Just Wondering...

I know a few pregnant or formerly pregnant women read this blog, so I've got a question for you... Have any of you ever experienced a recurrent feeling of lump-in-the-throat during pregnancy? I don't mean a "oh my goodness, I'm pregnant" lump in the throat...or a "how in the world am I ever going to handle another baby?" lump in the throat...or even a hormonal "I just love this new baby and God and the whole world so much" lump in the throat. I'm talking about a real-life physical lump in the throat! For the past week or so, I've had this feeling from time to time; and its frequency seems to be increasing. It's not particularly painful, but it IS annoying...and I'm wondering if it's a pregnancy thing that I will see the last of in...oh, January or February of next year!

When I brought it up to my resident medical expert (dear old Dad), he suggested it might be related to my gag reflex, since I've had more nausea the past week than before. I thought that sounded like a reasonable assumption--or it could be something terrible like throat cancer--so I Googled it. What else do self-respecting, wanting-to-be-informed mothers or mothers-to-be do when questions arise? :)

One article I found suggested (and my explanation is a MAJOR over-simplification) that when the bottom of the esophagus opens more (as in the case of pregnancy heartburn), the top closes more, as if to compensate for the leaky valve at the bottom. And that can produce the lump in the throat feeling. Hmm, sounds possible. I have not felt any heartburn, so I'm grateful for that. But again, I'm not exactly thrilled about dealing with this feeling for the duration of this pregnancy. Of course, if it results in a live healthy baby, I'll do anything to make that happen--and I realize in the larger scheme of things, this is a very small price to pay.

But I was wondering...anybody out there have any experience with this (your own or any urban legends you've heard)? or any other thoughts to share?

By the way, I received the WONDERFUL news today that tomorrow--"tomorrow, tomorrow" I'm singing the song from Annie as I type--I get to have an ultrasound! Glory hallelujah!!! What a perfect anniversary gift! That's right, folks, Jeff's and my 10th anniversary is on Thursday...and to celebrate, we're leaving town right after the ultrasound and heading to a B&B in wild, wonderful West Virginia. During the early years of marriage, I often pictured us celebrating our 10th anniversary by, oh, going to Europe, perhaps touring Italy, maybe Ireland, something long and expensive like that. But instead, reality crashes in--and we're heading to the mountains for a quick get-away. But you know, I don't think I could be more thrilled, even if we were heading to the far corners of the world! This is exactly what we need--relaxed time together in beautiful surroundings, where we can do as much or as little as we want. And I'm extremely grateful to my parents for watching our little guys while we're away. Don't anybody call them after about 8:00 pm on Thursday night; I'm sure they'll be completely exhausted after two days and one night with their littlest grandsons! :)