Make the nosebleeds stop!

TMI alert - Pregnancy Symptoms follow!

It's common knowledge that pregnant women have extra fluid hanging around (everywhere, by the way). But this extra fluid isn't just about bloatation. Almost since the beginning of my pregnancy, I've had a lot of sinus congestion. This is normal, and it's no big deal. Some extra tissues and hocking in the morning do the trick. But last night, I woke up around 2:30, in a light sleep, and all of a sudden felt liquid in the back of my throat. This has happened to me before - a nosebleed in the middle of the night. In fact, I get nosebleeds every few months or so - I'll have a few in a row, and then they'll go away. So, I got up, pinched, tilted, and tissued, and laid back down hoping the blood would stop so that I could get some more sleep. (I had a tissue in my sleeping hand just in case.)

Fast forward five and a half hours to me waking up at 8am - TOO LATE! I should be working by now! Ugh. I force myself to get up and get ready for a late start. I'm brushing my teeth when the blood starts trickling down my lips and teeth. Not now! I'm running late and have a mouthful of toothpaste. I grab a tissue and try to spit out the toothpaste in my mouth, which gave new meaning to "pink in the sink".

This was not the usual nosebleed. This is the worst nosebleed I think I have ever had. I went through tissue after tissue, pinching here, pinching there, praying, "Please Lord, make it stop!" The tissues were soaked in almost seconds. I managed to, not looking down, get the trash can on the counter - this allowed me to completely fill it up with tissues. I was shoving them down to fit even more. Minutes are passing, and of course, the blood is also going down my throat, so I'm now holding my nose for dear life, spitting in the sink, and trying to wash it all down the drain - without looking down! Any movement would make the gushing start.

About 20 minutes in, I think I might have a coagulation that could hold still for a while. So I, looking up the whole time, mind you, get ready for my shower. The shower was pretty quick, as I just wanted to get out of there before the bleeding started and I was forced to get blood all over my towels. I got out, and things were looking good. I said, "things", not me. I looked awful. One of my nostrils just had this huge bloody cork in it - siiiiiiiick! Well, just to end this long TMI tale, I had to leave that cork in until about 10:30. At 10, I had a phone conference, so you can imagine me just praying that the geyser would not return.

Of course, in the pregnancy realm, all of this is "normal" and "safe" - unless you start feeling faint. Right now, I have almost 50% more blood than I usually do, and I guess today it needed a place to go. I just pray I get a bloodynose-free day tomorrow!

Hey now, if you've read this whole post - I warned you that TMI followed.