A Little Worried. . .

And for once, not really about the baby.

Well, I am always worried about the baby. Always. There are about fifteen precious minutes after the ultrasound each week when my mind is at rest, that I know my little one is okay. Then, the worries begin again, only to build and build and finally crescendo about twenty minutes before the next ultrasound, which is why I always arrive at my RE's office practically in tears.

However, a new worry has wiggled its way to the forefront of my mind: I am dizzy.

No, not ditzy, although I am that, too. The latter wouldn't concern me one bit, however, because I am always kind of ditzy (in a charming way, I like to think, though my husband might disagree).

The dizziness started a couple of weeks ago, maybe three. At first, it was your garden variety dizziness, which caught me off guard when I rose too quickly after a nap or sitting for a long time at my computer. Then it starten happening when I would throw up. And soon, it was accompanied by stars and a black "tunneling" vision that would cause me to sit down quickly.

Saturday night, however, it caught me by surprise, as I was already sitting down. And the black tunnel vision clouded over my entire eyes. I didn't want to be dramatic about it, but I think I officially passed out. While sitting down, luckily. Since then, I have had a few "fainting" episodes, usually in the morning or evening.

Mildly concerned, I brought it up to my RE at this last visit. She waved it off with no concern, telling me that it was common knowledge that in "olden days" (her term, not mine), one of the first symptoms of pregnancy was fainting. She admonished that I get up slowly and drink plenty of fluids.

Check and check.

Last night, it got a bit more serious. I was making my self some tea in the kitchen. I had not been sitting or lying down anytime within the past fifteen minutes. I was actually feeling pretty good, standing at my kitchen sink and filling the pot with water.

The next thing I knew, I was on the kitchen floor, with a sore right temple and wetness trickling into my eye. I gingerly touched my forehead and the finger came away stained red.

My husband was not yet home from work, but I was pretty freaked out. I got up, rather unsteadily. I was too afraid to look at my head, for fear that the blood might make me pass out again. I'm not usually lightheaded at the sight of blood, but these are strange times.

I turned off the water still running from the faucet, grabbed the phone from the kitchen counter, and sat right back down again on the kitchen floor. I called my husband, who was just turning into our driveway. He hurried rather impressively to my aid, but I don't think that I had explained the bleeding situation fully (All I asked was what time he thought he might be home, since I had fainted again). When he saw me, hunched pathetically on the kitchen floor, with blood trailing down my cheek, he got kind of shaky himself and was about to throw me in the car for a trip to the emergency room. Luckily, a more thorough inspection of my "wound" showed us that it was really just a paltry scratch, which bled a little more than it normally would courtesy of the Lovenox (blood thinner) that I inject daily. I had a nice red mark, already bruising lightly, but it didn't really hurt much.

Of course, we called my OB, who made room for me in his schedule this morning. A quick Google search pretty much confirms what my RE said: fainting in pregnancy is usually normal. It can also be attribued to anemia, poor nutrition, dehydration, gestational diabetes, and low blood pressure. These are all fixable things.

But I am still a little worried.