I mentioned in an earlier post that I had hemorrhoid bleeding start at about 12 weeks (February) into the pregnancy. Well, the bleeding just kept getting worse and by mid-May I knew that it was not hemorrhoids, but that my colitis was flaring. This also happened to be around the time we were celebrating our 9 year anniversary. A colitis flare does not make for fun celebrations. We went to a movie Station Park (Guardian of the Galaxy if I remember right) and ate dinner at the ParkStone Wood Kitchen. We ended up getting a slice of cheesecake at the restaurant, and as I was eating it I knew that I needed to start up a limited diet again and this would be my last sugar for a while.
I started my SCD diet again, basically meaning no grains, refined sugars, starches, and lactose. That helped me a bit, but not as much as I had hoped. So about mid-June I started the AutoImmune Protocol (AIP) elimination diet. This one is even more strict and takes out all grains, all dairy, refined sugars, nuts, nightshade vegetables (like tomatoes, peppers), and eggs. Eggs were hard to give up. On the SCD diet, eggs are allowed and that is what I would usually eat for breakfast. With the AIP diet you take out all potential inflammatory foods for 30-60 days, and then SLOWLY add things back in to see if you react to them. It takes about 1 week to introduce each new thing. So far I have only added eggs and peanut butter. With the eggs, I had to try the yolks first for a week and then try the egg whites. It is such a slow process!!! But hopefully worth it to know what foods trigger my colitis.
I have had a hard time gaining weight during the second trimester and the diet hasn't helped with that. But at least the baby is growing right on track! I always carry small, but this is the smallest I've been during the third trimester. People don't believe I am 35 weeks along. I really don't mind the comments, but I often am not sure how to respond to them. "Thanks, but I'm actually trying really hard to gain weight"?
34 Weeks
All the bleeding that I had also caused me to be anemic this pregnancy. My hematocrit numbers kept dropping, and I have never been so fatigued. Just walking across a room would exhaust me. Oral iron supplements were not doing anything, so finally I had to get an iron infusion the end of June. I had just had a Remicade infusion and the place I get infusions was discontinuing that service in July. So, I had already said bye to all the nurses and staff that I regularly saw. And then I came back 4 times the very last week they were still doing infusions (the iron infusion takes 4 days). I told them that I just had so much fun there that I needed to come back. All joking aside, it was a tender mercy that I was able to do the infusion there the very last week that they were doing infusions. Otherwise, I would have had to drive to Murray or Layton for those 4 days of infusions.
I thought the iron infusions would be easy. My doctor had said that they only took half an hour, which is much faster than my 3+ hour Remicade infusion. So, I took my kids with me the first time because P2 had a doctor's appointment later in the same building. Well, we got there at 9 am, and didn't finish until 11:30 am. And P2's appointment was at 10:30. Fortunately, her doctor was still willing to see her at 11:30. And all the nurses commented on how well-behaved P1 and P2 were. Of course, it helped that they had Netflix to watch at the infusion center.
Kids enjoying Netflix at the infusion center
1st Iron Infusion
Turns out, iron is really hard on your veins. They left the IV in each day, but when they would try to start up the infusion the next day, my arm would burn and swell. So 3 out of the 4 days required a new IV. I finished the iron infusion over 5 weeks ago, and I still have a giant bruise on my arm from it! But, it was worth it! I started feeling much better after the infusion, and finally had energy again. My hematocrit numbers went from 8.9 to 12.4, which is a huge jump! And 12 is the magical number you want to be over.
Battle wounds from iron infusions (29 weeks)
I've been working with my GI doctor over the last 8 weeks or so. I really wanted to avoid being on any type of steroid during this pregnancy, but that was basically the only option I had left. My doctor finally convinced me that my current health was putting my baby more at risk than the steroids would. I really didn't want to do prednisone again, so we tried Uceris. Unfortunately, that didn't help at all. I thought my only option left was the dreaded prednisone, but at my appointment, my doctor suddenly remembered that I have left-sided colitis. After checking my colonoscopy records, he said that a steroid enema should be able to reach all the inflammation and the baby would have minimal exposure. An answer to prayers! Thankfully, this treatment helped immensely! I felt 95% better after two weeks, and after another couple of weeks I felt 100% better. Hallelujah! Negative side effects of the medicine have been being wide awake at 4:30 in the morning, but hey, I'll take it!
The last month has been really good. I had a lot of energy, so I got a lot of projects done around the house. I'm starting to slow down again just because of the pregnancy. Baby is getting heavier and I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks. Only 5 more weeks until baby!!!
Ultrasound at 31 weeks
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