So wow, week 26 came with some pain. It started a couple weeks ago. I went swimming and felt a pain as I was swimming. It felt like I strained or maybe tore a muscle. It was sore for a couple days and then got better. But last weekend it got much, much worse. My entire abdomen was in so much pain, it felt like I was recovering from abdominal surgery, and having had an appendectomy, I know exactly what that feels like. I spent the weekend sitting on the couch, trying not to move much. It’s now Thursday and the pain has receded to just local minor ouchiness. My midwives think I may have an umbilical hernia. I’m laying low for a while, hoping it heals. I think I went through a really crazy growth spurt last week and whatever injury I sustained at the pool, got much worse from the muscle stretching. So anyway, fingers crossed that it doesn’t get worse again before the baby comes. Midwives assured me it won’t affect my labor, and after the baby is born I can do some exercises to strengthen the muscles. I don’t think it’ll get as bad as needing surgery. So I’m staying optimistic. The midwives have me applying arnica gel and taking magnesium, calcium, and drinking lots of raspberry tea. I’m going to try and get to the pool a couple times a week to just walk around the pool.
Looks like I might be coming down with Tom’s cold so I went out and got some echinacea and Emergen-c. I had a yummy strawberry, blueberry, protein shake with emergen-c in it for lunch today. Being sick when you are pregnant is 10 times worse than when you aren’t pregnant so I’m doing my best to avoid it.
I am starting to realize that I’m not going to be pregnant forever. I think through the first two trimesters, it must be a common feeling to just believe you are going to be pregnant for the rest of your life. I’ve had a great pregnancy except for a couple minor setbacks. I can’t say I’ll miss being pregnant, but I do get a little sad at the thought that I may never be pregnant again. I feel like I’m pretty good at it.
Work has been a little stressful for annoying reasons but I’m trying to not let it get to me. I found out yesterday that instead of hiring an experienced person from inside the company to replace me, they are going to hire someone new. I was sort of hoping my last month would be spent handing my work off to someone who knew exactly what to do with it, but now it turns out I’ll be training a newbie from long distance. And I won’t be able to travel to train them since I’ll be super pregnant by then. Nothing I can do except hope the last month doesn’t suck. I’m just keeping my sites set on that glorious moment after I hand in my last timecard.
I got Seth Godin’s book Linchpin, hoping it would inspire me, but it’s not doing much for me. I thought it was going to be about escaping being a cog in the wheel, but it turns out, it’s just a book about becoming a better cog. I don’t want anything to do with any part of the wheel. Guess I’ll have to write my own book.
I’m pretty sure our baby is in fact a small baby horse. The limbs poking through my belly are at times nothing less than excruciating, which probably has to do with the muscle injury. When we went to our monthly appointment, she kept kicking the stethoscope every time they put it up to my belly. She is very active all the time. It’s reassuring, and except for the times when I am blinded with pain, I really like knowing she’s wiggling around in there. I’m getting very excited to meet her. Still many more weeks to go though, so stay put little juniper berry. Well, not so little, according to Baby Center, She’s almost 2 pounds and the length of an English hothouse cucumber.
