Pregnant Me

"Bigger and bigger."

That's what Gwen has been saying to me the last few days. She doesn't need to say more than that. I know that she's talking about my ever growing belly.

I finally hit the wall. I hit it earlier than I hit it with the girls. But at 35 weeks, I'm pretty ready to not be pregnant anymore. Actually, mentally, I'm fine with being pregnant. Physically, I'm sick of being pregnant.

My body never felt this beat up with the girls. This time around, joints are cracking and popping that just shouldn't be. Everything is stiff and achy and I'm wobbeling around uncomfortably. It's pretty ridiculous what I've resorted to. I've found myself getting down on the floor to pick up toys and just deciding to crawl to the next room to continue to pick things up, because standing is just too difficult and bending down to do it again is just too painful. I see Gwen trying to pick things up with her toes and open drawers with her feet, because obviously that's the way things get done around here now.

I'm always in my favorite yoga pants and one of Joe's shirts. I'm down to one skirt for church. My boots are barely fitting around my calves because my legs are so swollen. My maternity jeans are pretty much too tight and I seem to rip the fabric covering the maternity panel each time I put them on because my rear end is growing bigger and bigger right along with everything else. Come to think of it, maybe that is really what Gwen is talking about. Must be.

I am craving anything cool and refreshing. Clementines, apples, celery, crisp salads, cucumbers and grapes. I have also been craving drinks. When not pregnant I am a huge water drinker. I have to drink plenty of water to keep from getting kidney stones, so that's what I do. I never have juice or soda in the house. Since becoming pregnant, all I want are cold beverages. First it was Martinelli's. I would drink a bottle a day while Joe was at work. I kept getting the four pack at Costco, but they kept disappearing. Then it was egg nog. We went through several, several gallons during the holidays. But nothing, I mean nothing, quite hits the spot like some serious caffeine. And honestly, I could go years without drinking soda, let alone caffeine. But boy oh boy, this pregnancy has me craving some caffeine. I usually go with Diet coke, but one night Joe got home from work and had bought a Diet Dr. Pepper to help him stay awake on the drive home. It had been since high school since I had the stuff. I took one drink and thought I was in heaven. Very,very good stuff that Diet Dr. Pepper.

It still seems completely surreal that we are having a boy. The girls still affectionately call him Cosmo. That's about as far as we've gotten on the name situation. I'm pretty confident we'll be at the hospital without a definite name. We need help desperately. Actually if you ask Joe, we have several options. I just need to choose one. Yikes!

As eager as I am to not be pregnant anymore, I must say, I LOVE having a baby in my belly. I love each and every punch and kick I feel. Even if it's to my ribs or bladder. It's a part of pregnancy that I really do miss after the baby is born. Maybe I'm the only one.

But here we are. Five weeks to go and counting...kind of.