Full of Cheer

My husband, the sweetheart that he is, commented to me this morning that I didn't look pregnant from behind. I love that man, especially because everything about me feels extremely pregnant right now, right down to my pinky toes. My husband = absolutely awesome.

Along the lines of awesome: this baby continues to grow stronger each day, which is really exciting and also really painful. There are times that my insides feel so stretched, and this kid is still a little peanut compared to how big it'll be in a few weeks. For some reason it is particularly interested in the left lower side of my uterus. That area of body stays sore pretty much all the time, as in, when I touch my skin in that area, it hurts. This kid.... [Shakes head.] I am starting to think that the kid is a girl. No real reason, but for a long time I was thinking boy and now I am thinking girl. The speculation: it's titillating, I know!

Both Jim and I have been extremely sick this past week. We caught colds that have knocked us out flat. I haven't worked out in over a week, which is starting to affect me mentally and I can tell I am not sleeping as well either. I am ready to start feeling better, one of the worst things about being so sick, besides the copious amounts of snot, is feeling out of breath all the time. Nothing is worse than say; getting up out of a chair only to realize that I am standing there panting. Good times.

Christmas is just around the corner, and am pretty sure that all the extra food I have been consuming in celebration of the season isn't helping my beached whale look at all, though my taste buds aren't complaining at all. Really I can't believe that Christmas is only days away. Our last Christmas as a couple, wow. This means that the New Year is right around the corner, which means it will be 2007, and I don't know if anyone is aware of this...but my baby is going to be born in 2007. Early 2007. Holy crapamoly, I am so close to having a child. T minus 10 weeks and counting. (That means I am 30 weeks along. 30! How is this even possible?)

As many weeks as I am years

This week my child is 28 weeks old. That means this baby is 12 weeks away from being born. 12 weeks! That will pass in no time! I can hardly believe that in 3 months our lives are going to be forever changed by the presence of another person.

Lately this baby has started moving around like crazy, it feels like it's kicking it legs and there are times when my stomach just hurts from being pressed on. I am guessing that kind of pain is going to get worse, since this kid certainly isn't shrinking at all.

This past weekend I went to a baby shower in my hometown. It was fun but what made it especially delightful was the whole time everyone kept telling me how good I looked. Since lately all I am feeling is BIG, I didn't want the shower to end because it was really nice to hear over and over again that I looked really good. Flattery is always appreciated, especially flattery towards an overly tired, very round, waddling pregnant woman. Another person who is on my favorites list right now is the woman at the pool this morning. She asked me when I was due and when I told her, she proceeded to say "Oh, you don't look big at all considering you are due so soon." I could have hugged her, especially because as we were talking I stood there in my bathing suit. And the only bathing suit that fits right now shows a considerable amount of tummy, along with a considerable amount of everything else. When I told this story to my husband he responded: 'Well that is both good and bad. It means you are going to get a whole lot bigger.' My happy balloon deflated a little after I realized that yes, he is indeed right. It's already hard to move around and get in and out of the car, I don't want to think about the challenges I'll face in 2 1/2 or 3 more months.

Another cute story: Last night at work I was talking to one of the four year old little girls who I hadn't seen for a few days. She poked me in the stomach and then looked up to verify that there was a baby in my belly. I told her yes, there was, and then she asked if she could see the baby. When I informed her that she couldn't see the baby quite yet because it wasn't ready to be seen she tried to lift up my shirt and confirm that for herself, it was funny but it also made me very glad that was the first time anything like that happened, since it was a little embarrassing.

This weekend the hubs and I travel to the state which housed him for 18 years to see friends and his family. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone but I am really NOT looking forward to the drive. Leg cramps have been creeping up on me lately, and they are awful! I know that a nice long car trip will only help encourage them to pop on over a say hey, the little bastards. But, I am excited to see people and I am curious if these friends will be as complimentary as the people from my hometown. I can only hope that all weekend long I will hear about how good I look.

Vain much?