Pregnancy Brain Dump

We've had an awful lot going on lately, so I haven't posted a pregnancy update in a while. I figured today I would just throw it all out there in one big clump of a post. My friend Jessica is also pregnant and due about a month before me, and she has started doing regular pregnancy posts in a bullet-point format, which I love reading, so today I'm going to copy her style and give you a list of recent happenings and thoughts.

- I'm 26 weeks pregnant now, and officially in double digits until my due date.

The bump situation at 26 weeks!

- I feel very round, and my belly button looks weird. It's still an innie, though! Well, it's more flat than in, I guess, but you get what I mean.

- I passed my glucose test - no gestational diabetes for me! Hip hip, hooray!

- New symptoms that I am not a fan of: Back pain (lots and lots of it), swelling feet (I have started propping my feet up on my recycle bin at work), shortness of breath, acid reflux, restless sleep, getting kicked in the ribs.

- On a related back pain note, my coworkers chipped in and got me a very generous spa gift card for Christmas. They gave it to me at the end of the day when my back was absolutely killing me, and I nearly wept tears of joy. Pregnancy massage, here I come!

- I'm starting to feel sort of "large and in charge," but I can't get used to this belly. I just forget to accommodate for it and am forever trying to squeeze through spaces that are too tight, and then I find I can't fit and get all embarrassed. I also burned my belly on the stove the other day when I reached for something on a shelf above the stove, forgetting my belly is big enough to hit the skillet on the front burner. Then, the following week I accidentally stuck the darned thing into a plate of BBQ chicken. I also keep bumping into people in the elevator. Really, this belly has a mind of its own. I just can't get used to taking up this much space.

- I have learned that putting a napkin on my lap when I eat, while still polite, does nothing to stop food from getting on my clothing in case of spills. I mean, any dropped food will hit my belly long before it makes it's way to my lap. I have the collection of stained shirts to prove it. (Apparently, I'm also a slob who spills a lot.)

- I have been shocked at how few people offer up their seats on the train to a pregnant woman. I know I am no more entitled to a seat than anyone else, but as someone who always gives up her own seat to the pregnant/disabled/elderly, I've been surprised. I have only been offered a seat a handful of times, and only by women - not one single man has offered his seat to me as of yet. And we're not just talking any women offering their seats, either. In fact, the list includes a fellow pregnant woman and an elderly woman. I mean, what am I even supposed to do with that? Of course I can't take seats from these women! Mothers of boys out there - raise your sons to be more gentlemanly than the men of NYC, will you, please?

- Baby Girl is still moving around a lot and I'm starting to get a sense of her schedule and when she's really active. One thing I like is that every morning during the work week, when my alarm goes off and I start to stir, Achilles always realizes what's going on and comes and lays by me so I'll pet him and cuddle with him before I get up. Lately, Baby Girl has started kicking right around the same time, too. Maybe she's just mad that her dog-brother is all up in our personal space, but I prefer to think that she wants to be a part of the morning cuddle time and we're all getting into a little routine together.

- On a related note, Achilles cuddled with his baby sister for the first time last weekend:

Say it with me, now: "Awwwwww!"
(Although I do wonder if he notices that my lap has gotten smaller...)

- One thing that I still find funny is when Baby Girl moves around while people are talking to me. For example, if my boss comes to my desk and is going over something for me to work on and Baby is kicking up a storm the whole time. It's just weird to have all that going on inside of me while life is totally normal on the outside and nobody knows it's happening except me. It's like a little secret Baby Girl and I share!

- She did kick Eric in the face the other day when he rested his head on my belly. In all fairness, I warned him she was in a kick-y mood.

- Recently I bought cream cheese and checked the expiration date. It expires AFTER my due date. I'll be a mother by the time that cream cheese goes bad. I had a little "holy crap, this is happening" moment right there in the refrigerated items aisle of the grocery store.

- I feel like I have a ton of research to do about various things and not enough time to do it. Doulas, pediatricians, hospitals, birthing methods and birth plans...who has time for it all?

- I'm also irrationally panicked about finishing all the projects I have started over the last...oh, I don't know...three years or so? and have yet to finish. It didn't bother me before, but it does now. Is this the start of that "nesting" thing I keep hearing about? Someone please lie to me and tell me that even after the baby comes I'll have all kinds of free time to do things like knit scarves and finish cross-stitches and put together scrapbooks. LIE TO ME, PEOPLE.

- Another recent fear: what if the ultrasound was wrong and Baby Girl is actually a Baby Boy? I mean, she had her legs up over her head so I don't think there was much room for error (she was rather proud to show the goods, I guess), but if for some reason something got missed, I sure hope Baby Boy likes to wear pink and ruffles. These are the things that keep me up at night.

- Also keeping me up at night: hip pain, back aches, bathroom trips.

- One symptom I am a fan of: my hair stays on my head. As an epic shedder (my college roommate once found one of my hairs in her refrigerator, for example), this is a nice break. My broom probably doesn't know what to do with itself now that its workload has been so significantly lightened. And my hair is so luxurious!

- It's almost 2012, which means it's almost the year my baby will be born! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it.

I think that's all for now. Thank you for indulging my pregnancy-related thoughts! Merry Christmas Eve Eve!