ab pains

Thursday mid-morning, I noticed that I was having some pains in my lower ab area on the left side. I didn't feel it so much when I was sitting, but I definitely noticed it when I walked the 20 times to the bathroom. I ended up calling the ask a nurse and she thought that it was just Braxton-Hicks contractions (which are common at 25 weeks). She said that if the pains got worse or it was accompanied by something else (bleeding, fever, etc) to call back.

After lunch, I was still feeling the pain, so I looked up symptoms of Braxton-Hicks, and it didn't sound at all like what I was feeling. B-H typically only lasts a minute or 2, but my pain wouldn't go away. I felt nervous, so I just decided to take work home and sit on the couch, with very little movement from me (like my own self-imposed bed rest).

The next day I was still feeling the pain, so I stayed at home and worked from the couch again - moving as little as possible. The pain came and went that night, but I still mainly felt it when I was standing or walking.

That night, I realized that the pain occasionally went away after I got up to pee, so I became suspicious that it was anything to really be worried about. However, Saturday I walked around a bit shopping and having lunch and there were times that I could barely walk. I felt like I was walking like an old person - not able to stand up straight and walking *very* slowly! Saturday night was pretty painful and I kept going to the bathroom in hopes that it would go away.

Sunday was better, but I still took it easy most of the day. For our morning routine (breakfast, baby registry at Target and grocery shopping) I wore the pregnancy belt in hopes that it would help with the pain in case some of it had to do with my back.

Today, I was a lot better, but still felt it some. I ended up calling the ask a nurse again and she scheduled an appt for me to come in. Other than having to wait 45 minutes past my appt time (grrrr!), the dr said everything was fine. She got more information from me about what's been happening and asked me questions to pin point trouble signs (bleeding, trouble going to the bathroom, etc).

She measured my belly, and that was normal. Then she listened to BBM's heartbeat (135) and said that it's normal and that he was moving around a lot (which I couldn't feel). Then.... the vaginal exam. She checked to see if I was dilated, but she said I was firmly shut. :) She also checked my ovaries to see if I had any cysts, but that was normal. She checked something else that I wasn't sure what was up - but that was normal, too. She said that she could feel BBM moving like crazy when she was checking everything down there. Looks like I have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of me once he's big enough for me to feel every movement. :)

So, all the exams showed that everything is fine. Her guess is that I'm just experiencing more round ligament pains. Previously, I felt them mostly in my groin, but as my stomach expands, I'll be feeling the pains in different locations. Apparently, the stretching right now is mostly taking place in my lower abs. It's certainly not fun (see the description above of how painful it can be), but it's a relief to know what's going on. At least now I don't feel like I have to veg out all the time on the couch - that it's ok for me to move around more (and go on some walks).

Also, I had my blood pressure taken (110/70) and weighed (191.5). I weighed the same as I did last appt which was 3 weeks ago. I feel a little better that I didn't gain another 5 pounds since I haven't been exercising as much these past 3 weeks with dad visiting, going out of town, and the ab pain.