Tomorrow marks 40 weeks of pregnancy. This kid is fully cooked. I'm starting to reminisce over what the pregnancy has been like before it's even over. Multiple small concerns over the size of the baby (small), amount of amniotic fluid (small), and words about "growth retardation" (isn't "restricted" a more acceptable way of saying it?) and "placental insufficiency" will ensure that this baby doesn't cook much longer. Here is a list of 13 things that have struck me during the last 9 months:
1 - I do not love being pregnant
2 - I don't hate it either
3 - I'm way more excited about the end result than the process. Truth is, the process has taken over my body. And I don't like to share. I'd like my body back, please.
4 - My biggest symptom this whole time has been a growing belly - the unpleasant symptoms decided not to visit me this time around.
5 - The scariest moments were 2 episodes of spotting at 6 and 8 weeks
6 - I've felt more temperamental, possessive, and emotionally reactive in the last month than I did for the entire previous 8 months of pregnancy. Perhaps a symptom of too much time on my hands? I sit at home, on EI.
7 - Favorite part - fetal movements. Kicks, flutters, rolls, hiccups. And now I can see practice breathing.
8 - No stretch marks. Yet
9 - No significant cravings. But acceptable excuses for having whatever I want on a whim.
10 - My back has been surprisingly tolerant. Worse, yes. Unbearable, no.
11 - The Husband has read way more books than I have. I just don't care to. Books will make me feel guilty and I do that well enough on my own, thanks.
12 - I've worried more about the well-being of my kid in the last couple of weeks than the previous 8 months. Will it be healthy/normal? What if I think it's ugly? What if I don't even like it? What if I die before he/she grows up?
13 - I may be 9 mths pregnant, but I can still clean house, walk the dog daily, climb stairs. I could probably still do a half hour of cardio at the gym.
May labor and delivery be just as easy!
4 comments:
I saw photos of you that your mom showed to me...you're looking very fine...and I see you still climb on a roof...allbeit a dog house roof.I've heard that stretch marks are a result of insuficient zinc...so you can be thankful you have enough. Roselle
Hey -- you did read some very excellent books -- Great with Child(Debra Rienstra) and my Anne Lamott books! You should probably re-read Debra's book right now -- remember "Birth is messy and unpredictable, because life is so."
"Completely natural childbirths are the ones that used to kill women and infants with some frequency"
"'Birth is as solemn a parting as eath,' wrote G.K.Chesteron."
"Human beings must begin in recklessness. Even the most carefully planned and intensely wanted baby must begin with the parents saying Yes to something they cannot control"
"whoever I had been before motherhood was gone; whoever I was becoming had not yet taken shape. I could see that it would involve a great deal more selflessness than I was used to...an unpleasant new feeling: the irreversible, inescapable realization that I was the grown-up now. This baby's needs came first, would always come first. She didn't care how I felt."
Enough of that -- I will be praying for you all (you, baby and husband) as you enter into this life changing time -- with all it's messiness, but also great blessings and inexpressible joy. Love MOM
Oops -- should have previewed -- the word should be "death" not eath, the chesterton quote.
3. I love the way you worded that! And the good news is you won't have to share much longer! ;-)
7. Really? You can see practise breathing? Makes me wish I'd been a nurse while I was pregnant. I didn't notice practise breathing. I'll have to go back in time with you as my teacher.
12. I did that too!!! The last month, or was it the last two months for me?
13. Really? I was so flipping exhausted!!! You go girl!
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