In whatever that gap of time has been, I've developed a lovely and very obviously pregnant belly. No more wondering by strangers if I'm potato shaped because of a thyroid condition, hump back, or just horrible posture... I'm probably just about at that point where strangers will try touching me soon. One prohibitive issue to that is that I seem to be carrying high, and my breasts seem to be consuming my belly. I don't want some grandfather in Cub Foods with 80-year old depth perception to lovingly pat one of my boobs!
Instead of the little pixie belly that you see on some (mostly taller) women, I've got a decently oval shaped bump that wants desperately to see what's going on around my chesticle area, and keeps expanding upwards. My fundus jumped over what seems like a span of 2 weeks from being below my belly button to knocking at the door of my second ribs. So the on-ramp leaving normal-shaped me, heading towards the hilly highway o' birthing, ascends from just beneath the band of my bra to a pinnacle that has yet to be measured, since it hurts my hip and butt to lay flat on my back :-)
Although, speaking of that... funny thing. It hurts (hurt being relative too... it is often quite uncomfortable) to lay on my back if my buttocks and hips are flat down on any surface... ultrasound table, exam table, bed, floor, futon, even couch. So I go to sleep, like many pregnant women, propped up into a very unnatural-yet-comfortable state with pillows: one behind my back, one about half under my belly, one between my legs, and one and a half under my head. With each subsequent visit to the bathroom in the night, one of these pillows drops off the priority list and usually physically drops off the bed. More often than not I wake up in the morning, FLAT on my back. Or sometimes even on my stomach - go figure. Now other than the hurty-painy thing, prego-chicks are not advised to sleep on their backs anytime after about 16 weeks, because the weight of the uterus can impede the flow of blood down a major vein heading to your legs and artery heading back out to your heart. Dizziness and freaked-out, oxygen deprived babies can apparently result. Other sources say to sleep however you are comfortable. Apparently my body is listening to the latter, especially after about 4am.
And waking up. That's been interesting as well. Thanks to our Hypnobirthing class, we have these fabulous cds to which we can listen - one is called "Birthing Affirmations" and is followed by the Rainbow Relaxation script, which leads you through all these different visualizations that help you relax in order to have a more pain-free labor and birth. Both are very relaxing, although the first makes Saby giggle because there are three different instances of "My cervix is opening as my body prepares to bring my baby into the world."
As I drifted back to dreamworld this morning after Saby left for work, I wondered how long this beautiful ability to sleep is going to last. Even after Saby goes, I am definitely no longer alone in bed... there are two of us, and more, we joke. Saby's theory is that our baby not only is very active, but is also very naughty, and has friends sneak over late at night. They then stay awake playing even after we've gone to sleep. This morning, our child seems to have been hosting some sort of track and field event with it's friends. (Maybe a March of Dimes event?) I was very dimly aware that my belly was jumping - literally JUMPING - on an axis perpendicular to my body, as if Spampy baby were laying across the uterus and doing some variation of a tap dance routine where arms, legs and head would all jolt out at the same time. Ka-poom. Ka-poom. Like a very violent muscle twitch. I'm not sure if the kid calmed down or whether sleep just got the better of me, but it really is pretty amazing having somebody inside of you, even if they are running relays with friends.
It's doing it now, too!!
BUT, the strangest new development I've noticed is that I'm the amazing transparent woman. Like those plastic figures that are part fertility goddess, part anatomy-teaching tool, where you can see all of their veins? That's me. Life size. I stepped out of the shower yesterday and was giving myself the visual once over and stretch mark lotion rub down. Once upon a time I had noticed crazy veins running to and from my growing boobies... well them veins are EVERYWHERE now. Not varicose veins, mind you. My actual, normal veins and arteries must be running at extra high capacity, thanks to all the extra bloody pregnancy makes you have, and that combined with the freakish paleness of spring are resulting in my stomach and sides looking like a Rand McNally atlas of Kentucky.
So between that and the growth spurt, I feel like the fabulous inflatable transparent woman! Come see me grow!!
No comments:
Post a Comment