Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Week 26: Cucumber

(Warning: Lots of complaining in this post.) I'm definitely dragging this week, and I feel like an emotional mess most days. Between work stress and the achy back, hip pain, food cravings and awkwardness of pregnancy I am not too fun to be around... as I'm sure Brian can attest to. I'm trying to figure out places to cut out some stress right now because I'm getting burnt out, but there's not a lot of wiggle room between the full-time job, full-time parenting and full-time trying-not-to-let-the-house-fall-into-shambles. And speaking of a lack of wiggle room, my wardrobe is getting tighter and the outfits are much less fun to assemble in the morning. Some of my shoes already aren't fitting because of my feet growing/swelling, and for pants I either have to choose between uncomfortably tight waistbands or elastic ones that start to sag down any time I start walking around. And I don't know what's going on with my hormone levels right now, but I feeling like bursting into tears at least a couple times a day. I love getting to visit my uncle and grandma in Nashville, but it's also hard to be around my dad's family without thinking more than usual of him and getting mad/sad about all of the wonderful parts of my life (and Ellie's) that he's not here to share.

Wow, I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot of complaining to do. Sorry. At least I offered fair warning.
Of course, as I write this I'm eating an apple (trying to balance out my Halloween candy consumption of late) and the baby is responding by jumping around excitedly inside my belly. It's hard to argue with that. I'm now reminding myself that life is good, the baby seems to be doing great — growing like crazy and not purposely trying to make me feel like crud at times. Time for a deep breath and some input from the experts for this week:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

2 comments:

  1. If it would help, Nory and I would be happy to come distract...er...*play with* Ellie so you can get some work done, or take a nap, or get a massage, or take a nap...

    Otherwise, deep breaths. You're doing lots of incredible things, and you're doing them really well! :)

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  2. Dorothy, I do not envy you at this point! But I keep saying the best part of the second pregnancy is that I know just how temporary the discomfort is...and that the result is joyous and forever. Motherhood is stressful enough even without both parents working full-time. I hope you give yourself credit for all that you're doing!

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