Symptoms and Side Effects

Friday morning, John looked kind of bummed out. He's usually a cheerful morning person, and I'm not, so I notice when it's different. After some badgering, he finally said, "Between Dax's (our eldest cat) late night yeowling and your snoring, I didn't get a lot of sleep." This caused me to break out in such rib-splitting laughter that I really had to make myself stop - I was afraid I'd go into labor! So this whole episode prompted me to write about some of the more outlandish side effects I have experienced. I think most of these can be common with a singleton pregnancy as well, but mine could be three times as intense (or annoying, depending on your point of view)! Also, some of these things they just don't tell you about in the books!

First, the snoring. I know everyone says they don't snore, but I really never did snore until I became triply blessed. I snore so much that sometimes I start snoring even before I'm asleep! I did some research and found out that when you're pregnant, the amount of blood in your body increases and your blood vessels expand, which can lead to swollen nasal membranes. I don't find my snoring to be nearly as troublesome as John does; in fact, I barely notice this side effect at all. But, since he's been so good to me, I decided to try and make it better. Sometimes I wear those little nostril spring expansion things, but John says they don't work. Well, like so many other things we're experiencing, it's temporary (and karmic).

Next, the laughing. Whoa - this is so strange and I had never heard of it before. Basically, I go into hysterical, sometimes inappropriate laughing fits that I just can't control! It's like the opposite of the hormonal crying jags that I've heard other women experience. (By the way, the only time that I cried hormonally so far was when we found out we were having all boys - imagine that!) At first I thought that I was just happy, until one day I couldn't stop and realized that there was something more to it than just my sense of humor. Also, someone told me that Angelina Jolie had the same thing when she was pregnant. Now, I'm not a fan of hers, but it gave me some sense that this was something other people have also experienced. It's really kind of fun actually, and I think it must be good for the babies - somehow.

Some of the more common things I've been experiencing include having trouble getting comfortable to sleep, but this has been helped by a body pillow sent from God through my friend Maggie. I also had a lot of bad headaches earlier on, but these have been mostly taken care of by Tylenol (again, sent by God through my doctor), ice and not working anymore. Nosebleeds - this was a strange one, and they kind of just went away on their own eventually.

And finally, the completely unavoidable side effect of having triplets - copious weight gain! John says I'm a super star in this respect and has even christened me his little roly poly. Cute, right? My doctor is really happy with my weight gain, so I am too. The big deal with having multiples is that by late in your pregnancy, there is no room in your abdomen for your stomach to expand, so it becomes difficult to eat enough to support baby growth. That is why it's important to gain weight early - the babies and I will live partially off of fat stores. Nothing like that sentence to boost your self-esteem! Well, I'm proud to say that I've excelled at this. As of my 22 week check-up, I had gained 55 lbs. To prove it, I've attached a recent photo. We got a new digital camera that I'm still figuring out, and I'll post more pictures once I get that all sorted.

All in all, it has been pretty smooth sailing so far. None of the above listed symptoms were really all that terrible, except the headaches, and those are under control. I feel very lucky so far, and pray that it just stays this way through the end. If not, I'll let you know!