We’re growing! Now let’s get real, Part 8

Part 1: Morning Sickness

Part 2: Cravings & Aversions

Part 3: Digestion

Part 4: Body Talk

Part 5: Second Puberty

Part 6: Irrational Fears

Part 7: Pregnancy Brain

The pain.  The discomfort.  The exhaustion.

And that’s before labor, delivery, and a newborn!

My insides are all fighting each other while being punching bags for baby boy.  Let’s start from the top down, to make things feel more organized:

• Head – sinuses useless, definite mouth breather 90%  of the time.
• Chest – short of breath just to change a sitting position.  Forget giving a long statement.  But hey, that’s the perfect time to have to lead 5 interviews for a new employee over the course of 2 days, right?  Pretty sure their nerves were more out of concern for if I was going to make it through than whether they were getting a job or not!  And add in an increased heart rate with all this extra blood flowing through, I feel like sitting up from a laying position is equivalent to running 3 laps around my backyard right now.
• Stomach – starving.  All. The. Time.  But halfway through a meal, while still hungry, feeling like I’m about to explode.  I feel so full all the time, and I know it’s because little baby butt and legs are stretching up into my other organ space.  A small lunch at this point feels the same as pre-pregnancy me wearing skinny jeans to a Mexican restaurant and polishing off a whole basket of chips and salsa, most of an entrée, and 2 margaritas then trying to walk back out like my pants were busting at the seams.  And add on top of that constant burping and gas.  It’s super fun in meetings when the room gets quiet and my guts keep rumbling.
• The bladder – good god the bladder.  My bladder has always been my enemy.  Nervous?  Emergency pee.  Just got into a vehicle and hit the road?  Emergency pee.  Had a sip of water 3 hours ago?  Emergency pee NOW!  Pre-pregnant bladder was approximately the size of a walnut, if I’m being generous.  And now that there are little baby limbs punching and tap dancing on top of it, it’s 10x worse.  I wake up at least 5 times over the course of an 8 hour night, and drinking a bottle of water equals probably 6 bathroom trips.
• 
• Crotch area – I learned “lightening crotch” is a real thing.  It’s about as fun as it sounds.

HOWEVER!

My crazy amount of fluid intake and output means I’ve had zero swelling so far.  My leachco. maternity pillow has been a life saver in reducing neck, back, and hip pain, which has also somewhat helped reduce the lightning crotch.  And all these symptoms and aches and pains are easier to manage when I force myself to take a step back and relax.  I do not have to be superwoman right now and fix everyone else’s problems.  I can absolutely focus on myself and my needs, even if that is so out of character for me, because it’s not just my needs – it’s my baby’s needs too.