It's been a month since my last post - YIKES! That's mostly because I've gone through a recent period of not being able to even keep my eyes open past 9:30pm which wasn't conducive to writing. Now I"m in a totally different sleeping pattern of waking up in the middle of the night with insomnia. This has been more conducive to surfing Facebook and Twitter than writing, but here I am typing a way at 4am.
It's very uncomfortable to sleep because I can only sleep in 2 positions - on my left side or slightly on my back with a strong tilt to the left. Imagine sleeping in a 45 degree angle with the weight distribution on your left side and that's exactly it. Does that sound comfortable to sleep on one side all night? Yeah, it's so NOT. Why can't I lay on my back or right side? Well there's a giant vein called the Vena Cava that runs down the back on the right side. With the way this baby is positioned, it makes it impossible for me to lay on the right side or have any weight on the right side. It makes me feel physically ill. Ah the joy of having a near term baby in my belly.
I am now less than 2 weeks from my due date. It has gone from bearable to not so fun. I'm still working, but my last week in the office is this week. Sitting in my chair and then walking is extremely painful because my hips have enough Relaxin (the hormone that allows the hip joints to loosen enough for a baby to pass through) that they conform to my Aeron chair like warm butter. Getting up, means my hips have to suddenly change back to walking form. I frequently am bent over, walking like an 80 year old until everything shifts back into place. Office work is great - until the last month, then it becomes a literal pain in the ass.
Dexter is having a hard time already. He's really excited to meet his baby sister, but he freaks out about hearing that I have to go to the hospital. We've been running through the scenario that I will have to leave for a couple days to get his sister out. That all makes sense to him, but he has been so clingy. He's a momma's boy. I'm getting to the point where I can barely pick him up, so he thinks I'm rejecting him. Poor lil dude has no idea what is to come. Neither do I, really, but I can already anticipate some things, like carrying him around won't exactly be an option when holding a newborn.
I recently had false labor to the point that contractions were coming faster and faster (after hours and hours of them), so I went to the hospital. It all died down fairly quickly after going, but Dexter told me to go "pop her out". So cute and so true. We've since then started to tell him that the off and on contractions are his sister "knocking" at the door. That's all good and fun until he knocked on my belly like a door.
We had some time alone a couple weeks ago, just me and Dexter. Mr. Cobra went to SXSW for a few days, so I got one last chance to spoil my favorite boy. We did all kinds of things like shopping, going to the zoo, watching movies, and going out to eat. I am 9 months preggo, so don't exactly have the energy required to keep up with my super active 2.5 year old. I tried hard to act like I wasn't a giant pregnant lady, but it caught up with me. It took a couple days to recover from all the running around. It was our last big mother/son weekend before he officially becomes a big brother. He was ok most of the time, but did have some epic meltdowns. I can't imagine how women do this by themselves. I'd go insane.
I wish things were easy right now, but it's not. There's a lot of pressure at work with a few major projects in critical states that require me to be present and attentive. I've been prepping all the new baby stuff, getting somewhat organized, and trying to get my home office together to work in. Things have happened recently that's added more marital pressure to the mix. It's not a good time to have problems, but that's what happens. It's hard to run a business with your spouse to begin with, and maternity leave puts even more stress on my husband. Last time with Dexter it was really hard, but I'm hoping that with a nanny, things will go smoother since I can still work part-time. I won't disappear for 5 months like last time. It also won't be as dramatic of a change since we know more of what to expect.
We passed our 17 year "dating anniversary" last week. We didn't get to celebrate due to false labor completely obliterating deadlines at work as well as some other things. It's a stressful time. I just need to breathe. Little baby grrl will be here before we know it.
