Ready to go!

Looking back on how far I've come, I'm amazed!

June 4, 2009: Now that's a baby bump

The post is short & sweet and looking back, kinda funny that I thought that THAT was a baby bump. HA!

September 19, 2009: 31 weeks!

The real bump is looking bump-tastic... but we clearly weren't done yet...

November 24, 2009 - I can't button the shirt over my belly at this point!

Our due date was yesterday, November 23, but Dean's not due to come home from work until tomorrow, so we're waiting another day before going into labor.

From a medical standpoint, my pregnancy has been, in the words of my OB, "uneventful." From a personal standpoint, however, it has been more um... EVENTFUL! The last 9 months have been a crazy ride. Some things I'd like to remember:

1. Poo or Gas: I have never gotten used to the constant pressure in my lower body. Though bladder pressure has been easy to diagnose and relieve, pressure on the other end has been tricky. You just never know if it's going to be poo or gas. And even if 99.99% of the time it is just gas, do you really want to risk it? (the answer here is always NO!)

2. Tingling fingers on my right hand: Sometime after 35 weeks, my right arm started falling asleep. Then the ring & middle fingers on my right hand began to tingle. The two of them have been tingling ever since... not quite asleep but not quite at 100%. It's weird.

3. Falling off of a bike (and landing on the cross bar): The body is an amazing piece of machinery and pregnancy is the ultimate test of endurance and stamina - most of which is not learned! I showed pictures of how the inside of a woman's body changes during pregnancy back in June (What has to pass through where?). As the tendons around my pelvis have loosened and as the baby has dropped down into position, there is a new pain which reminds me of what it felt like as a kid to slide off of your bike seat and land (hard) on the cross bar between the seat and the handle bar. Unlike then, the pain hasn't lessened over time...

4: Hiccups: As baby moves around, he has some affinity for pressing on my diaphragm. I haven't felt his hiccups, but feel like I have been hiccuping for months and months!

5. Sleep time: In the last week of my pregnancy, my trips to the bathroom have increased as have the number of moves it takes for me to turn over. Last night, I got up 4 times. If I'm sleeping on the right side, it takes me 5 moves to get to my left side. 5 moves:

• Right hip to right buttock
• Shift right shoulder forward
• Roll onto back (usually experience mild heartburn)
• Roll onto left buttock
• Shift left shoulder into place as I roll onto left hip

Between these calisthenics and having to pee every hour or so, it's amazing I get any rest at all! Perhaps this is just preparing me for post-baby...

6. My ribs: I can never in my life remember thinking about my rib cage as much as I have in the last few months. On the rare occasions that I'm on my back and don't experience heartburn, the baby kicks his little feet up on my rib cage (they used to be under the cage).

I've been uncomfortable (a word that I've found really doesn't adequately express the feelings & emotions that it is supposed to describe), experienced heartburn, sleepless nights, wacky dreams... I miss my old body and my ability to go for a run or a hard workout or even to walk up the stairs in my condo without being breathless. I've adapted to making several trips to the grocery so I can carry the packages upstairs in 1 trip and accepted the help from the bag boys. I've gained 40 lbs... and I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm ready to go baby!