The Brinley Bunch: Week 22: Startling Kicks, Massages & Fainting

We have reached week 22 and this baby is more active than ever. We have had a few first-timers this week that need to be documented so once this boy is old enough to read, he will know all of the funny things (maybe scary at times too) he caused mommy to experience.

Story #1:

The precursor:

Baby boy is beginning to roll and kick more frequently and harder than before. He hates it if ANYTHING takes over HIS space. For example, I lean forward: somersaults non-stop until I finally can't take it anymore and lean back. Tight elastic on my pants? He will kick at it for hours until I move the elastic of my pants higher or lower... he then finds it again and begins kicking at it until I finally remove my pants (at this point, I'm at home, I wouldn't remove clothing in public I promise). Daddy decides to put his hand on moms stomach? NON STOP kicking daddy. It's like he senses when his personal space is being taken over and will not have it. Fun for daddy because he can feel his son kick/punch/roll anytime in the day!

Now on with the story... I am at work Friday, having a meeting with a couple other people in my office. I was leaning forward as one man was presenting to us a PowerPoint of some language materials we were planning to use for the Mission Presidents. Well, there goes baby, flipping and turning, and suddenly, BOOM! He just full body jolted inside my tummy. I felt a kick of some sort right by my ribs on the right side, and another right by my pelvis on the left. He must have gone with all his might ARMS and LEGS. I couldn't help but get startled by this and involuntarily let out an "Oh my gosh!" after which all eyes were on me. I had to explain that baby had startled me with his kicking, and I it was pretty embarrassing. The guy presenting just laughed and said, "well he must be excited about language learning!" yup. I guess he was.

Story #2:

Precursor:

So a few weeks back I remember reading about how my blood volume had increased 150% for the baby. Makes sense as the uterus continues to enlarge, needing more blood supply as well as the baby. In fact, the increase in blood accounts for 13% of total weight gain in pregnancy--on average. In fact, here's a fun little distribution of weight in pregnancy that I found online. Basically our hearts and lungs have to work a lot harder to get the blood through our bodies... hence the light-headedness and shortness of breath.
Pregnancy Weight Gain: Average Distribution
7 1/2 pounds is about how much the baby will weigh by the end of pregnancy.
1 1/2 pounds is how much the placenta weighs.
4 pounds is attributed to increased fluid volume.
2 pounds is the weight of the uterus.
2 pounds is the weight of breast tissue.
4 pounds is because of increased blood volume.
7 pounds is attributed to maternal stores of fat, protein and other nutrients.
2 pounds for the amniotic fluid.
Total: 30 pounds

Anyway, a few months back Groupon had a deal for a 1-hour Couple Massage for $49 (the deal is available right now if you click the link BTW) That is a GREAT deal I thought, and at that point I was hardly showing and could easily lay on my belly, so I bought it.

Weeks and weeks went by and my stomach began to get larger. I panicked that if we didn't schedule this couple's massage soon, they wouldn't accept me or I would have to pay extra to do a prenatal massage, so we booked it this weekend, the start of our 23rd week.

We got up this morning and drove to Salt Lake to get our massages. They said they forgot this prenatal pillow that they use sometimes and so I probably wouldn't be able to lay on my belly. I figured that'd be okay and we proceeded with the massages.

Darin and I entered the dark warm room and got onto our individual massage tables. It was nice and heated and we both laid flat on our backs (with no pillows). The therapists both came in and began massaging. I started feeling the baby seem to move upward (he tends to do it at night when I lie in bed so I figured it was normal) but it started making it extremely hard for me to breathe. As the therapist continued massaging my neck, I began feeling dizzy and nauseous and asked if I could sit up. I honestly thought at that point that I was going to throw up. I sat there trying to gain composure and Darin's Therapist asked if I wanted some water, I'm pretty sure I nodded... and that's all I remember.

Suddenly I am getting woken up by my therapist from a wonderful massage that I guess I must have fallen asleep in (or so I thought). My therapist says to me, "Are you okay?"

I felt so refreshed and great and said, "Yea I'm good."

After which she replies, "Should I call an ambulance?"

That's when I got a little confused until I realized that the last thing I remember was sitting up feeling sick... what? I must have fainted.

The therapist said that my eyes "did not look pleasant"and I asked her if they were open. Apparently my eyes were open the whole time, but there was no blinking and she said it was as if I was sleeping with my eyes open.

Darin is at the other massage table watching all this and wondering why I am not responding to his therapist who comes in and says, "Here's some candy and water."

I guess immediately after that I fell back (but apparently it was very controlled so they were confused if I was still conscious or not) until they started shaking and talking to me and realized I was not. That's I guess when I came-to.

I sat up, and saw a dumdum on my lap, (not quite sure how it got there) and I was soaked with a cold sweat. I think I really scared the Therapists. I reassured them I was fine, and she raised my head with a pillow so I wasn't completely flat and continued on with the massage. I was feeling great with my root-beer DumDum and great massage, until that feeling started coming over me again... I sat up again (which by the way I realize now is not the solution, and usually makes it worse) and my ears started losing their hearing (it felt like they were really plugged like on an airplane)--I could feel myself going again and my vision started to blur and get dark. This time they got some cold rags in time and placed them on my back and I put one on my face. I tried to take some deep breaths and was able to come-to without passing out a second time. I realized it might be my body overheating--since I was lying on a heated massage table, so they got a fan and opened the door to let some cool air in.

After that I completed my massage on my left side, SHIVERING because of the cold wet towels and fan blowing directly on me... but at least I did not pass out again.

The massage was not as fulfilling as I would have liked it to be, but they told me I could come back again once I have the baby and they will give us another couples massage at the same price. I will for sure jump on that one once I don't have this silly boy messing with my system. =)

The therapists strongly urged me to call my doctor right away, I really gave them a scare--this was the first time that had ever happened to them. I did call my doctor but they are closed for the weekend. Just to be safe I'll probably call on Monday and make sure my blood pressure levels are normal. Which I'm sure they will be fine.

Baby boy, I hope you know how much we are going through to get you here. We still love you though.

your baby at 22 weeks

Now that he's got more developed eyes and lips, he's looking even more like a newborn.
He's sleeping in cycles -- about 12 to 14 hours per day (hint: they're probably those times you're not feeling any kicks!). My thought: Our baby must not be sleeping 12-14 hrs a day because I am always feeling kicks.

Here's a picture of 22 weeks taken this morning: