Wednesday, August 29, 2007

And so it Begins

The theme of this blog is, admittedly, a little less tasteful than my usual fodder. However, I find that I am an infrequent blogger because much of my life seems less than blogworthy. Of late though I have been inspired by some of my favorite bloggers to cast aside these self-inflicted chains of propriety and dive into the nitty gritty that is my/our day-to-day existence. Having made this momentous decision I would like to devote this, my first "free to be me" post to heartburn. I know this seems a little odd and maybe just plain boring, but for me it cannot be ignored any longer, it has reared its ugly head and will be my constant companion for the next 21 weeks. With Caleb, it started much sooner, sometime around the tail end of the 1st trimester. And, with this pregnancy when I made it to, through and past the end of week 13 without any sign of the beast I was thrilled, delighted, foolishly optimistic. And then, it happened, I was sitting in a restaurant, enjoying the last of my scrumptious Argentinian beef dinner and out of nowhere WHAM!! the searing, burning feeling arrived, seemingly from the great deep like some unimaginable mythological creature lying in wait only to pounce when I least suspected it, when I had been lulled into a false sense of "maybe this time will be different", when I was beginning to think last time had been a fluke. I tried to ignore it, repeating over and over again that mantra "if I don't acknowledge it, it isn't really there". But, the evidence was mounting, as was the discomfort and the frequency of craving little, chalky tasting discs of temporary relief. Over the last few days my hefty supply of American made antacids has noticeably dwindled and I have been reminded of this time 2 years ago when I never left home without them. I had industrial sized bottles stashed everywhere, my office, the car, my purse(s), my church bag, all 3 rooms of our tiny apartment, Kenny's pockets, my pockets (which also meant a fair amount were hidden in the washer and dryer as well). At the height of the pain I was popping upwards of 15 a day, much to the surprise of my OB who said "sometimes you'll have heartburn, but never bad enough to require more than one or two doses of (tums, rolaids, maalox, mylanta etc.) a couple of times a week" ha! ha! ha! I showed him. The silver lining in all of this is that after 6 months of antacids, this time around I knew in advance which ones worked and tasted the best...for me, that is. I had no idea, until I was forced to become intimately acquainted with these products, the breadth of available options. My assessment, and definitely more than you ever wanted or needed to know, is as follows: Mylanta: not convenient and yucky besides; Maalox: ditto and ditto; Rolaids: Softchews (tropical fruit, vanilla, cherry) taste great (relatively speaking) but don't work; Rolaids: Extra Strength, effective but only the fruit flavored ones are palatable; Tums: Smoothies - PUHLEASE!! - don't waste your time; Tums: EX, all flavors taste okay and it works pretty well in a pinch; And the winner...Tums Ultra, Maximum Strength, Assorted Berries flavor, 265ct (I've no doubt I'll be on bottle number 2 when this phase of my increasingly exciting and blogworthy life ends). So there you have it, a very, perhaps too, personal glimpse into the things that I am thinking about right now all day every day.

8 comments:

Adrianne said...

i am so sorry, I feel for you. Please keep blogging about the nitty-gritty.

Paige said...

THIS is nitty gritty? I was waiting for a post about hemorrhoid creams or something (I had to spell check that). Maybe it's coming. I'm glad you found something that works!

Kristy said...

You know, I'm really glad you posted about this. I have recently started experiencing this lovely side effect of pregnancy, but have just been dealing with it instead of trying to treat it. You better believe I'm going to buy some of your suggested Tums ultra, maximum strength, berry flavored life-savers. (I mean Tums, not life-savers as in candy...but you know.)

Jessica said...

OH...I so have a heartburn problem. With number 4, I started having heartburn before I realized I was pregnant. Thanks for the consumers guide to antacids, I'll probably start using them tomorrow, as I'm thinking about getting pregnant after Christmas.

Katharine said...

Girl! You speak the truth! I too have a bottle of that exact same Tums on my nightstand. I too have been sturggling with this pregnancy side effect. Its just no fun! I am sorry yours started so early. Mine just started around 22 weeks. It didn't start with Addy until 30 weeks. Oh well. I guess we have to just suffer through. Good luck and happy popping!

Jess D. said...

Should Brad and I bring large amounts of Tums Ultra Maximum Strength, Assorted Berry Flavor with us in a few weeks?

I do have a large suitcase and not a ton of maternity clothes.

Anonymous said...

Lindsey, I feel for you sista! At the very end of my second pregnancy, my doctor FINALLY mentioned that you can take Pepcid. One a day works wonders. Do you need me to send you some? And I totally agree- Tums EX Assorted Berry is the only way to go. Congrats and hang in there!
Kimberly (Cassidy's sister)

Ashley said...

Girl...had no idea you were pregnant. Clearly I need to be a more faithful follower of the blog. Congrats!!!

 

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