Awake

It is 7:50 AM and I have already been to our favorite doughnut man and coffee shack. Upon my return, I found my husband and daughter blissfully sleeping, in the same position I left them in. Damn them.

I am truly looking forward to being able to comfortably sleep again. One quick movement can send my calf muscles into spasm, my bladder into convulsions, or my stomach into screams of "Lay still!" I am still having a hard time believing that the female body was "made for this." Who the hell said that? It must have been a male, because he would have never made a rash statement had he experienced what pregnancy is like.

As of tomorrow, I will have passed the time in my pregnancy when Nora was born. That will be a huge accomplishment, but it is making me realize that this little guy is probably not going to make his appearance any time soon. I believe Cousin Andi's statement was something to the effect of "I bet he'll be a week and a half late." We'll see if it is that long, but I have a feeling that I am in for another 6 weeks of torture.

To combat my torturous state, I have taken it upon myself to make/purchase every food stuff that I know I will not allow myself after Little Man is born. Last night, I made the butterscotch rice crispy treats that I have salivated over at Lutheran pot lucks for years. As you read previously, this morning I purchased some of my beloved blueberry cake doughnuts. I have fond memories of blueberry cake doughnuts from Family Foods on Sunday mornings. I also need to indulge myself in these luscious morsels of calorie hell before the nice Vietnamese baker changes them to pumpkin cake doughnuts for the winter season (gag). I'm not sure what else is on the menu for the weekend. But, I can assure you, it will not be the beautifully portioned out meals full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that dominated the first and second trimester of my pregnancy.

The Progression...

 

June 1st

 

June 20th

 

July 20th

 

August 26th

 

October 1st

 

It's Official

I'm going to start my maternity leave on November 1st by working half days until the Little Man decides to make his appearance. If he hasn't showed up by November 21st, that will be my last day.

The principal and I had interviews this morning and found one lady we really liked and another that would be an acceptable back up if the first doesn't work out. Hopefully having the two of us work together for a couple of weeks will make for a good transition. I could truly care less if academics are taught when I'm gone! I'm just worried about the class staying under control as well as it is when I'm here. I don't want to come back to chaos! That would not make me feel very good about leaving my little boy to come back to hell!

update

I appreciate that no one has commented on the belly picture. Brian did his best to get at an angle that would make me look as big as possible :-) He thought it was pretty funny...now you can laugh too.

I've been feeling pretty crappy lately. I've had a terrible cold and that semi-truck between the legs wasn't getting any better. I went to the OB on Thursday afternoon and she recommended quite a few things to take that would not effect the baby at all. For future reference, Sudafed, Robitussin DM and Benedryl can all be taken while prego without any side effects. She also told me I needed to get a belly bra, more politely called a maternity belt. I promptly left her office, called in sick for Friday, and headed for the clinic across the street that had the belt and all the medicine.

The nice lady at the breastfeed clinic fit me for a belly bra. The only thing I can think of that it looks like is one of those belts that the guys in high school used to wear to prevent a hernia when they were working out. It is a polyester white band with tons of velcro on it that goes around my back and then down around my belly. Natasha, the 'fitting specialist', told me that I needed the largest size so I would have a little more room to grow. I was thinking in my head, what the hell to really fat people do? Yes, I'm fat right now, but what if I was fat before I was prego and now weighed 250 or 300? Would I just have to deal with the semi-truck between my legs feeling for the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy? That can't be right!

Anyway, the moral of the story is that the semi has decided to move on to some other poor unsuspecting pregnant woman and my cold is on the mend. I still have astronomical amounts of snot, but I am sleeping for four to five our stretches and wake up feeling like I can interact with people again.

I've already received two emails from parents giving me recommendations for what they used when they were sick and pregnant and begging me not to be gone on Monday too. Sounds like the kids didn't care for the substitute and would prefer to have crabby Mrs. Remfrey.

On a side note, all the 0-3 month clothes are in the dryer and the hospital bag is starting to be packed. I don't want to be caught off guard this time! I went into labor with Nora a week and a half from this point. Even though I'm much more uncomfortable this time, the little man better stay put longer than Nora. I don't want to deal with the NIC Unit this time around. It would be oh so nice to be home two days after delivering...I think.

31 Weeks and Expanding

 

So, I know it's been awhile, but I'm back to tell you something very important. At this point in my pregnancy (31 weeks), it feels as if a semi-truck could drive through my crotch. Seriously. I don't remember having this feeling with Nora...at least not as severely. I can't say it is the most enjoyable feeling, or one that I will miss when this is over.

Every once in a while, after standing up, it feels as if one of my legs is not completely attached to my pelvis. This is the main reason I have not been able to sleep for more than a two hour stretch at night. When I wake up, my hip/pelvis aches so badly that I have to get out of bed to get everything back into place. This also aides my need to pee all the frigging time, but it is still awake time when I should be sleeping.

I know that some people, some of you actually, get very nostalgic about being pregnant. I can't say that I am ever going to be one of those people. Being pregnant is no longer a novel experience and right now all I want is to meet our son and get him the hell out of my body. I obviously don't want to have him as early as Nora (6 weeks), but I don't hope to make it to my due date. Two or three weeks early will be most ideal. If it were possible to birth this baby right now, I'd be up for it.

Bring it on!