37-38 Weeks Pregnant

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...or shall I say, "38 Weeks Miserable."

Too dramatic?  Yeah, I think so too, but sheesh, that's how I feel.  Perhaps, that's the weirdo hormones talking, or it's just me talking through all of the discomforts.      

1/20/13 (37 weeks)

1/28/13 (38 weeks)

I've begrudged even doing an update because I feel like all I'll do is complain (that's normal around this time of pregnancy, right?), but I certainly want to be honest and at least document my feelings for the future when I forget what it was like.  

So yeah, pretty much sleep went from my most favorite hobby to my least favorite.  That's because I'm up half the night either in the bathroom, in the living room doing some sort of yoga poses, reading, or trying to find some sort of entertainment via social media (which by the way doesn't exist in the wee hours of the morning), or in bed actually trying to sleep but too wound up in my mind because my ribs/back/belly hurt.  I sandwich myself between pillows so I have support where I need it, but it doesn't always help and often it makes me hot.  Not to worry, as soon as I get out of bed, the house is cold, so then I'm covered up with blankets.  By the way, the morning news is super super repetitive.  I get why--not many people actually watch the news from about 4:30-6:00 am straight--so when I get annoyed, that's how I know it's time to try sleep again.      

Eventually, I sleep/nap out of exhaustion, but I really hate bedtime.  I sure hope Naomi doesn't hate bedtime--that is once she understands what a "bedtime" is.  Perhaps then I will like bedtime again too.     

Anyway, so the demands on my musculoskelatal system are great and are my most annoying discomforts, especially the back pain.  I'm constantly changing seating positions and often sit/bounce/stretch on a stability ball because that seems to feel the best. The other pains come and go as I waddle here and there.

I get the heartburn/acid reflux from time to time, but that doesn't bother me as much.  All the other unglamorous parts of pregnancy are just plain annoying like the nasal congestion (which means I snore and slobber all over my pillows--ew gross, I know), and the bathroom trips, oh that darned pressure on the bladder!  

So, yeah, I look at the list and I'm like, Emily, why are you being so dramatic?  It could be so much worse.  There are a million other things that could be wrong with you or your baby, but you're quite healthy!  And though you feel like a "barge" (thanks dear husband), you haven't quite maxed out your self imposed not-to-be-exceeded-pregnancy-weight, so be grateful!  

Ha!  I talk to myself a lot.  Do you?  I have more time on my hands these days, so I have to keep myself company.

On the plus side, I have found a lot of joy in cooking.  Though I can't stand for long amounts of time, sometimes, I'll sit on a stool and chop veggies, or stir the pot, etc.  I'm still obsessed with soups for some reason (and yes, that is a tease for an upcoming post), like it's the meal I make every few days!  I just really love soup because it can be such a complete healthy package that is oh-so-comforting, especially now during this frigid winter!  

For breakfast, I'm also obsessed with homemade granola (like these: nutty, cherry almond, and bars), as well as pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, smoothies, Greek yogurt, and an occasional hot chocolate.  I also recently discovered that the pumpkin I pureed and froze a few months ago (from my porch decoration this past fall--it was an uncarved jack-o-lantern) still makes great muffins and divine gnocchi that even Hylan raved over.  It is a little less sweet than a "pie pumpkin," not quite as orange, and a little less pumpkiny in flavor, but nonetheless good.  Waste not, want not, I say!  (FYI, canned pumpkin that we buy in the store, which I love, is actually a mix of squash and pumpkin.  File that one away in your gee whiz collection, or google it if you don't believe me.)  

Why yes, I do happen to have a picture of the pumpkin gnocchi in sage brown butter sauce that I made.

My appetite is certainly in full drive now.  I missed out on that during the first 20 weeks, but honestly, it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I've just been hungry-hungry hippo.  I amped up the sugar intake during Christmas, but now the belly is just rarely full.  I suppose it's because I still try to eat the same portions I ate before, I just find that I have to go back for seconds and thirds sooner or later, and so overall, I'm eating all-the-time.  

I'm itching to get back in to what I consider a more normal exercise routine.  I'm even thinking, it's time to start thinking about training for another half marathon (even though we all know how much I actually love running!).  It just seems like it would be a good goal to make postpartum, as soon as I have the energy.  Of course, I'm even more interested in gaining the muscles back that have atrophied, but even more so, in doing the yoga poses that I just plain can't do right now like inversions, twists, and some arm balances.  Ah, pregnancy sure does reinforce the principles of patience and body awareness that I so emphatically preach to my students, but I sure am looking forward to shedding the disabilities I currently have and getting back to my "normal."    

I am really full of tangents today.  And I thought I didn't have much to say and was going to keep this post short.  

Well, I finally discovered what I think may be a few little stretch marks on my belly.  Admittedly, they are hard to see, except in a mirror because they are on the underside of my belly.  And because my skin is so see-through, it's hard to distinguish between those and the myriad of veins all over my belly, but they do in fact exist and will hopefully disappear in a few months, but if not, I suppose they will be considered battle wounds.

Hopefully, Naomi will come sooner than my due date (Feb 8th), but all in time, I suppose.  "They say" it's all worth it, so I'll go with that philosophy until I know for myself through experience.  But for now, I can't imagine another pregnancy...at least for a very long time, because it's just really not all that fun!

For the next blog posts, let's talk "Soup," "Birth Plans," and maybe even "Naomi's Nursery."  That is if I get around to it before she comes!  :)