Reflections

I was reflecting the other day and came to the conclusion that there is no life event that is flawless or without any complication. No move, wedding, birth, or other event takes place in our lives without something. That is what the memories are made of.

At our wedding I forgot the parking passes at our house in Denver, so we had to beg the park ranger for more passes. There was the oven that had to be temperature regulated by uncle David because the thermostat was broken and if he did not stand there and open and close the oven door, the cakes would burn.

During Caleb's pregnancy I had multiple UT infections and had to go to the hospital for dehydration and monitoring of a little preterm labor. Then we had prodromal labor for almost two weeks and a super fast birth which involved second degree tears. Caleb was perfectly healthy, figured out nursing right away, and the rest is history, but not at all what I had envisioned.

This pregnancy has been fairly textbook so far. I was nauseated in the beginning, much worse than with Caleb, but was never actually sick. Since then the only issue I have had is these lightheaded spells. Some days are worse than others, but not a day goes by that I feel good all day long. We are working with a low iron theory right now which means I am paying more attention to my diet and taking Floradix twice a day to boost my iron level. If this is the real problem and the solution is that easy, then we will be very lucky. If low iron isn't what is causing these spells, then we will have to do some tests to figure out what is, but I have confidence in our midwife and her knowledge of the reasons behind this theory. Not enough iron attached to hemoglobin, combined with low blood pressure and really thin blood, all natural during pregnancy, results in not enough oxygen getting to the cells, especially in the brain, causing a lightheaded feeling.

All in all, I feel very fortunate that these are the issues we have to deal with. None of these are life threatening or harmful to me or baby. If iron isn't the issue then we will have to look at my blood sugar levels which have been known to be low and can also cause lightheadedness, and see what else we can do.

These experiences have taught me more about my body and the things that I can do before I resort to a doctor and drugs. There are things that God put into this world to help us and I love working with a midwife who is so knowledgeable and allows time and space for my body to work before putting me through unnecessary procedures. There is no sense in running tests and labeling things that we could be proactive about and treat before it is truly an issue. I like being involved in the process and part of the solution in this journey.