baby number 5 on the way

this is my second pregnancy since I knew I had prolapse. I have actually had prolapse since my second birth. After that birth we noticed the rectocele and just figured it was normal for post birth and no one (midwives at 6 week check up and midwives for 3rd birth- doing my well checks) said a word about it.

I always get to the point that my prolapse is high and small, usually about 15 months after the baby is born-.

my uterus has not really ever been very low. There was a time that it was lower than normal for me- usually I can not reach my cervix and it got to where I could get to it easily and feel all around it, so I know it did come down some.....I have a rectocele mostly-

you can definitely have more children and it won't necessarily make your pop worse for the long haul. It may make it more symptomatic though in the short term. That is one of the factors we consider now. Can we handle me needing to rest more, me not lifting as much, me not wanting to be out all over town running errands. And after the birth is even worse as far as mama out of commission. I really don't do anything except care for my baby and myself. I read and hug and snuggle my big kids, but I let someone else wash clothes, tie shoes, help with tantrums, do dishes, cook meals and shop. Usually that's my husband and sister. This time around I don't have my sister living with us- so I'm not sure what we will do. But I do know that I will not be doing the bulk of the work around here for a few months after the baby comes.

Thanks everyone for the well -wishes and travel tips!
Granolamom, we are going to Honduras to visit Babygotback!

baby #4 had terrible allergies. I couldn't eat anything. No veges, no fruits, no dairy. So I tried turkey (which is recommended on an elimination diet for allergies) and he was happy and I was not starving. Then I added sweet potatoes and that was fine. Slowly I put back in a few foods (like apples and avocados) but he couldn't tolerate beans, lentils or eggs (my main protein sources). For about 8 months all I ate were those 4 foods breakfast, lunch and dinner. Really. no fruit, no dairy, just those 4 foods. It was interesting. The meat really kept me full for 3 and 4 hours at a time (before, I was eating every 2 hours or so to keep my blood sugar stable).
Somewhere in there our baby #2 got very very sick with a parasite (that he still has) and started losing weight, had terrible tummy aches (up screaming for hours in the night), and stopped playing- just laid on the couch all day. We decided to give him the 'gold standard treatment' for this particular parasite (at the recommendation of our ped) and that was flagyl (and I knew it wouldn't work- I had read plenty by then about it and it's 100% failure rate- but did it anyway so that the ped would work with me). To reduce the chance of a yeast infection I cut out all fruit, grains and simple starches from his diet. Slowly he started to get better (even though testing showed the exact same level of infection) so we stuck with it. The whole family joined in so he didn't feel so deprived and we have been this way for about a year and a half. He now can have fruit and dairy in a very limited capacity with no added tummy ache, too much and it's pretty sad.

Now that I can eat eggs again I could probably go back to vegetarian. We are still off the beans- but I could try to reintroduce them and see what happens. It's just that I feel so good. Like amazingly good. I have never ever felt this good during pregnancy before. And of course the rest of the family is eating meat still and it would be a pain to cook two separate meals (though I have done that in the past).
I'm guessing we will go back to not eating meat. It will probably be about the same time we start eating beans and grains again.

Thanks for the vibes!!! and the excitement- around here most people don't get too excited about baby #5. It's kinda sad really.

our baby is sleeping (but I doubt for much longer) so I thought I'd update a little.
Our trip was fabulous. The kids really did carry their own bags. The baby went in the Ergo and dh's back and I carried a pack or two depending.
We had an easy flight there and back. The lines on the way out of the country were no problem. Getting back in took a good bit longer and we were worn out by then but everyone held up beautifully.
It was hard on my back (sleeping in a different bed and not getting the rest I usually get) but not too hard. We had a great visit and we are very happy to be home.
I'm still feeling really good. I'm bigger now. Way way bigger. And the baby isn't just bumping- it's more like slamming now. I think I'm about 22 or 23 weeks, so more than halfway or just about anyway. I don't like being this big and hate knowing I'm only going to get bigger before it's all over. I really like being able to run and jump and catch my toddler and keep up with my big kids. It is so weird to be slower. Oh well, it's good training for the slowing down you do for the baby.
My prolapse is fine. I have started feeling that ache in my tendons that attach to the inside of the pubic bone and the femur. I've also started to get that ache in my hips on the outside of them from sleeping on my side and sometimes I ache deep in my pelvis. I have no clue if this is pop related or not....but I bet somehow it probably is.
I am already looking forward to having this all behind me :)
That's about all I can think of right now....big belly, aching in the pelvis, ready to be done.....feels a little early for all these sort of things- but it is the 5th pregnancy.

Well, I read over the last post I wrote and things have changed :)
I'm now in the third trimester. The baby is big and I'm pretty big. As of last week I've gained about 15lbs (13 on the scale at the gym and 20 on my parent's scale- I'm sticking with 15). I'm wearing some maternity clothes now but my 'bigger' pants are still fitting beautifully. These are the ones I bought after I had our first baby and realized at 6 weeks I was not actually going to fit into my regular clothing for a long long time. So, while I normally wear a 4 or 6- these are 8s (and let me just say how silly it feels to share all that- but weight gain matters to me as far as 'information about pregnancy and prolapse"). So, with my last pregnancy I wanted to gain as little as possible to see if it made any difference. Well, as little as possible ended up being somewhere in the 25lb range- which was what I gained with the first 3. I'm on track to gain a little less this time but so far I can't see that it's made much of a difference.
I feel pretty good all the time. I have tons of energy and my hormones are happier hormones than they were a month ago. I went through a really bad patch where I started to worry the blue feeling wouldn't lift. But it's gone, thank goodness. I know the second trimester is usually a happy time for most but for me it was tough.
and now an update on my pop. Recently my urine stream has slowed down- but it's not consistent- which is terribly frustrating when you are pregnant and really need to pee. It sometimes feels like it takes forever. And then sometimes the flow is really fast and strong. I think it really depends on the position of the baby.
The cystocele is definitely back. The anterior wall is soft and moves quite a bit if I bear down. I know that is the reason for the slow flow at times. But so far no stress incontinence- even if I jump or run or sneeze.
I can palpate my uterus on the anterior wall and it takes up most of the space along the anterior wall. When I'm not pregnant, I can feel the uterus but it's small and doesn't seem to put much weight on the anterior wall. I don't know if that makes sense but......
My cervix is still way out of reach. But when I trace the anterior wall to try to get to the cervix it feels much more horizontal. When I'm not pregnant the wall sort of angles up and back- now it mostly feels like it doesn't go up much at all just back- like the uterus has filled up the space.
And the rectocele is happy as can be and not any bigger. My body sure doesn't mind natures pessary.
Everything is still tucked well inside.
I've been having some intense nerve pain that comes and goes- I'm guessing it's because of my disc issue. But it radiates down the top of my hip bone and into the ligaments of my uterus - and ends at the place where those ligaments insert in my pelvis- right around the bottom of the ball and socket joint. It doesn't last long and I can go days with out noticing it.
I'm still active. Swimming is so comfortable and when I can get out to do it I feel good for it.
A few weeks ago my entire family had the worst bug ever with vomit and violent diarrhea. It's was intense. I was so worried that all that puke and abdominal force would make my prolapse worse- and it was more noticeable in the short term- but everything is back to normal now and we are all well again.
I have totally been cheating on my sugar free diet. It's getting bad now and I'm trying to talk myself back into going cold turkey- and not being willing to do it. Usually I don't struggle with food issues- I eat when I'm hungry and I don't have any problem avoiding foods that are not on the approved list or cravings. But the last few weeks I've just had a series of cravings that all involved sugar. I figure I'll just indulge and see what happens. My dh commented that in the last few weeks his joints have been bugging him and I bet you it's because he's eating sugar :) cause you know that when I eat it he eats it :)
Oh well, that's about it- prolapse: yes it's there- no it's not causing issues.
I'm starting to get that whole 'thinking about the actual birth and not wanting to go through with it' feeling. That's normal for me.
Our family is ready for a new baby. Though when we were in the middle of the vomit thing dh looked at me and said 'what were we thinking, now there's going to be 7 of us sick at once' and all I could do was laugh. Sort of....

ok. I don't think it's a coincidence that the sugar cravings started right after the virus. I know that my gut flora was disturbed in a big way. I bet it's yeast in my intestine crying out for sugar so they can take over. Or maybe it is a craving for extra fat. I'm going to double up on my probiotic and eat more avocados and see if the craving goes away.
Sometimes you just can't see something- even when it's right in front of you. Thanks y'all for making the connection for me.

this morning I was reading about the third trimester and was reminded that there is an increased calcium need in the third trimester. Since our diet is so high in protein I need to be extra conscious to consume enough. Guess what has lots of calcium :) (I don't like dairy- we don't eat fortified foods- so maybe that's what the icecream cravings is all about).
I've made a big list of foods high in calcium and that have easily absorbable calcium.
The good news is that we make bone broth once a week, eat green leafys every day and I take that calm drink- so I can't be that far behind. Just need to up it a little bit. maybe replace my midnight snack of sugar with beet greens and almonds ;)