35 Weeks and Freakin Miserable.

You know I'm not one of these women who LOVES being pregnant-- I'm just not. First off, don't get me wrong-- I laugh every time I feel Elijah jab me or roll. And I'm so excited about the next step-- meeting him, seeing who he looks like, etc. I really, really can't wait. I haven't even met him, and I love him to pieces. BUT the symptoms that come along with it? The no-boundaries that some people have? Well it's enough for me to say, "Okay Elijah, you can come out now."

So here is my list of complaints:

1. I feel the need to be cold all the time. Any kind of warmth makes my feet and hands hurt from swelling.

2. I'm tired ALL THE TIME. Lugging around 50 pounds of baby and baby-related things is hard work. And when you're lugging all that around weight, it makes it very hard to get comfortable-- sleeping or otherwise. I can't eat like a normal person, nor can I really put my plate or bowl on my stomach very well. Several times I've had to take off my pants just so I could sit in a decent position to eat.

3. Naps are officially out of the question... OFFICIALLY.

4. My pelvis and pubic bone have started hurting. And this one aggravates me the most. Now I've read that this is just because my body is getting ready b/c of the stretching, which I'm thankful for-- but must I hurt so bad that I can't even switch positions when I'm sleeping??? And must it hurt so bad that it's a pain to get out of the chair and put a lot of pressure on every part of my body???

Boo!!!!

Now onto the no-boundaries thing. When I was in NC, these are the questions I got asked the most by patients: How tall are you? Are you old enough to work here? How big are your feet? What's your ethnicity? And it was quite annoying, as you can imagine. In SC, being pregnant gets these questions: Are you pregnant/expecting? (no idiot I was really hungry) Is this your first? Do you know if it's a boy or girl? And my favorite- What are you going to name him? It's gotten so bad that when I call someone back, I cover my stomach with the chart so people won't ask me about it. Just a little tip, if I don't know you-- I'm not going to tell you his name. Me telling you his name is the same as you touching me or my stomach-- it's just not going to happen. Several people have asked me what I'm going to name him, and I have to say, "I'm sorry, I'm not going to talk about that. It's private."

So those are my rants this week... Really, really, really can't wait for Baby Elijah to get here. Really, really.

Today was my big doctor day-- to find out how far along I was- and get a due date- AND to find out what we were having. And I was so excited to find out and be there.. that is, after I got there and got settled.

As I have mentioned before, I have the bladder of a hummingbird. I can NOT hold liquid very well at all. Forget drinking water or coffee when we travel b/c I will and do have to pee every 30-60 minutes. And after lunch, I have to pee anywhere from 3-4 times in 45 minutes. The doctor I used to work for used to joke that he was going to get me a catheter so I wouldn't have to walk away and pee every few minutes after lunch.

Anyways for my doctor's appt today, I was told to empty my bladder and then drink 36 ounces of water to ensure a full bladder. I know me, and I know my bladder. So I drink probably 30 ounces total of water and could already feel my bladder filling up. By the time I got signed in for my appt and sat down, I really really really had to pee. The receptionist (god bless her) was super nice and told me she knew I had to pee and she was going to let the ultrasound tech know ASAP that I was there. Well person after person after person kept going back, and I'm still sitting there. I break out into a sweat and then chills b/c I have to pee so bad that I'm hurting. I tried to stand up and walk but that was just as uncomfortable as sitting down. The receptionist noticed I was still sitting there after 20-30 minutes and said, "Have they not called you back yet?" As soon as I shook my head no, I started crying--- like furiously crying but trying to hide it (didn't work in my favor, btw). Then I was the talk of the room b/c I was crying and in such pain. "Oh she looks so uncomfortable. We better call back there again." The receptionist said it would be five more minutes, but of course it felt like an eternity. I finally got called back, and it hurt to walk. As soon as we walked into her room, she had to get a measurement of my uterus and then told me to pee. By the time I had to pee, my bladder was so spasmed that I trickled pee, but it was enough to get the pressure off. So I'm laying down again and as she's going over my stomach, she took a picture of my bladder and said, "Good grief honey, your bladder is still full." Aaawww, you freakin think???? And she said, "They should have let you just pee out there because it still would have been full enough for me to get what I needed." Thanks for telling me that after the fact!!! And it was fifteen minutes later, I had to pee again and every 15 minutes for the next hour after that.

BUT on a sweeter note, I saw a sweet little boy in there. I saw his little head and his heartbeat, his little legs and stomach and arms, and his official little boy parts. Oh he is just beautiful.. absolutely gorgeous. Seeing him made me cry-- of course I was crying over seeing him AND because of my traumatic experience in the waiting room (it takes me a while to move on from situations after I start crying). The ultrasound tech measured his head and his femur and his heart.. gave me the official due date of July 1st-- 27 weeks and 4 days.

So after that was over, I headed back to Josh's work to drink my orange goo-- which doesn't taste like goo, as much as it tastes like Hawaiian Ice syrup-- and went to my OB-GYN's office. That was less traumatizing for me-- blood sugar is 112 which is perfect. AND I got to actually HEAR his heartbeat this time.. the sweetest sound I've ever heard. Doctor said I was doing GREAT and she would see me in two weeks.

YEA!!! So overall a GREAT day... that is, once my bladder quit spasming. :)