Walk This Way

If at any time during the life of this blog I have made comments regarding my size, the level of protrusion of my belly, or suggested that I couldn’t possibly get any larger, I would like to roll all of such comments together and slap myself in the face with them. Every stage of this pregnancy I thought I couldn’t get any bigger, any more uncomfortable, or have the urge to tinkle more times in a single day. It happened. I got all of those things.

We’re rolling into week 38 of this journey and the scale is boasting numbers that I can barely comprehend. I know that being pregnant means gaining weight but when those numbers are flashing back at you and the teeny, tiny, blonde headed, I’m-5-months-along-with-my -4^th –and-have-only-gained-half-a-pound nurse is looking over your gigantic shoulder, pregnancy doesn’t seem like a valid excuse. It seems that everything is difficult and taxing at this point. Sometimes my arm gets stuck beneath my side while I sleep and it too dozes off to a tingly dreamland. I’m still trying to decide if it’s easier to endure the tinglies of a sleeping limb or muster up the strength and momentum to roll over in bed and simultaneously fight and juggle the 3 pillows that have been tucked and stuffed around my bulging belly. One of the biggest, and apparently the most noticeable, changes in the last two weeks has been my ability to walk. Or waddle. I’ve been told by several people that I’m “starting to walk like a pregnant woman.” I’m not stupid. I know this means that I am waddling. I try really hard to point my toes forward, keep my shoulders back, and actually make my legs bend at both the hip and knee. But, sometimes I forget and instead of bending at the hip and knee, my legs just take wider steps. I like to keep my arms out away from my body to help with balance, avoid armpit chaffing, and to swing back and forth to increase momentum and speed. It feels delicious but looks ridiculous. I feel like I’m gliding across the room with the grace and precision of an Olympic figure skater when in actuality, I’m trudging through the room with the grace of a lumberjack penguin (no offense to lumberjacks).

I’m so stinkin’ ready for this little girl to get here. Being pregnant has been fun and the experience of a lifetime but, seriously, fun’s over. People used to look at my belly with a sense of awe and want to touch it and talk to it and love it. Now people look at my belly and I think they feel sorry for me. They know I’m beyond ready. So are they. So, in an attempt to make everyone happy I’m going to join the hundreds of committed-for-now walkers and runners at our local park and try to get things moving along. Waddle. Waddle. Waddle.

Baby Update: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that 9 months is about 36 weeks. We’re entering week 38 of this pregnancy and I feel like I have every bit of a 2 week old hibernating in my tum-tum. Our actual due date is January 17^th but I’m praying that God provides sooner rather than later. The baby is considered full-term at this point and will spend any remaining time gaining weight (comforting thought just before labor). Our doctor’s visits have been great and they still think we are on track and progressing beautifully.

Also, check out the new page on the right, Lessons for Parker, to see a short list of things I hope to pass on to our new daughter!