Gaining a belly, losing a brain

I am barely over halfway done with this pregnancy now and it has been a doozey few months.  I am no stranger to first trimester nausea but it used to be kind enough to show up around dinner time and then be gone by morning.  This time, the ickiness started at about noon and continued through the night.   Blech.

I went through a few different food phases that seemed to quell the nausea a bit.  The longest lasting one was the grapefruit phase.  I picked up some enormous ruby red grapefruits from Costco and would just sit in front of a show at night and eat the whole thing.  Those were good times...

But right at about 14 weeks, the clouds were lifted and blue skies were here again!  I felt awesome for about a month and it was a glorious month.  I just started showing, had a great ultrasound with all good news, told the kids and enjoyed their excitement, and got the maternity shorts on ready alert for when the button on my jeans started digging.

And then I went from "can't even really tell under the right shirt" to strangers asking me when I was due, shocked that I was only halfway done, in about a week.  Luckily none of them asked me if I was having twins or there might have been an incident.  As facebook did not seem to do me the justice, I tried to get the pregnancy announcements out at church as quickly as possible today after four or five awkward, "Soo... I heard a rumor that you were expecting..."  aka "Your stomach is sticking out of your dress.  Baby or too many cookies?"

Not only is this baby suddenly making its presence very obvious but it is also hanging much closer to its eventual exit space than ever before.  Instead of enjoying the pleasant transition that usually is my 2nd trimester, I already have constant pressure on my hips, bladder, and nether regions.  To find the baby's heartbeat, the Doppler has to head as south as you can go on what would still be considered 'stomach'. Hey, it's a pregnancy post.  TMI is just a part of the game.

I tried to go on a seven mile run with my friend on Friday.  It was a bad idea.  Three miles, perfectly fine.  Five miles, no problem.  Seven is officially the clincher.  I caught myself full on waddling multiple times that afternoon.  

But the craziest part has been how much of my brain this child has sucked out of me.  Trying to handle my work stuff has been one disaster after another of not sending things, not calling people, not changing things that need to be changed.  It is truly a miracle I am still in business.  

I double book myself at least once a week.  And it always takes me up until the day before to realize that I still cannot be in two places at the same time, no matter how hard I try.  

I have forgotten the names of people I have known for years.  And if I met you in the past 3 months, there is a slim chance I will remember you face if I see you again.  Remembering your name, not a chance.

But the kicker was last Sunday.  My family woke up, I fed them a hearty breakfast and started the bathing/dressing/church readying process.  All went fairly smoothly and we walked out the door with five minutes to spare (we only live 2 minutes from the chapel).  We were about 100 yards from the parking lot when I looked at the clock and realized... it was 8:55.  We have church at 11 a.m.  We have had church at 11 a.m. since January.  It is now May.

I expressed this to Jon who replied, "Yeah... it seemed like we were leaving kinda early, but I figured you knew what you were doing."   Hate to break it to you buddy, this girl officially does NOT know what she is doing.

And, though it may seem like complains, I really am so very grateful for this baby and for how well my body handles pregnancy.  It is definitely a blessing and one that I do not take lightly.

Rhode recently got a little shy when changing in front of me because I'm a girl and I responded, "Rhode!  It's okay if moms see their sons get changed!  Remember, my body made all of your body.  And when you came out of my tummy, you were naked!"

"I was?"  he asked.  I had no idea this was new information.

"Yeah, all babies come out naked.  I can grow body parts but I can't grow clothes!"  

We are all now very excited and giggly for our totally nude baby to join our family.  Four and a half months to go!