Do What's Best For You!

When you suffer from chronic illnesses, it can become a struggle to do what's best for yourself. I will be 25 weeks pregnant tomorrow and to say that is has been easy would be all the way false. My migraines have still been so unpredictable and harder to manage now that I'm pregnant. My obstetrician did okay me taking magnesium which I used to take prior to me being pregnant. It has helped stabilize them a bit, but it's spring time and what that means is pollen, pollen, and more pollen. My sinuses and allergies are one of my triggers. Needless to say, dealing with the pain has been difficult. Some days are harder than others but I try to push through.

The newest pregnancy struggle is hypertension aka high blood pressure. Several years ago, before I lost a significant amount of weight, I had high blood pressure.  But, I made a lifestyle change and began to exercise and eat cleaner and I no longer had to deal with it. This past Friday at my monthly appointment, my blood pressure was slightly high. I was shocked because I do my best to continue to eat pretty healthy throughout this pregnancy. I am not as active as I'd like to be due to the migraines but I take walks as often as I can. So, of course the first thing they want to do is blood work and urine samples. The urine sample is to check for protein, which is a sign of pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is a condition that appears  in pregnancy and if left untreated, can be fatal to you and your baby. The main symptoms are high blood pressure, swelling of the hands and feet and an elevated amount of protein in your urine. Even the slightest rise in blood pressure may be a sign of it. As the doctor is talking to me, I feel like everything they are saying is going in slow motion. All I can think about is what did I do for this to happen?  I agree to blood work and the 24 hour urine collection but the next step had me cautious. They wanted me to begin to take blood pressure pills. 

Hold up, wait a minute. Skrt Skrt...if you know me, then you know that I do not like taking pills and try my hardest not to take them. I don't pill shame anyone that has to, or try to make myself seem any better because of my choices. It is just something that I try to live by. I feel that with chronic pain it is a guessing game as to what will work for us. 9 times out of 10, the pills don't work and we end up damaging our bodies. I try to rely on alternative methods such as aromatherapy..etc. There are times when I do take pills, but if there was a way that I could live my life and not have to, I'd do it. So, I left out of the office and contemplated about these pills. 

I debated about it for a few days and weighed out the pros and cons. Today, I decided to go ahead and pick up the prescription and began to take them. I put aside my thoughts and beliefs for the health of my son. I plan to do any and everything possible to ensure that I bring a healthy child into this world.  I go back on Friday to get the results of my lab work and we will take the next steps from there. All I can do is give it to God, have faith and continue to do what's best for me and my son! Below you will find some sonogram pics of my sweet baby boy.