That's right, I'm pregnant!
I never thought I would conceive so quickly. Go liquid vitamins! I picked up a bottle of outrageously expensive, whole food, gluten free, yada yada liquid vitamin back when I was recovering. Anyone else having horrible flashbacks of liquid baby tylenol? I stopped drinking that green murky goo over the weekend, and my energy plummeted, my nausea skyrocketed, and I couldn't keep any food down. I was sick every 20 minutes for almost 2 days. Thankfully, I was only a few hours from home, where I slept for a day and resumed my vitmain regime. Tonight, I read on the vitamin bottle it contains something like 1200% of my B6 daily requirement. Lightbulb moment! Pumping up on B6 really does help with all-the-time sickness.
Just another reminder of how jaw surgery supplies can be good for you. ;)
I'm about 7.5 weeks pregnant, and with my nausea under better control, my rubber bands are back on. They make for achy teeth but they're really effective. I can totally chew well on my right side, left side is coming along. More feeling is returning to my lips and chin, with stabbing pains growing less frequent. My mouth feel kinda tight in general, hard to describe. I can almost feel it if I bite the inside of my lips. Let's be honest though, the extra metal hooks for bands are never forgotton. Sometimes I can't see my teeth for all the hardware and rubber in there.
I do love that my jaw doesn't click anymore. I love love love that I haven't had a migraine since surgery. Not a single one. Woohoo! Will the pain when yawning diminsh, too?
My little issue with mouth breathing
I stopped taking my nasal spray because I was concerned of birth defects; without the spray, I catch myself mouth breathing again, especially at night. I know I clinically need to use the nasal spray to shrink my turbinates, and I know pregnancy hormones can make my nose stuffier-than-normal, but catching myself mouth breathing makes me feel like I've failed or something. Most everyone I see says I look the same, or that they cannot remember what I looked like before, but sometimes I miss my old goofy smile. It was so big and so happy! My new smile is fantastically straight but a bit unbalanced. When I'm having a doubting moment, I remember how much better I can now breathe. So if I'm feeling mopey, and think about recent mouth breathing, then I really feel bad. I think some of what I notice is the muscles pushing against all the band movement. Wearing bands does seem to help, so, for now, I'm trying to give myself some slack and not worry to much about it.
I need to end this post with a happy thought. By the time I celebrate my one year surgery anniversary, I'll have a sweet little bundle in my arms! Here is a memory of number 2 in my vintage handsewn top and vintage moses basket. Owhhh. :)
10 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
That is such exciting news!
Seeing that little baby there makes me want another one. Mine are 11 and 8 now. The time flies.
Enjoy your pregnancy. :)
Would you mind posting the name of those vitamins you are taking? Thanks!
I second that on the vitamins!
CONGRATULATIONS on your new baby! Keep us posted!
~Elaine
Well those vitamins are amazing. Who knew that you would recover so well and get pregnant at the same time - this is fantastic news! I'm smiling and very happy for you!
:0)
M
Congrats! That's wonderful news. I hope everything continues to go good for you!
Congratulations!!!
Just wondering if your doctor said it was okay to get pregnant so soon after surgery. I saw this posted on another blog:
Another thing I saw in the materials that I thought was interesting is that he says pregnancy should be avoided for 12 months postsurgery because hormones associated with pregnancy can cause joint changes leading to relapse of lower jaw advancements. This was the first time I had seen hormonal changes as the reason to delay pregnancy.
Just curious...
Hi Aimee,
No problem. It's Nature Plus's "Source of Life" liquid formula. It cost about $40, which I thought was pretty expensive. My usual whole food prenatals, which I've been taking for-ever, run about $20-25/bottle. Oh, and this for a month's supply.
There were a few other liquid vitamins in stock, but this was the only one that included both iron and folate, which were important to me. :)
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the comment. I read that post somewhere, too, though I've since forgotten where. I looked up what research was availble and found it was mostly applied science. Helpful but by no means prescriptive. Other readers may be wondering the same thing so I decided to reply with a detailed answer. Hope its length doesn't offend you. I understood your question to be kind and pragmatic. :)
My surgeon and I discussed this very question. He's been practicing since the early 1970s, and he said wait 3 months. I made it just over 2! A second oral surgeon consult also said 3 months - primarily to buffer the estimated 6 weeks it takes bones to heal. My orthodontist had been concerned that my jaw showed signs of condyle sagging. Boy, that bothered me for weeks. But you know, I decided that my jaw was better than it had been, I survived the surgery, and there was NO way I was going to do it again...so it didn't really matter. The nagging worry was debilitating until I released my anxiety. I did check with my ortho about waiting another month or two, and he said in December he didn't know of a medical reason not to get pregnant. I think he knew what I was asking since it's all I ever talk about during my visits. :)
What's interesting to me is that it wasn't until after my second child was born that I noticed my midlines shifting so much. Were the increased levels of relaxin to blame? Or was it the passing of a few more years (I was 29 when she was born, now am 31)? Or the fact that teeth keep on shifting if left unchecked? Not sure. Though my dress size shrank back, my hips never did return to their pre-baby position. :)
For me, this is how I made my decision. I share it in case it helps someone else...God knows how much time I've spent agonizing over the decision!
My husband and I were both aware of my cycles (I've been charting for about 9 years now). We'd be actively avoiding pregnancy for over a year while we sorted through surgery stuff. We were ready for another baby on just about every level, but perhaps more important, we were open to the idea of life. In particular, this was the real blessing of a quick conception. I trusted my long-held, well-tested beliefs, I submitted to my husband's eagerness for another child (rather than my over-the-top desire to control everything "just so"), and was open. I NEVER expected to get pregnant last month, yet I was overjoyed at the discovery. For us women, there are just a few years during which we can bear children if we're blessed. He is 8.5 years older than I am. Over the last year of waiting, I've been really aware of our ages and the effects of time on biology. Pursing my MBA and this surgery likely means I will not have that extra baby I could have had...does that make sense?
In the end, our openess to life was greater than my fear of a relapse. I hope this doesn't sound naive. Both of us spent much time in prayer.
Now for the science part. I was REALLY scared of being undernourished post surgery. I boosted up prior to surgery, tried to maximize my recovery diet. That fear also led me to take liquid vitamins until I could swallow my prentals. I continued to supplement with additional iron, since my body likes anemia. :)
So many families struggle with birth defects as they welcome more children into their families; I believe much of it can be prevented through proper nutrition. So, I specifically checked my folate levels back in October when I had all my blood work done. Of course, we cannot prevent everything. Therefore, a part of me wanted to wait another 6-9 months to boost my nutritional reserves and order my life "just so". We never did buy that famly van I worried so much about...
I know my decision is not the right one for everyone. Even with the "best" circumstances, I understand I may be passing along THE very genes that led me to orthognathic surgery in the first place. Doesn't that catch your breath?
Which leads me back to the beginning....from Psalm 139
v.1 "O Lord, you have searched me and know me,
v.2 "You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar,
v.13 "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb,
v.14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
v.15 "My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
v.16 "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
the end. :)
Hi! I wonder if ur blog is still active. Can i pls contact u thru email or something? I too am contemplating ortho treatment but hv been putting it off as we're also TTC.
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