Hey ladies, I'm so sorry that I kind of bumped out of here. This pregnancy hasn't been easy: the weight gain, aches and pains, life, doctors, more life, work...
And our business kind of picked up. Performing acupuncture on people is really draining. I love what I do, but that is because you (as an acupuncturist) have to put so much of your heart and soul into each and every treatment, and that usually means feeling a bit drained at the end of the day. I've been so happy for that picking up, but it's been a challenge
Not only that, but I was having some really troubling symptoms. As I may have mentioned, I can never remember which places I've said what things, I haven't been able to sleep/lay on my back since like 16 weeks pregnant due to my low blood pressure. A month or so ago, I started having really big problems. I was getting the dizziness, shortness of breath, tunnel vision, etc. usually reserved for when I was on my back only this was happening in any position. Ended up at the cardiologist. It was nothing to do with my heart, thank God! Simply, for some reason, I was essentially over-producing adrenaline which was leading to hyperventilating. Since we found out what it was, my husband was (and is) giving me acupuncture treatments every 3-4 days, and the attacks have stopped 100%. It's been wonderful.
What?!?! That's not enough, you say?

Our son started developing these issues around going to the bathroom. No matter what he was doing (eating, playing with friends, playing alone, in the car, etc.) he was peeing more and more frequently. It started out just close enough together that I thought he was trying to get out of whatever he was doing, but then, each day, they seemed to be getting closer and closer together. Until, and I'm not exaggerated a bit, he was peeing every 2-5 minutes. Of course, we were panicking. Another doctor trip later to find out he doesn't have diabetes (which we never thought, but thank goodness) or a bladder/kidney infection. That's all the doctor said, and we were left with zero answers. Essentially, I had to find out that he has children's overactive bladder (pollakiuria). The key is that they are still making it through the night (or their usual amount of time at night) between urinations, and he was. He would sleep all night. It was only during waking hours that he was affected by this. I found a solution that I thought we could try, since it was similar to how we potty-trained him. He legitimately felt like he urgently had to go. So we started out with a reward system. "Can you make it 15 minutes? If you can, we will give you _____" then the next day was 25 minutes. 35. Then 45. Then and hour and so on. It seems to be gone, but I have to say that this technique was helpful. He earned check marks for every success, and then a certain number of checks later would be a very small treat... enough to excite him/entice him, but not overload our very healthy eater with sugar that he's not used to. It worked! He's not needed the reward system. He's no longer going frequently, and he's back to his old self. I really drew away from everything because I was so worried about him. My poor three year old was missing so much of his life going to and from the bathroom... every 2-5 minutes?!??!
To top it off, he's going through a very sassy phase. One day, he'll be loving and wonderful and curious, and the next day, he's argumentative, combative, and obnoxious. <--- is that ok to say about your own child? I love him, but those days are especially draining. Where did my happy-go-lucky son go?
Caution: TMI! Then my poor husband had a scary moment, as did I when he told me. He came out of the bathroom telling me that the toilet was filled with blood from his bowel movement. With his change in bowels, he was freaking out that it could be the worst case scenario, rightfully so. We ended up in the ER because it was such an intense amount of blood, and then we ended up with a colonoscopy appointment. He's fine. It's internal hemorrhoids, and there's no sign of cancer. He's the lowest risk factor anyway because of our high fiber diet (Taiwanese vegetarian= at least 3 different dishes just vegetables alone with each meal). So that worked out, but it was just one thing on top of the other. We never end up at the doctor, and here we were, all three of us needed to go see someone about something out of the norm.
Anyway. I'm back, and I'm so sorry. I've kept up with people's posts and baby's born, and I'm going back through to make sure I haven't missed anything major.
I really am so sorry for the sudden disappearance. Not to mention returning with nothing but complaints.
AFM: I am doing great. Now that everything is settled and back to our routine, I'm doing quite well. Archer and mommy have been doing a lot of fun little art projects, and he seems to be excited and ready for baby brother, although not ready to share

. I am having a ton of Braxton Hicks with any positional change, bladder filling/emptying, kick from baby in a weird place, etc. That's been exciting. Things are getting there.
We are 35 weeks 4 days, and the Birth Plan, is sitting on top of our empty hospital bag. I have to tell you that all the motivation for getting things done leaves me by noon

If it's not done before lunch, it's probably not getting done. I am making it my goal to pack tomorrow.
I've been still doing my yoga poses and stretches to help prepare for labor, drinking red raspberry leaf tea once-twice/day. Starting next week I will for sure be up to twice/day, and then at 37 weeks, I will be drinking 3 servings a day. It's the routine I did with Archer, and I'm hoping to see similar results!
We just had our baby shower, and all the new items are cleaned and put into their proper place. The crib's up, the glider/ottoman are in the room ready to sooth an infant to sleep.
I hope all is well!! Sorry for the long post. I can't express how much I've missed getting on here and catching up each day with the newest information. I hate that I've missed that!!! But I'm back, and I'll be much more active on here again, as things seemed to have slowed down (dare I say it)
