Ever since my little stint in the hospital I feel like pregnancy is catching up with me. I used to be able to sleep through the night without second thought to my growing belly. Now, I have to build up a fortress of pillows so I can get a couple of hours of solid sleep. I have this ritual that not only cracks John up, but my little dog Casper too. I swear he stands at the end of the bed and watches me construct my fort with a snicker on his face. My nightly ritual consists of me taking my long squishy felt body pillow and putting it in the middle of the bed. Which means I can't snuggle up to John like I love to do. I then crawl in bed and take two king size pillows and line them down the outside of the bed. The final step of my bed time ritual is to take a throw pillow and put it under or between my legs. Then and only then can I think about getting some good zz's. I wish I could say I'm then set for the night, but about 2 hours into my sleep I wake for the first of many trips to the bathroom. Since I was in the hospital for a kidney infection any urge to pee has me running for the bathroom. I keep hearing the doctor's words of wisdom saying that a pregnant woman should never hold their pee since that can be one of the causes to a kidney infection. I feel like the kid in the movie Christmas Story that keeps hearing the words "You'll shoot your eye out" over the BB gun he wanted, except my haunting words are "You'll get another kidney infection." It makes me shiver just thinking about it.
I also had another side effect catch up with me, swollen feet. I start the day off with regular sized feet and ankles and as the day goes on, and I'm my feet more, the bigger they get. For a couple of days when I was first released from the hospital my feet were so swollen that I couldn't even wear regular shoes or socks. Thank goodness I had the week off for Christmas because I would have looked funny going into the office in my slippers. I almost feel like I'm looking down at the bride of Frankenstein's feet.
In fact, lately I feel like I'm looking at my body through one of those amusement park funny mirrors when I see my reflection. My belly gets in the way now more often than not. It's amazing the little things that are hard to do when you’re pregnant. For instance, putting on socks and shoes. To get my socks on in the morning I have to get on the bed and do a sideways lean while propping myself up on one of the hundreds of pillows on the bed. Or I sit on the side of the bathtub and prop my leg up and hope that I get my foot in the top of the sock on the first try. I do that on days I'm feeling lucky, it’s almost like a carnival game only it’s with my horrible balance and body. I don't remember the last time I wore a pair of my cute heels. I now opt for shoes that I can slip on and that are flat. Comfort before beauty is my new motto when it comes to shoes. I always heard that your feet grow when you’re pregnant but I thought that was a crazy wise-tale people told you to freak you out. Now I know that isn't true. I went from a size 9 to 9 and 1/2. I'm hoping my feet hold at that size because I already have long flipper feet as it is.
I also get tired easily when out and about. I used to be able to go on marathon shopping sprees and walk around stores and malls for hours at a time. Now, I'm lucky if I can make it an hour before wanting to sit down and relax. I can actually feel the weight of the baby inside of me. What's scary is the fact that I'm only 23 weeks along, and have 3 more months to go.
I will say the upside to being this far along is feeling the baby move all day. The baby is big enough now that John can feel him move and you can actually see my stomach move when the baby is on a kicking or punching fit. It's actually really cool, and a feeling that makes me feel warm and cheery inside. Every time I start to think these pregnancy "side effects" suck, I think about this wonderful blessing that will be here before we know it. I also get more massages and help around the house from John which is always a good thing.
Here's hoping these next 3 months go by smoothly. I know I will probably experience more unpleasant side effects but it's all in the name of love for baby Chilcoat and for him I'd go through hell and back.
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