Week 32: Baby Ava is about 4 pounds and 16.7 inches long:) She is almost ready to be born!!!
Ok, I don't know if it's because I am in my third trimester or if it's because I am just stressed out with trying to balance work and home and pregnancy but these past couple of weeks have been absolutely awful. I can't sleep anymore, my hips hurt, my arms go numb, my legs and feet are painfully swollen, I can't breathe because the baby pushes on my ribs so much it hurts.
The students are really starting to push me and test any and all boundaries that I put up at the beginning of the year, and honestly, I don't have the energy to keep up with them. I am so physically, emotionally, and mentally unstable and exhausted that I can barely function on the day to day.
Curious about my reality?? Here it is. An honest list of things that occur and/or cross the mind of a really, really pregnant chick:
1.I never realized how many times during the day I bend over, until I couldn’t anymore.
2.Whenever I stand up, my feet are tingly and numb
3.Whenever I lie down, my hands are tingly and numb.
4.My feet are so swollen that even my flip flops don’t fit anymore
5.My biggest shirt won't fit and my biggest winter jacket won’t zip up
6.I drink more water in my sleep than I used to drink in an entire week.
7.Eating over 2000 calories in a day is the norm.
8.I can’t sleep longer than 2 hours at a time
9.I would give anything to be able to sleep on my back or stomach
10.I can’t wait to go to church and take communion, only because I am seriously jonesin' for a sip of wine
11.Gaining two (or more) pounds in a week is little cause for alarm
12.Eating, walking, doing housework, talking for long periods, singing etc...all cause me to be completely out of breath
13.Eating physically bruises my ribcage
14.I suddenly start snoring for the first time in my life.
15.Going to bed requires me to toss and turn in a nest of pillows for at least a half an hour before I get comfortable, if I ever do get comfortable.
16.I call in sick at least once a week so that I can try to get more sleep.
17.I could be in bed for 15 hours and still be running on less than 8 hours of sleep.
18.My ankles have disappeared.
19.My tailbone and hip bones slide and shift at odd moments sending pain throughout my back and legs.
20.Losing an item, listening to a slow song, or watching a sad/happy story on TV is serious cause for an emotional breakdown.
21.I ask Google before I ask my doctor.
22.I compulsively Google every little thing that I do or eat before I do or eat it, for fear that it might “hurt the baby”.
23.I am riddled with guilt when I find out that everything that I do or eat “hurts the baby”.
24.I am occasionally angry at my doctor for being a man.
25.I am occasionally angry at my husband for being a man.
26.I am occasionally angry at my dogs for being spayed and neutered.
27.Working out seems like it might keep the pounds off, but after the first 20 pounds, reality sets in, I have very little control of my own body.
28.I secretly hate any woman that is under 200 pounds.
29.I talk myself into believing that I really do deserve that extra piece of cake, after all, I am pregnant.
30.My husband is talking and I am not even listening because the baby is kicking and all I can do is smile and nod.
31.I am at work and I forget why I am there.
32.My job starts to feel like a “job”.
33.After reading and hearing all the horror stories from strangers and friends, I realize that I have little control over how well the baby is growing or developing.
34.Praying every day is a necessity. Praying is the only thing I can do to feel some sense of control, to keep my sanity, and to be rest assured that everything will turn out okay.
35.I repeatedly forget to feed the dogs.
36.I repeatedly forget I have dogs.
37.I have to use the handicap stall in public bathrooms in order to close the stall door around my gigantic belly.
38.When I sit down, crossing my legs like a "lady" is replaced by spreading my legs as wide as possible for the belly room.
39.I struggle to get into and out of a mid-size vehicle.
40.I can’t reach the car door to close it once I’ve gotten into the car.
41.I’ve grown used to people constantly touching me.
42.I am now stopped in my tracks by complete strangers at Wal-mart, in the parking lot, at the McDs, on the sidewalk, at the Target, in the park, so that they can tell me all about their own pregnancies and birthing horror stories. "My vagina ripped all the way up to my cervix!!!" Ughhhhhh...thanks.
43.Random people feel the need to comment on my size in unusually rude ways. “Wow! You’re HUGE!” never gets old.
44.People are shocked that I am still working/walking/moving.
45.People are shocked that my due date is so “far away”.
46.I want to beat my coworkers when they ask if I am excited to go “on vacation” during my FMLA.
47.Part of me really wishes that I had taken some pre-pregnancy naked pictures of myself.
48.Stretchmarks.
49.Doing dishes is almost impossible because my arms can’t reach around my belly into the sink.
50.I watch birth videos online and instantly start panicking, crying, shaking and hyperventilating. There's NO WAY this baby is gonna fit through THAT!
