Thursday, December 13, 2007

What it's like to be 8 months pregnant

I woke up at quarter past early because I was absolutely baking, threw off the sheets and removed a layer of sweats only to hear the furnace kick on moments later. I laid in bed for several minutes debating the prospect of getting up to turn the furnace down or staying put where I was somewhat comfortable. After a quarter hour I finally made my mid-night pilgrimage to the bathroom, got a glass of cold water, and turned the furnace down while I was up waddling around. Then I laid back down to go back to sleep.

Ugh...back pain. Although I was no longer hot, I still couldn't get comfortable. I'm supposed to sleep on my side and to facilitate this, I have a half dozen pillows to call my own, including a body pillow to prop up my belly. But sleeping on your side gets old and your hips start to hurt. Plus, your center of gravity is so out of whack that your back screams in protest day and night at having to sustain the weight of a nearly full-grown fetus. I thought I could try propping up all my millions of pillows to make a reclining kind of bed set-up and sleep elevated on my back. No luck. I still laid there awake. Exhausted, yes, but unable to get comfortable enough to actually fall asleep. (This coming from a girl who once fell asleep in gym class.)

Then the reflux kicked in. I downed a couple tums and another glass of water (sentancing myself to another bathroom pilgrimage in two hours).

Then the fetus woke up and proceeded his thrice-daily flexibility routine. No way of positioning my 400 pillows or curling or elongating my torso prevents painful jabs in the ribs, bladder, lungs, or other internal organs.

My two year old whimpered every half hour from her crib (did I turn the furnace down too low?)...My brain started to wake up and make lists of things to do the next day, and part of me wondered if I should just get up and set to work since I was already awake...Did I mention that I had the songs from the Winnie the Pooh movie stuck in my head the whole time? Then I began to recognize the all too familiar pangs of hunger...

By now its quarter to the crack of dawn and I have spent two hours tossing and turning for one reason or another. Soon it will be time to get up regardless of how much sleep I've gotten, and then I'll get to do it again the following night. Charming!

5 comments:

cutie pie said...

Hang in there...you're almost done and then you'll get to hold your sweet baby boy, and it will be so worth it.

Stacie said...

I remember your pain, but it is so worth it! When your little one snuggles in to your neck or smiles and laughs, you forget how awful it was to be pregnant!

Dani said...

Amen sista!!! Isnt it weird how every pregnancy, from baby to baby and woman to woman, is so different??

Anonymous said...

Here's the neat thing. It has now been 24 years since my last pregnancy, and I have already forgotten much of the pain. ON the other hand, it has now been 5 years since I last had a teenager. Will I ever forget that?

Anonymous said...

Here I am, 8 almost nine months surfing the net because I just gave up trying to sleep...this is my first babe so I won't have to deal with a two year old....it was nice to read your story...it is exactly how I am feeling at this point...thanks.