These past two weeks have been some of the hardest in my pregnancy. I had to get IV fluids last week and then this Monday I got the worst migraine i’ve ever experienced (unmedicated, I’ve been getting almost daily migraines since the 5th grade so that’s saying something).
My headaches have been getting better with pregnancy, and I’ve been able to significantly reduce my daily preventative medications which are class B. However on Monday, I was hit with a complicated migraine where I lost my eyesight to a blinding white light. I had to leave my car at work and a coworker drove me home. I went to bed to try to sleep it off, woke up 3 hours later, went to talk to Tim and I spoke in gibberish. I tried again, and again, the wrong words came out and I was slurring. That’s never happened to me before and it was terrifying. After about 25 minutes of me having speech issues (and what seemed like stroke like systems) we drove to the ER. We were there for the next 4.5 hours getting an MRI, ultrasound of my neck and head arteries and an EKG. All came back normal. I checked in with my neurologist the next day and she said it was just a really bad migraine.
I’m now in this waiting period of seeing if it’s going to happen again and it feels like a ticking time bomb. Was it just a fluke? Or will I be driving by myself or in a big meeting or shopping at Target (as women do) and get hit with the loss of vision and inability to communicate. It’s so scary.
I’m still seeing and working with my acupuncturist for both maintaining this pregnancy and my headaches/migraines. I’m using essential oils and vitamin supplements to help with the headaches. I think i’m also going to convince my husband I need weekly therapy messages for stress and tension headaches 😉 We’ll see if he goes for it.
This pregnancy journey has been such a challenge. The first year was TTC and the emotional rollercoaster that happens with that. And then after finally getting pregnant, it’s been battling being able to function either because of morning (all day) sickness or my chronic migraines & headaches. This experience with sickness has really made me think of women who aren’t as fortunate as I am. I’m in a job where I can work from home if I need to and have an understanding female boss and coworkers who support me. But what if I had a job that required me to be on my feet, or I was paid hourly and had to clock in and out to get a paycheck? We are a two income household and my income is just as important as my husband’s. With him being freelance, having my income gives us both peace of mind that regardless of how good of a month he had my income will cover our bills. Losing my salary if I was unable to work because of the pregnancy would be a huge issue. This experience has really opened my eyes to women who don’t have the same supportive or flexible employment.
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And because I’m sure everyone is wondering – Our 20 week ultrasound went great. Baby P was kicking and waving hello. Super active… I don’t think we’ll be getting much sleep when baby arrives! We’ll have our gender photo announcement up this weekend and on the blog by next Monday. Here’s a photo from the ultrasound of our adorable child. I think Baby has Tim’s lips, and thankfully neither of our large nose’s for the moment 🙂
