Ouch

Now that I have entered "The home-stretch" of pregnancy, my body is really starting to feel it! I am starting to have lots of soreness and I find it really difficult to get comfortable at night. I am also starting to experience rib pain as things continue to get pushed up into my ribcage.

The baby has become very active in the past week. I think it is a sign that s/he is starting to notice that space is getting tighter. I do my very best to sleep on my side like a good pregnant woman should, but I don't think the baby likes that very much because s/he starts kicking me in the side that is resting on the bed whenever I lay on my side.

I still feel like I am really early on in the pregnancy. Maybe because this is all happening so much faster than the adoption did. Maybe it is because I am taking care of Mal. Or maybe because I feel like I just started showing in the past couple weeks. I always figured I needed to be really big in order for the aches and pains to be bad, but now I am learning that actually the less you grow out, the more pain your body undergoes as the baby puts more pressure on organs and the spine.

Ugh, the spine. The back pain has become very hard for me to deal with. It can become downright excruciating at times. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done for it and I knew to expect this at some point in the pregnancy. I know hefting my huge 7 month old around does not help with the pain, but I have to carry him around during the day and I hate having to let Peter help on the weekends. I am a baby hog. I want to hold and care for Mal and I can't always do that. It is difficult to have to choose between holding him or dealing with horrible back pain. Unfortunately my doctor has just told me that it will get much worse before it gets better.

The final thing I am adjusting to is contractions. I started having contractions around 20 weeks, while we were in Disneyland but that was to be expected with all the walking we were doing there. I really had to cut back on the activity level while in Disneyland because the pains were happening close together and were a little painful. It was just not worth the potential risks to push my luck. After our trip, I had no further issues with contractions until recently. If I overdo around the house or walk around too much I start having contractions. They can be painful, but more so it is just concerning to me. I fully believe that they are just Braxton-Hicks (practice) contractions. I have been told by my doctor that there is no reason for concern unless I have more than 5 in an hour. There have been just a few times that I have probably had more than 5, but after sitting down and resting they go away. More so, I do believe these are my fault. Dehydration can bring on contractions and I have been horrible about drinking enough water so I am trying harder to stay hydrated and I do think that is helping (unfortunately that is rapidly increasing trips to the bathroom).

I don't post all this to complain, just to document a few of my hardships of pregnancy. The aches and pains are just part of pregnancy and for the most part I am still enjoying this time in my life! I still know this baby is a wonderful blessing in my life and I LOVE how active this baby is! I love feeling almost constant kicks throughout the day! The other morning I was woken up by baby hiccups and while I do not typically enjoy getting woken up, I really thought it was cool! I am not taking this baby for granted and I am still fully confident that every ache and pain will be well worth it and I would do it all over again if I had to! I feel fortunate that I am able to experience the incredible thing that is pregnancy! I have never felt a need to have a biological child, but pregnancy has always fascinated me and it is a true joy in my life to get to experience a baby growing inside my tummy!