17 weeks

...means you can definitely see the baby bump! There was a notable baby-shaped bump at week 15-`16, but it wasn't until this week that it is all 'helloo world' through my clothes.

I was apprehensive about different things about being pregnant, but the most difficult thing to deal with so far was unexpected. I apologize in advance if this is too much information, but starting a couple of weeks ago, I have been so congested in the worst way. I usually don’t have a problem with this, even in the winter, so I was super uncomfortable. I would wake up several times during the night with a dry, stuffed nose, which meant I couldn’t breathe, and once I was awake, it would take me forever to fall back asleep. Blowing my nose would hurt and when successful, almost all of it was blood! Hard, bloody, boogers. I know, gross, but this is real pregnancy life! Apparently, being pregnant can cause bad congestion and bloody noses, so I knew it was normal, but after over a week of not being able to breathe during the day and night, I felt like I was going crazy. We bought a humidifier, I rinsed my nose with saline solutions, I slept with my head elevated, and I even tried putting Vaseline inside my nose with a q-tip to moisturize it. Some of these things helped for a little while, but then my nose would just be clogged again and I was still waking up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe. Finally, at my first appointment with my midwife, I told her my problem and she prescribed me Flonase. I picked up the bottle, and after first puff, I felt immediately better. But I haven’t taken any medication at all since I found out about this little one, so I started doing some research and wasn't happy about the little information I found. Basically, it’s considered okay because it’s localized in the nose area and it should diffuse there before it gets close to the baby, but the FDA puts it in category C, which means there just hasn’t been enough tests done on it to say for one hundred percent sure that it’s okay for the fetus. Apparently it’s prescribed all the time to pregnant ladies, but I don’t like it! The more I read about the experiments (only on mice and rats so far), the more paranoid I became. I called the pharmacist and he told me that it’s fine, but I’m still not feeling completely okay, and wondering if I should try something else. I’m conflicted because this thing is actually helping me be able to breathe and sleep at night, but if there is even the smallest tiniest possibility that it could effect baby, it freaks me out! Anyone have any thoughts/insight or experience using nasal sprays while pregnant?

I think compared to throwing up all the time, this is probably the lesser of two evils, but boy, it puts some perspective on the little things that I take for granted (like breathing) and makes me feel incredible grateful for all of my facilities when they are working well.


Here's hoping for less anxiety and better breathing,
C