Pregnancy

The Glamour of Pregnancy

IMG_4560

Less than 5 weeks to go!

Sorry for the radio silence over here last week.  I have been prepping for my maternity leave and was insanely busy with work and life last week, trying to get everything in order before I go out on leave (or before the little lady comes — which really could happen first.  Who knows.)

I’ve been desperately trying to scramble to get everything ready at work and at home so I can (hopefully) just relax a bit once my leave starts.  Of course, this could all go out the door if the peanut decides to make her debut earlier than expected.  I have this sneaky feeling that she might come right when my leave starts so I won’t be able to go get my haircut, prenatal massage, etc. done like I have planned.  Right now I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she stays put until at least 38 weeks (which is less than 3 weeks away now!) so I can have just one week off to relax and catch up on my sleep.

And guys, being 35+ weeks pregnant now, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not just pregnant, I’m pregnant.  Like, I’m so pregnant that I have no issues asking for a seat every time I ride BART (last week I actually physically tapped a guy sitting in the priority seating because he failed to look up when I said, “Excuse me” to ask for his seat.  I have no shame.)  And, the little lady is so low in my belly now that I have that “pregnancy waddle” (which, by the way, feels about as cool as it looks).  And, I discovered last week that due to her low position, her head is hitting some blood vessels in my pelvis which makes my right foot swell up like some kind of cartoon, so I’ve been walking around with one fat foot and ankle for the last week and no way of fixing it.  (Kind of explains why KC didn’t even bat an eyelash when I informed him that my wedding rings officially no longer fit so I’d be going “left hand bare” till the end of pregnancy.)

In short, the end of pregnancy is not what I would call “glamorous.”  I’ve certainly been getting extra attention from everyone lately due to this big round belly, but for everyone who is nice and complimentary, there’s at least one other person who’s saying, “you must be miserable” or “you look so uncomfortable,” as though that’s somehow ok (or even a compliment?  I don’t know.)

The end of pregnancy is tiring and really uncomfortable (I totally see how you get to the end and think, “Labor doesn’t seem so bad right now.”) but hearing from other people that you look uncomfortable and tired isn’t exactly a mood-lifter.  (A male coworker told me I looked uncomfortable last week and I responded, “Thanks, that’s just what every pregnant woman wants to hear.”  Um yeah, the comments get old real fast.)

I understand that people mean well and just want to offer sympathy, but most of the time I want to respond with, “I’m almost 9 months pregnant, I’m literally growing and carrying around a 5 1/2 pound person in my belly, my foot is swollen, my joints are killing me, and I haven’t slept longer than 3 hours in a row in months because I have to get up to pee every 5 minutes — of course I’m tired and uncomfortable — but that doesn’t mean I want to hear about just how terrible, tired and uncomfortable I look.”

Yesterday morning KC and I stopped by Starbucks on our way out to Walnut Creek and this woman came up to me and said, “You look so adorable.”  And you know what?  It totally made my day.  I was on my way to a bridal shower, and while I had done myself up and slipped into one of the (very few) dresses that fits me, I knew I’d be walking into a houseful of cute ladies with waists and high heels — and I’d have this basketball belly and one fat foot (not exactly confidence-inducing).  So hearing from someone that I looked adorable rather than tired, uncomfortable, or “OMG so pregnant!” was pretty much the best thing ever.

So thanks, Starbucks lady, for your unsolicited positivity — it really meant a lot (and made fielding all the “How are you feeling?” questions accompanied by that pained look of pity just thatmuchmore bearable).

On the upside, I’ve got just 10 days of work left (hooray!) and then we’ll officially be sitting and waiting for Baby D to decide she’s ready to join the outside world.  I’m so excited (for both), I just can’t wait. Here’s hoping the next two weeks go quickly!