Pregnancy Musings

• I am starving. I mean ravenous. Contemplating going out and getting a burrito. Which would be fine if I hadn't just half an hour ago polished off a rather large tuna fish sandwich, a bag of chips, and five cookies. I'm supposed to be eating less now that my Brown Brown is pushing my stomach into a tiny ball, not more.
  
• You can now call me the crumb magnet. Of coures, I've always been a crumb magnet, but before the crumbs fell delicately into my lap where I could discreetly brush them off before they were seen. Now the crumbs fall to my belly and stick. Which, come to think of it, isn't that bad because I see a good-sized hunk of cookie on there right now that's mine for the eatin'.
  
• At 6 a.m., I went for a swim at the Y. Swimming is rapidly becoming my favorite exercise because it just feels so gosh-darn good to float about. For a blissful half hour, I'm weightless. However, I dread that moment when I get out of the pool, when every ounce of my 1XX-pound body bears down on me as if somehow gravity has been turned up a few notches.
  
• The pregnancy hormones do have some positive side effects. Our house is being painted (the exterior) and I haven't been pleased with the work ethic and quality control of some of the workers. Normally, I tend to get a little shy about these things, and I let Adam deal with the unpleasantries. But with Adam gone and my hormones raging, I had no issues telling the job foreman exactly what I thought of his work. And when I didn't like the response I got from him, I called the main company. Don't mess wit' me now!
  
• In my preparation for transitioning to freelance writer/editor (does everyone know that I will not be returning to an office after the baby is born? Well, I'm not), I've started taking on what could actually be seen as excessive amounts of freelance work now, so that I have my contacts in place when I'm ready to go full steam. But it means not a lot of time for anything else (which is good--less time for worrying and panicking as well. Did you know I'll be having a baby in just 8 1/2 weeks? YIKES!). I have this long list of projects that I want to get done before Brown Brown, and I haven't made much of a dent. But I'm psyched to know that, yes, I will actually be able to have an income when I quit my job. Hell, at the rate I'm taking work on, I may end up making more.
  
• One of the things I'd like to do is add baby links to this page. I've been reading a lot of great blogs lately from other mothers-to-be, especially those of Christine, Roni, Anathea, and Alisa. It's really reassuring to know that others are having the same feelings I am, although perhaps a tad less psychotically. Okay, more than a tad.
  
• There's nothing like the validation of a sonogram. I knew Brown Brown was jamming his head into my side (visibly so on many days). But this ultrasound made it clear that he was just parked there, with his head by my rib cage and his arm waving around in front of his face (he's been really active lately). The doctor said he should be turning himself at any time--the sooner the better, because it can't be any more uncomfortable than this. Sitting down is painful because he ends up smushed into my ribs. Standing is bad because it makes me have to pee every five minutes. The doctor also assured me that the baby is very well padded, so despite Adam's dire predictions that the baby will be born bruised from my trying to move him down, the baby should be just fine.
  
• Speaking of moving the baby, I have this bad habit of rubbing the baby's head without even thinking about it. I mean, wouldn't you rub a giant lump protruding from the side of your belly? But it's kind of embarrassing when I realize that I'm petting my baby--aka my belly--in public.
  
• I just had to correct in the above sentence "move it down" to "move him down." It's hard to believe that this thing in me will be a real live human being someday. A real live human being who will someday grow up, go to college, meet a woman, move across the country, and never come to visit. How can my son leave me? Why doesn't he call more often? Excuse me, I need a tissue.
  
• Have I mentioned lately that I'm big? I mean ginormous. Hello world, this is my belly!
  
• How about tired? Have I mentioned how tired I am? I mean extremely. Hello world, this is me falling asleep at my desk.
  
• Things I ponder these days: animal valances with a matching rug from Pottery Barn Kids? Or homemade cheapie curtains and bare carpet? Cord-blood banking: Lifesaving necessity? Major scam? A bowl of strawberries? Or three more mint chocolate cookies. (And in case there was any doubt: the former, the latter, the latter.)