Holy cow, double digits! I think I’m running out of topics here…
But have no fear, I do have one for this week. I had often heard that heartburn was a symptom of pregnancy, but having never experienced it before, I had no idea what it felt like. Everyone always warned oh it’s nasty, it’s this burning up and down your chest that feels like fire. Oh awesome, that sounds like tons of fun.
So when mine struck, I didn’t even think it was heartburn (kinda like i didn’t even think my contractions were contractions, but cramps. hmm, maybe i should have been paying better attention that whole time). The burning sensation I felt was always in my throat, never in my chest. It was kind of a nagging discomfort that seemed to make my mouth water a lot more than usual. As such, I kept thinking man, this sore throat sucks. Why will it not go away?
Yet again, duh, SM. Maybe it was the pregnancy brain, maybe it was just my own typical aloofness, but when I finally considered that maybe heartburn could be felt there, too, I tried some Tums. Ahhhh! (picture that being sung by a small chorus of angels, and that is what it felt like) My fiery, tingling, painful throat was finally feeling some relief. It’s amazing what magic those mushy, chalky little tablets possess. I didn’t even attempt to try the regular flavor ones, though, I went straight for the fruit flavors. Have you ever chewed on chalk? I haven’t, but can’t imagine it’s too pleasant, so didn’t really want to give it a shot. Especially when my body was already doing such weird things from growing a miniature human inside of it.
Dudes, those fruity little circles became my new best friends. But they have calcium too, they can’t be bad! Right? Who knows. I’m sure if you eat 400 a day it’s probably not the best idea, but I stuck to the 2-3 recommended as necessary. And man oh man, did I love those things. They became my pregnancy candy, and we all know how big my sweet tooth is. Think wooly mammoth tusk-sized.
Now I can’t remember exactly when in my pregnancy my heartburn began, unfortunately. But it was a fairly constant companion once it appeared. It didn’t seem to be triggered by certain foods more than others, either, it just seemed to be there at some point during pretty much every day. Fortunately I never had it bad enough to wake me up at night or cause trouble falling asleep, and I never needed anything prescription-strength to calm it. That family-sized little jar of Tums served me just fine. And then once D was born, it just up and disappeared.
How about you mamas out there? Are your hearts burning yet?