscles at all. I asked Dr Wood if kegals were good to do and he said they are but I didn't need to worry about it because I have such a strong pelvic muscle base. Kegals strengthen, and that's not what I need to focus on.
I was really excited leaving his office because this is the first time in almost 4 years that I feel like we might actually be in the right direction towards a solution- and it will also potentially help some other problems that I/we have that will only do my body and psyche good.
The sad part is I have to wait until probably 8 weeks AFTER baby is born before I can work with him :( But! I have hope! And I write this blog mostly as an educational piece because I think more people likely suffer from this problem (not necessarily the itch) but it's not as uncommon as people think. Awareness is key.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Happy Thanksgiving 2014
Well it's Thanksgiving again. Weather wise, my favourite time of year is anytime it's nice enough to be outside without a sweater and little to no wind -wink-, generally that's July & August with snipits throughout the rest of the year. Holiday wise, my fav holidays are halloween and Christmas (for various reasons and i'll likely share in a blog when those times arrive).
But! Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart. I have fond fond fond fond memories of time with family during Thanksgiving and I remember specifically because I was born on Thanksgiving so my birthday often falls on the long weekend or a day before/after. This year it's actually on Tuesday coming, but it's still my birthday weekend. Over the years the Shideler's have grown into having a tradition to have bbq ribs for our thanksgiving dinner, and we have various Shideler's (extended family) join us for the event. This year we were welcomed by my entire immediate family and Aunt Ellen and Steven/Jai/Aidan/Aaron. It was a lovely time.
This year was strange for me because I was supposed to host dinner! (with our family dinner rotation it was actually my turn). I caught a cold on Wednesday of last week sadly though and by yesterday (Saturday) I was 100% the same condition I was during the week - not at all better. So with deep remorse I called my mom and discussed options with her, and we decided to just change the venue location to her house instead. I packed up all the food I had already purchased/prepared and Michael took it to her place (he was already heading to the south of calgary to meet his parents for the day). Anyways, so Sunday rolls around and i'm not really better, slightly improved so I went as a guest and helped as much as I could in the prep/cleanup as I could.
Outside of being sick it was LOVELY being with my family :) I LOVE being with family, there's nothing better! And I couldn't have planned a better menu haha! Ribs, potatoes, honey glazed carrots, greek salad, kale salad, homemade rolls, punch, apple crisp and ice cream and pumpkin pie. It was DIVINE.
And this week I hit 35 weeks, so me and my dad did our belly pose together while I was there (pic below), and I have also posted a picture of the group of us that went laser tagging in lieu of my birthday on Oct 3rd.
But! Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart. I have fond fond fond fond memories of time with family during Thanksgiving and I remember specifically because I was born on Thanksgiving so my birthday often falls on the long weekend or a day before/after. This year it's actually on Tuesday coming, but it's still my birthday weekend. Over the years the Shideler's have grown into having a tradition to have bbq ribs for our thanksgiving dinner, and we have various Shideler's (extended family) join us for the event. This year we were welcomed by my entire immediate family and Aunt Ellen and Steven/Jai/Aidan/Aaron. It was a lovely time.
This year was strange for me because I was supposed to host dinner! (with our family dinner rotation it was actually my turn). I caught a cold on Wednesday of last week sadly though and by yesterday (Saturday) I was 100% the same condition I was during the week - not at all better. So with deep remorse I called my mom and discussed options with her, and we decided to just change the venue location to her house instead. I packed up all the food I had already purchased/prepared and Michael took it to her place (he was already heading to the south of calgary to meet his parents for the day). Anyways, so Sunday rolls around and i'm not really better, slightly improved so I went as a guest and helped as much as I could in the prep/cleanup as I could.
Outside of being sick it was LOVELY being with my family :) I LOVE being with family, there's nothing better! And I couldn't have planned a better menu haha! Ribs, potatoes, honey glazed carrots, greek salad, kale salad, homemade rolls, punch, apple crisp and ice cream and pumpkin pie. It was DIVINE.
And this week I hit 35 weeks, so me and my dad did our belly pose together while I was there (pic below), and I have also posted a picture of the group of us that went laser tagging in lieu of my birthday on Oct 3rd.
(I realized I didn't put any makeup on or anything before we left so this is as 'eu naturel' as I come LOL)
laser tag party with a bunch of my friends
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Kindergarten Week 5
This week I upped my craft-ness for Logan - he has been craving crafts and activities so I figured I would do my best to make it happen for him.
Otherwise a fairly basic week. We are working through all the subjects one day at a time. Logan's enjoyment of reading still astounds me each day we work on it. We are having a good ol' time!
Below is a picture of us focusing on shapes. Logan knows his basic shapes (Triangle, Circle, Square, Rectangle) so we added Hexagon, Pentagon, Octagon for a challenge (I can't remember if I blogged about this last Friday or if we did this Monday and I just added it to FB, oh well, sorry for the repeat). Anyways, I cut out large shapes and we proceeded to decorate them with markers and stickers and glitter! It's nice because whenever we see the shapes around our day to day life we now have a reference: "hey Logan, that stop sign has 8 sides - what else has 8 sides? an octopus? yes! that's right - just like our shapes. And we also made a 5 side pentagon and 6 side hexagon - do you remember? awesome!"
Our 'extracurricular' activity this week was going Bowling. Logan loves bowling - at least 6 frames, then he is done haha, but we had a fun time! (daddy was able to come too)
Today we went for a walk/park play with the kids I babysit on Thursdays. We collected leaves along the way and when we got back we made leaf wreaths (inspired by my nieces)
Our 'extracurricular' activity this week was going Bowling. Logan loves bowling - at least 6 frames, then he is done haha, but we had a fun time! (daddy was able to come too)
Today we went for a walk/park play with the kids I babysit on Thursdays. We collected leaves along the way and when we got back we made leaf wreaths (inspired by my nieces)
Friday, September 26, 2014
Pregnancy week 32
OSo we made it to the single digits. It's been a rough road in lots of ways. Yet, aside from the physical discomforts (baby is a STRONG little critter with its kicks and punches and of course the sciatic pain) the pregnancy is easier now than the first two trimesters. Don't get me wrong, i'm still looking VERY forward to getting this sucker out of me! but i'm at least not an emotionally miserable person at the moment.
Symptoms/stats:
-sciatic
-itch problem (I have been wheat free for over a week and it helps but not as much as I would have hoped/liked)
-acne cleared up mid 2nd trimester - finally get my nice pregnancy skin!
-weight gain at 36lbs (boo)
-baby is measuring exactly at 32 weeks
-baby is brutal inside me. literally beating me up all the time almost making me cry at moments at how much it can hurt
-energy is at a 6-7 out of 10
-little to no sympathy towards anyone - child or adult and little to no patience <- this particilar point is the hardest for me to cope with as i want to -care- but i just dont feel like it. Its a weird unknown emotion to me
That's all I can think of :)
Still hoping for a Halloween baby, and for all you haters out there I am FULLY aware that the baby will come when he/she is ready :P but for the sheer fun of it we are rooting for a H-ween child :)
Kindergarten week 4
This week was pretty lax for us. Our schedule I am learning will change every month. My no-school-Tuesdays is going to be adjusted and for October we have to take Carter to swimming twice a week for 3 weeks during a typical schooling time. But! even though we haven't always been able to school in the morning we have made the effort to catch it in the afternoon. Tho, I still prefer the morning just to 'getter-done'.
We did some minimal stuff this week. Focused mostly on reading/writing skills. Logan has added -g, -e, and -th to his repetoir. He can now sound out simple sentences such as "the cat" "the dog" "get the cat/dog" "mom met dad" "tom mad at sam", etc. He really has a knack for reading. We also did a vinegar/baking soda experiment, and did some painting throughout the week.
I found on a personal level I feel like I can't keep up with Logan's demand for activities. He wants to CRAFT and make things and do EXPERIMENTS all the time and I didn't really have a lot planned for this week. I have a ton of material for things, but I don't want to have it all finished by November lol! Trying to pace ourselves. I need to work on some simple paper crafts on a more regular basis because thats what he's interested in right now. I haven't found the happy medium yet is I guess what i'm saying. Pinterest is awesome but it's also exhausting as there is so many things we could do.
Otherwise week 4 a success! I've adjusted a few of his workbooks - put one away as it was conflicting with another book - they certainly are both great books, just not meant to be done simultaneously! As for the curriculum I purchased, I have a few books that I will definetly use again, and then a few that I won't buy again (as the one specifically is too American).
Anyways, Bly family homeschoolers are truckin' along! :)
(And Carter is enjoying his Joyschool on Fridays)
We did some minimal stuff this week. Focused mostly on reading/writing skills. Logan has added -g, -e, and -th to his repetoir. He can now sound out simple sentences such as "the cat" "the dog" "get the cat/dog" "mom met dad" "tom mad at sam", etc. He really has a knack for reading. We also did a vinegar/baking soda experiment, and did some painting throughout the week.
I found on a personal level I feel like I can't keep up with Logan's demand for activities. He wants to CRAFT and make things and do EXPERIMENTS all the time and I didn't really have a lot planned for this week. I have a ton of material for things, but I don't want to have it all finished by November lol! Trying to pace ourselves. I need to work on some simple paper crafts on a more regular basis because thats what he's interested in right now. I haven't found the happy medium yet is I guess what i'm saying. Pinterest is awesome but it's also exhausting as there is so many things we could do.
Otherwise week 4 a success! I've adjusted a few of his workbooks - put one away as it was conflicting with another book - they certainly are both great books, just not meant to be done simultaneously! As for the curriculum I purchased, I have a few books that I will definetly use again, and then a few that I won't buy again (as the one specifically is too American).
Anyways, Bly family homeschoolers are truckin' along! :)
(And Carter is enjoying his Joyschool on Fridays)
Friday, September 19, 2014
Kindergarten week 3
Well this was a fun week! We did our first field trip - we went to the telus spark science center. I arranged for carter to stay with my mom so Logan and I could "dig deep" into the world of science. It was really fun!! Im sure Logan doesnt remmeber much, but when something has come up in convo he has been like "we saw that at the science center with the <something> exhibit" so all in all.very successful and very fun! Prob do a yearly trip :)
Logans phonics and reading skills are coming along very quickly - im super impressed with the book we are using "The Reading lesson". His new list of words he can sound out all by himself are: at, sat, cat, rat, mat, am, sam, ram, mom, dad, sad, mad, cot, dot.
Otherwise we did regular math - just starting to get into new material - to this point its been mostly review. We made a family tree and a picture family timeline and tho he kinda already knew aboit it, we are mastering our NSEW directions. Frankly i still struggle with them to this day - id say we probably are at the same level here LOL
The game Logic Street is a fab game! Its a pattern/thinking game and logan loves it and so do I! It was a great investment. Other games weve played this week are Brain Box and with Tegu blocks. We also made a family tree which logan amazed me with his cutting skills. Good week so far
Still.avg about an hour a day. Sometimes 45 mins, sometimes a little longer. We also have been faithful in sticking to our schedule of morning school and I keep my phone upstairs as to not be interruptes. We did one afternoon this week which wasnt my fav but we did it!
Pic: one is the dome show and one is playing.at one of the exhibits
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