Well, we are now really getting into some interesting "side effects" of being pregnant. I'm really not that big yet (as evidenced below) but that doesn't mean I'm not experiencing a whole new set of symptoms...
1. Swelling. This could have to do with the fact that the heat index yesterday was 119 and moving from a hot environment to a cool one actually made one ill, but the heat has not been fun. I've tried to stay very hydrated, remain inside, relax, and take it easy, but even with all those preventative measures, my ankles and toes started to swell. Fortunately, I live in a state where the temperature swings about 160 degrees over the year, and so today, it was about thirty degrees cooler and perfect weather. The ankle swelling has gotten under control. Which also means I can start to wear dresses again. I couldn't before because my ankles were so poufy, that I had to rest my legs on my desk, which would have resulted in an inappropriate display of the lady parts. Thus, pants were necessary.
2. Food issues. This baby and I have a very different idea of what "tastes good." For starters, I love spicy foods. The baby does not. In addition, he also does not like rich foods (or Chino Latino or Lebanese foods either, for that matter). Or anything new. I suppose that shouldn't really surprise me, since I largely existed on buttered noodles and Ensure the first four months of pregnancy, but I wish I could add a little variety to the diet. I had a shrimp po' boy for lunch today. It was amazing, however I am absolutely paying for it now and all the Tums I'm consuming are really taking away from my post-lunch satisfaction. I also have more than just a passing curiosity that this is why I felt so terribly last weekend. I will be at a loss if this baby ends up with a food palette like his Uncle Chris.
3. Back pain. Seriously folks, this is no joke. Duckie says it has to do with the placement of my uterus and the position of the baby. As I progress in pregnancy, the position of my uterus shifts, placing pressure on different nerves in my spine. The good news is that the pain is temporary. The baby will move along again in a few weeks, but the bad news is that it sometimes feels like I lost a leg or something. I've been doing prenatal yoga, stretching, exercising and walking, but it's not really helping.
4. The dreams. Oh goodness, the dreams. They have never been more real, more disturbing, or more frequent. One night, I dreamt I was playing football and then running hill drills. Another night, I dreamt that I gave birth to a Ken doll and shopped for it in the toy department at Target. Another night, I had a dream that I had been tasked with finding Charlize Theron's mother (who, unfortunately, had Alzheimer's) in the abandoned subway tunnels in New York only to reunite her (not with Charlize) but with her beloved beagle. Seriously folks, you can't make this stuff up.
All in all, these symptoms are really mild compared to other ones I could develop. In my weekly "What to Expect When You're Expecting" update, by this point in my pregnancy, I should have stretch marks, huge feet, a dark line running down my belly (linea nigra), the "mask of pregnancy" (which apparently is a discoloration around my entire face), in addition to other skin tone discolorations. Holy crap. This "update" makes it sound like there are some women that turn into sea creatures when they get pregnant. Okay, time to stop complaining now.
So, here we are at twenty-two weeks (if you want to check out bump progress, check out my picture from seventeen weeks. I was wearing the same dress. I also continue to question whether or not my ass is pregnant or not because that really has no problem growing)....
Slowly but surely, you can tell the baby is growing...and this week, we move out of the produce department. Apparently, the baby is now the size of a small doll (think Ken?). This week marks the beginning of some serious weight gain. He should double his weight in the next four weeks and blood vessels are developing. I am continually amazed that all that is going on inside me. He continues to remain very active and I can tell when he's awake and sleeping now. For example, I know he is up between 6:30 and 8:00 every night. The rest of the day, I know he's sleeping and just absentmindedly kicking (or punching) me in his sleep. However, he really gets his work out in around dinner time. I called him my tiny heavyweight a few weeks ago, and I think he really has his heart set on becoming a boxer.
Tomorrow, I'm taking the day off and heading up to our new neighborhood to check out day cares. I'm going to start with the centers first, and then work my way to home care providers. I'm not sure what will be best yet, but just like a good lawyer, I'm doing my research.
In somewhat unrelated news, today marks the one year anniversary of my miscarriage. I had kept a blog about our struggles to get pregnant, and I went back and read the entries I posted shortly after we lost the first baby. It still makes me sad, and I suppose that it always will. It makes me sad to think of how desperate I felt at that point in time. However, I also think I'd be feeling much differently today if we weren't pregnant currently. I had compared that period of my life to the break up I had with my first boyfriend. I remember feeling like I could never overcome the sadness or find a way to reclaim who I was before that event. And, I know that I'm different now than I was a year ago because of that experience. I think that I developed a lot of compassion for people going through the same struggles we had, but I also think it made me more cynical in some respects. Regardless, I'm not dwelling on it, I only think it's a testament to how much life can change in a year.
I know we are where we are supposed to be now in our lives. I can take comfort in that fact.
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