No complaining here...

...because really, I am thrilled that I am pregnant. For so many years we wanted another baby and I promised myself that I wouldn't complain about my pregnancy if we ever managed to have another baby... so let's call these "observations" or some other benign term so I don't sound like a world-class whiner. Some of these things may have occurred during my other pregnancies... and it's just been so long that I've forgotten... but perhaps it really is harder this time, after all, I am at an "advanced maternal age":

• Leg cramping occurs frequently... at very inopportune times, like during family prayer, in the middle of the night, while I'm lounging watching TV, while I'm talking to a client at work, or any number of other activities or sedentary-ness.
• Sciatica... can I just tell you that my cheeks get so sore that I can't seem to walk upright? I don't think I waddled during my other pregnancies, but this time, it's becoming a more frequent occurrence.
• Sleepless nights... sometimes it's the leg cramping, sometimes it's the having to go to the bathroom or the general feeling of being uncomfortable, but usually it's just waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep. I am becoming less and less opposed to chemical induction of sleep (although 3 am is not the best time to take a 6-8 hour Tylenol PM or Unisom)... it presents an obvious dilemma so I usually just lay there wondering if sleep will continue to elude me for the rest of my life... then I drift off for a few precious moments of rest before the alarm goes off.
  
• Frequent urination... I know, this is a given for any pregnant woman, but it seems to be several times an hour instead of every couple of hours like I remember with the other pregnancies.
  
• I am thirsty ALL of the time... which doesn't help with the bathroom issue or the sloshy feeling in my tummy from nausea that's lasted way too long.
  
• Zofran is a good drug... takes away nausea, but it makes me really tired... and it doesn't help to feel extra tired and not be able to sleep.
  
• I recently was reminded that oxytocin is a good hormone and helps women deal with stress... I'm obviously LOW in the oxytocin department, because I've been really cranky lately... just ask anyone that lives with me. Patience is a virtue that I must develop but it seems to be in short supply lately. Last week Coleman said our morning family prayer. His words were very telling: "...and please bless mommy to not be angry at work..."
  
• My belly is much larger than it was with my other pregnancies... just ask Coleman who reminds me often just how large I am. The other day he rubbed my belly and said, "Mom, your this is so much bigger than your these..." and pointed to my chest. Lovely. Another morning I was getting ready to put my dress on (so I had lots of layers of underclothing on already) and he said, "Whoa! You look so much fatter without your clothes on!" Nothing like a 6 year old's honesty to keep it real. It's come from others too... one of my co-workers said, "Wow, you look REALLY pregnant today" and a friend whom I hadn't seen for awhile said, "I can't believe how big you are already!" (just so you know it's not all in my head).
• My face feels puffy. I don't think it looks puffy (I trust that Coleman will let me know when it does) but it feels puffy. That's worth observing.
• With the anti-coagulant medicine I'm on they want to induce me at 39 weeks... isn't the convenience of being induced choosing the day that you have your baby? So during that week my OB/GYN is only available to induce me on March 17th... that would be St. Patrick's Day... can you blame me for feeling very grumpy about this??? I don't want my daughter's birthday to be on St. Patrick's Day. I'm considering changing doctors... for many reasons much more substantial than this one... but I must be truthful... one teeny, tiny factor just might be to get another induction date.

Despite all of these observations, when you ask me how I'm doing, I'm likely to smile and say, "things are fine" because they are. We are getting more and more excited to welcome this little girl into the world (although my to-do list is a mile long before she's allowed to come).