The Home Stretch

So here I am starting my 35th week. Man, has this ever flown by fast. The other day we installed our rear-facing car seat and reality has really set in that in 3 weeks my body will squeeze out another human being. Seems like only yesterday I peed on a stick and watched 2 little lines appear. I will say this, even though I may complain about some of the discomforts of pregnancy (morning sickness, streatch marks, dumb ass people), I've had it relatively good and all in all have really enjoyed it. To be honest I may even miss being pregnant once Baby is here; I'm sure especially when I'm getting up for nightly feedings and changing dirty diapers. But since I'm up in the middle of the night now a days anyways, I'm guessing it may not be such a big adjustment.

Right now I'm feeling more anxious then I am fear. OK, fear is still there but anxious has added itself to the mix; Maybe it's because three women I know who were due in June have already had their babies, one as much as 6 weeks early. It's really hit home that this could potentially happen at any time. Hopefully Baby will wanna stay put for another 3 weeks or so.

Anyhow, as days pass by it's starting to really sink in. DH and I are having a baby! OMG! my life is about to change forever. I know I know, you're thinking "of course you are how are you just realizing this now?" but to be honest the reality of it all is starting to hit me. I'm off work now and I've been tying up loose ends before Baby's arrival and as my to do list gets shorter I realize I get closer and closer to my delivery date. I know I'll flop back and forth and sometimes thinking I have all the time in the world till one day in the not so near future I'll be on my way to the hospital. Does it make sense that I'm looking forward to that day but also dreading it at the same time?

Invasion on the body snatchers

Early into my pregnancy I noticed some changes in my body. You had the standard larger and tender breasts, nausea, bad skin, greasy hair and extreme fatigue. But I also noticed strange little things like a bionic sense of smell (really, I could smell what DH had for lunch when I kissed him as I walked through our front door), and increase in saliva and nasal congestion (so attractive). It turned out my body was no longer my own, I was merely a vessel for breeding, a fact I would learn would prove more true as my pregnancy progressed.

All of the sudden my body was no longer my own. In an instant I had gone from being a active independent woman to a human incubator. I would eat things I wouldn't normally eat, the food I did eat would take longer to pass through since the embryo was getting all it could from everything I was eating (we'll get to that later) , scents that I never minded before suddenly made me want to throw up and my bed time had gone from 11:30Pm on a weeknight to 8:00pm. Now, like many men I'm sure that DH didn't mind that his new wife's boobs had grown but alas, no fun to be had since they would hurt like a MotherF'er and I'm sure my early morning hacking and nose blowing was just the attractive wake up call he had been dreaming of. For me the tipping point where I realized my body was no longer my own was when my regular pants wouldn't fit anymore. I had to graduate to wearing fat pants (aka, yoga pants) most of the time. I was getting too big for my regular jeans, and too small to start with maternity pants. All I could do to accommodate my growing ass, amongst other things, was wear dresses and stretchy pants, but since it was getting colder here in Ottawa yoga pants were my stretchy pants of choice. Due to my limited fashion selection I didn't go out much. Heading out for a casual dinner with friends in yoga pants was still somewhat acceptable but going to a nice place with DH for a chef tasting in stretchy pants; not cool, which was fine with me....more time to sleep. Plus, I would soon learn there was a whole list of foods I should avoid.

Don't get me wrong, I was more then willing to give up my body for 9 months if it meant I would be rewarded with a healthy , happy baby at the end. Even during the misery of throwing up, the pain of new bigger boobs and no longer fitting into my fat pants because my ass was getting bigger and bigger all I could do for weeks was look at myself in the mirror before a getting into the shower and rub my belly and smile. We were having a baby. I was now human incubator and I was OK with it.

Sleep is for the weak...and the pregnant

One of the first signs of pregnancy is fatigue. I'm talking I don't want to do anything, going to sleep for 12 hours, too tired to wash my hair, fatigue. I had waited a few days before I told Dear Husband that he was gonna be a daddy. I wanted to think of a cute way to tell him, I mean the first time only happens once right? Yeah, that never happened.

Now, you may think I'm just a lazy ass and that I'm exaggeration, but I'm not. I was feeling tired all the time. I would fall asleep at around 8pm every night and wake up at 7:30 the next morning; I really didn't have any energy to do anything, if I didn't have to work I would have slept all day only waking up to eat and go to the bathroom. DH started to get worried. He thought I was sad or something. "No Dear, I'm just tired" I would say. I can honestly say I felt drained, like this soon to be baby was a mack truck and it just knocked me on my ass . It was like the little bugger inside of me was taking all my super powers away. I would start to take naps on weekends and lay in bed right after I got home from work. Sleep was all the developing embryo needed. No food, no water just sleep. Sleep so that mommy's powers could be taken away as she dozed in her bed.

DH started to get worried since at this point he still had no clue. He thought it was because I didn't have a wedding to plan anymore, like I was falling into a post-wedding depression. "Are you OK? do you need a new hobby or a new project?" he would ask. After a few days of this I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Honey" I said "I'm not depressed, I'm pregnant" the look on his face was priceless. Bet ya he didn't see that one coming.