Let's fast forward to Sunday morning. I woke up to a very congested, feverish, and runny nosed toddler. The last time Ava was sick like this was when Justin was at ALC this past April. That was probably the longest two weeks of my life. I'm really hoping it stays a cold, and there aren't any puking fits or super long nights of coughing fits. I absolutely hate when my child cannot get good sleep because she's so congested and full of mucus. I don't sleep well when she's sick like that either. I constantly have to check on her after every single cough, and sometimes I'll find myself falling asleep on the floor beside her bed just to be close if she needs me. Sunday night wasn't any better for us. I made the (probably not so smart) decision to do a maternity session, and while the interaction with the parents-to-be and photos went really well.. after a short time I started having some serious pains in my feet like the day before. Only this time, I knew what ignoring the signs meant.
I walked a lot further, and was far more active during this photo session than I realized. When I came home, my feet were ON FIRE. I got Ava ready for bed, and in the middle of bath time Justin called.. I did tell him about my feet the night before when he called, and he was completely concerned. I cringed at having to tell him that I ignored the advice from not only him, but the nurse practitioner about taking it easy, yet again. I did spend my night in bed, feet up, and with a water bottle beside me. Before I knew it, I was out for the count. I woke up in the middle of the night, first to a very hot Ava at my bedside (infamous fever struck), and then again around 4 a.m. with extremely intense "Charley horse" cramps in my right calf. I was in tears at this point because I could literally see/feel my muscles tightening with zero relief. I sat up in bed and tried to rub it out.. that didn't work at all. It lasted only a short time, but it is still something I've never experienced in pregnancy before. I went back to sleep, and there weren't any more fits of leg cramps (thank God).
After getting Ava squared away with breakfast, I did research on the "Charley horse" pain that I had felt. Apparently this is actually pretty common in pregnancy, especially during the second and third trimester, AND at night. This is the article I read, and it was pretty informative about what I'm experiencing. There is really not a set known cause, but tons of potential reasons why this might be happening. Even with my new set of pregnancy woes, Olivia is still active and her heart is beating so strong! Whenever something happens to me, I find myself using the Doppler to make sure her heart rate is tip top.
As of tomorrow, I'll be 25 weeks along, and although I didn't expect to be spending my week this way, I am glad that we are just 15 weeks away from meeting our sweet baby. Ava has been laying on my belly a lot more this past week, and it's so cute to watch her being kicked by her sister from the inside. I'm really hoping that we are feeling good by the end of the week, but I am totally prepared for the next couple of weeks to be long for us. On the upside, we will be that much closer to having daddy home, so I suppose there's a silver lining in every situation. Before I wrap this up, here's a photo of my baby bump from Saturday afternoon! Olivia is growing so much and I absolutely love seeing it!
