Lightening

I really wonder about the sanity of the person who coined the term "lightening." To me that suggests a feeling of getting lighter; however, I don't believe that is the feeling I have at all.

I much prefer the terms "dropping" or "engagement."

Dropping is a good term because the baby drops downward, which is nice because I can now feel all of my ribs again, especially when I lay down. Before, the baby would get all squished up into my ribs, or, worse, somehow manage to wriggle an odd body part or two on top of my ribs. She's definitely carrying a lot lower than she was before.

Engagement also makes sense because the baby kind of gets lodged in place. She doesn't do any massive swirly movements anymore because she's just kind of stuck.

But, lightening, really? That doesn't make much sense at all.

First of all, I feel heavier everyday. And then because I'm carrying her so low down my waddling has increased 10 fold (it's getting plum awkward to walk around). She gets on my nerves (literally) at lot more now, too, making my legs get tingly. In short, I don't feel any lightness about the whole situation at all.

At least I know that the downward trend has started and, although I'm still sometimes afraid this baby will somehow peck her way through my belly button, I can rest assured that gravity is working.

It's interesting...everyone tells me that I now look like I'm about 5 or 6 months pregnant--and I could definitely be compared to some girls in my ward who are 5 or 6 months pregnant--but, trust me, I still feel like I have been pregnant for 34 weeks, not a mere 20 or 24. Granted, I'm sure I would feel worse if I happened to be bigger, but I still feel like a big pregnant lady.

I go to work...I come home and sleep...I wake up and do yoga and have dinner...I go to bed.

That is my life. Work, eat, sleep. Work, eat, sleep. Most of my spare time is taken up with napping. And then to add to the paradox, most of my nights are spent trying to get comfortable.

A few nights ago I made Andrew go out to the storage closet at 11:45 pm to get a foam pad from the storage closet. My side of the bed is now a good 5 inches taller than Andrew's side of the bed. Then I have my head pillow, my body pillow, and my foot pillow, leaving Andrew approximately 12 inches of bed space. He's a real trooper.

But I guess since I didn't have any morning sickness (so far), and I really haven't gained an astronomical amount of weight (so far), and I still can wear most of my regular clothes (so far), and I don't have any stretch marks (so far)...that I should count my blessings.

Three cheers for only 6 weeks left!