I don’t know what exactly I really wish. It’s vague. I wish that bodies were easier to figure out. I wish that the medical profession wasn’t so specific, in that you see an OB for OB, and you see a cardiologist for heart stuff, and you see a GP for general stuff…. and they all think differently. I get it’s necessary. I get that the human body is so complicated that there are no easy answers, but I WISH there were universal answers that apply to everyone (x+y=z) and they were easier to come by than they are.

Are you confused?

Don’t be alarmed, but I was in the hospital yesterday with chest and arm pressure and shortness of breath. My heart is fine. I knew my heart was fine, but the doctors didn’t, so they sent me to the hospital. Throughout this entire pregnancy I’ve had daily episodes of chest pressure, racing or pounding heart, accompanied by difficulty breathing. It’s happened in other pregnancies. When I was pregnant with Abby, I had an echocardiogram, EKG, 72 hour heart monitor and everything was fine, my heart was “just beating fast sometimes” and I couldn’t breathe. I really don’t remember it with Liv or Veronica’s pregnancy, and while Clark’s was awful, I don’t remember this specifically, but I certainly had it with Abby 11 years ago.

No pain, just pressure and either super fast or REALLY hard heartbeats, and breathing like I’d just climbed a mountain. I’m not dizzy, but my head feels weird, like I need to shake it to clear it.

Yesterday when I felt the pressure in my arms along with the other symptoms, I decided to call the doctor and they sent me to the ER.

I personally think it’s related to some food issue. I just don’t know WHAT food issue. Is it an allergy? A lack of something I need? Eating seems to make it worse, but not consistently. Yesterday I had a handful of pecans and two pieces of wheat toast with butter for breakfast. By the time I finished my second piece of toast, my heart was going crazy. It usually does with toast. But not with sandwiches that I’ve noticed. Or hot dogs on a bun. So I don’t think it’s an isolated wheat issue.

This morning, I had a bowl of Life cereal with milk. It wasn’t an immediate response, but I felt fine and now I don’t feel so good. Tired, a little pressure in my chest, a little weak. My head feels weird.

As a result, I don’t eat a whole lot and I’m sick of being hungry all the time. I typically skip breakfast because I ALWAYS feel crappy after eating breakfast. I eat lunch, snack on a little bit of junk (a Charleston Chew and a fudgecicle. Yesterday it was Fritos and bean dip) around 3 or 4 and skip dinner.

This is not fun.

SO, I called the doctors (OB and PCP/GP) this morning and left messages asking if I can be tested for food allergy, sensitivity, or if they had any other ideas. I’m not too excited about following up on the heart monitor. Been there, done that, whole bunch of inconvenience for nothing. I’d really like to find out if it’s a food/blood sugar/nutritional deficiency/who knows what else issue.

I’d imagine that whatever the problem is, I live with it all the time, but the pregnancy accentuates the symptoms because I seem incapable of losing weight (more than 15 pounds anyway) even when I try really hard. No doctor has been able to figure that one out, either. They check my thyroid and throw their hands in the air, basically.

And my thyroid, which has been tested yet again is fine thank-you-very-much.

Bah! I’m grumpy. And I feel like someone’s stepping on my chest.