Silver Lining

So tired. So very tired. That’s the state of my pregnant being these days.

Hence the long roster of posts recently.

Plus we went on vacation too. A lovely vacation in Mexico.

So anyway turns out that being pregnant and trying to keep up with a 3 year old is not so easy. There was that glorious time in the early 2nd trimester when the complete and utter exhaustion that plagues the 1st trimester abated, and I was just barely beginning to show. That was easy street.

Excited, full of energy, mostly the same body I always had — it was easy to keep up with Lilly and do all the fun things she likes to do. Sure, there was the occasional jaunt to the bathroom to toss my cookies, but at least it was over in a matter of minutes.

Now, in my 3rd trimester, exhaustion is once again becoming commonplace and my body . . . well, it’s not the same. Not. The. Same. To use Lilly’s words, my “belly is HUUUGE.” (Then she falls over backwards from leaning too far back in an attempt to replicate the size of my belly.)

I keep telling people (who ask) that I feel like my pregnancy has advanced several months in the last couple weeks. I feel SO much bigger. Bending is harder, sleeping is harder, even breathing is harder. The weigh-in at my most recent doctor appointments confirms it: I’ve ballooned.

Turns out when you put on more than a pound a week for over a month, you actually can feel it. BIG TIME.

Of course, I knew this would happen. It’s called being pregnant. But it still catches you off-guard when you suddenly (and I really do mean suddenly) can’t touch your toes — or, frankly, even see them. Or a trip upstairs takes your breath away. Or your engagement ring begins to feel more like a mini-guillotine for fingers than a sentimental jewelry piece. And then there’s the clumsiness. Oh dear, the clumsiness.

It’s become a joke between Elliott and me since I was pregnant with Lilly that anytime I slip on stairs I must be pregnant. I’ve taken five pretty good spills on stairs (to my recollection) in the past 4 years. Three of those times I was pregnant with Lilly. Another time I was rushing down our hardwood stairs with socks on. (FYI, that’s a bad idea.) The most recent time was last month in Mexico. Thankfully, I tend to be on one of the last few steps when coordination fails me.

And, just for the record, the last time I remember falling on stairs before being pregnant I was about 6 years old.

It’s no joke that women become more clumsy during pregnancy. It’s due to a hormone that loosens the joints in preparation for pushing the baby out. It’s called “relaxin.” Seriously. Relaxin. I mean, come on! There’s nothing “relaxin” about having less control over your joints than you’re used to.

By the way, you know what else is not relaxin’? Staring at the Pacific Ocean just outside your Mexican hotel room with your ankle iced, elevated and compressed, wondering if you’ll be able to do anything for the rest of your vacation.

But I digress. The truth of the matter is that as much as I could complain about all the discomforts and inconveniences of pregnancy, this is a long-awaited pregnancy; I have put on adequate but not excessive weight; and I have been mostly healthy *knock on wood* so far during this pregnancy. Exhausting as it may be to muster the energy to participate in Lilly’s daily dress-up dance recitals and to maneuver my expanding body into her seemingly shrinking My Little Pony Play Castle, I feel so blessed to have a healthy, excited little girl who is going to make a fantastic big sister.

I just hope this little boy likes to dance. Because sooner or later, this dress-up ballerina is going to need a nap.

* * * * *

P.S. The vacation gods smiled down on me in Mexico and my ankle was back to about 90% within 24 hours of my unfortunate ankle-twisting on the stairs.

P.P.S. If you want to count my front stoop as stairs, you can update my spill count to 6 as of this morning. Apparently, my body thinks this baby is going to be pushed out of my ankles.

The Silver Lining by MushBrain, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mushbrain.net.