Take My Breath Away…

I know. This post is going to sound a lot like complaining. At least I hope it does. Because let’s call a spade a spade. I am about to vent about the bad and the ugly parts of Grin’s gestational journey. While post first trimester pregnancy with Snowball was something of a love affair, the second pregnancy has proven to be a whole different ball of bundle carrying wax. Some of it, I attribute to being older {go ahead, laugh all you want but the fact is, I am, indeed pushing 30… not as much the spring chicken as I once was}. Some of it, I attribute to already having a child to “tend to” … I can’t recall the last time Adam or I truly slept in or napped outside of defined naptime — like without a child as an alarm clock. And, then the last smidgen, I attribute to this babe being its own person from the get-go.

Here are the beefs I have with carrying this babe {and before I go on, I must say, I am very blessed and lucky to be carrying such a healthy picture of perfection and we are so freaking fortunate to have Barrett as our first born. Okay. That’s outta the way}. And someday, when my friends say “You never warned me about X,” I will reply “Lie”.

Here is my list of what I believe I’ve grinned&beared:

1. Sinus suckiness – Though it’s been out of my mind {and my head} for at least three months now, I cannot miss the opportunity to curse my sinuses for their bad behavior in months 1-5 of this pregnancy. I think I had 4 sinus infections … or one big one, however you want to label it within the first and second trimester. I can perfectly envision a night on which I began crying. At the dinner table. And said I never wanted to be pregnant again. Love you, Grin. Really… we do.

2. Tingle, Tingle Little Stars -A {or at least I’m told} side effect that comes along with hypertension is to see little stars or, as I call them, fireflies, on occasion. Everyone likely experiences these with positional changes but I will sometimes get visits from the stars at random times. I look like a real crazerton when I begin reaching for them. Along with this, throughout the third trimester, I’ve dealt with a wee bit of weirdness in my face and orbital region {Hopefully my crazysmart optometrist friend approves of my placement of that term}. My face is all a-flutter or a-tingle, as it were, and who can guess why. My doc said it could be a small dose of bell’s palsy, the way Grin is sitting or just a side effect of the bp. Regardless, it’s weird.

3. Take my breath away – I can’t breathe. I know that lots of women experience this one. I didn’t ever feel short of breath with B but this baby must be at least 9 pounds and crammed in like sardines because I am often feeling like a 90 year old smoker who just climbed First National.

4. My beating heart – The heart racing is yet another nuance of bearing Baby Grin. A tingle in my face, my heart begins to race and the shortness of breath sets in. I know, it sounds like an old fashioned anxiety attack, right? But I swear, I am cool as a cuke over here. I am assured that the tingle-racing-breathing stuff will be thrown out with the bag of waters and that I will forget they ever found their way to my baby bearing bod.

5. Pressures on the rise – Obviously, this one is a no-brainer but my pressures are under fire when I am with peanut. The biggest negative to this… the headaches. Adam can vouch for the fact that I’ve not had one headache-less day post the Tuesday Tune-Up. It’s sorta like a three month hangover without the crazy night before that I can’t remember {Not that I’ve ever had nights I can’t remember…}.

So, while I’ve not endured a rash covering my entire body {longer than it took to get off the antibiotic that didn’t agree with me} like PUPPS, I’ve had only mild-mannered heartburn, I’ve not had to deal with day-in day-out baby barfies, or dealt with the myriad of other mama-to-be menaces, I’ve been less enchanted with this pregnancy than our prior. And for all the men {thank heavens my husband isn’t one of them. Or at least he’d never say it out loud} who think women inflate the enormity of life changing parts of being pregnant … you’re batshit crazy. You get a 9 month DD with sometimes DD’s and we can hardly wipe something off the floor or slip into our very cute gladiator-like sandals. But I digress…

Adam did ask last night if I would do it again. Without hesitation, {if we are so blessed} absolutely. Of all the things that are totally ridic and seem completely OOC, feeling Grin groove inside my belly is one of the most brilliant bumblings I’ve ever gotten to experience {tied, of course, with feeling Snowball swirling inside the sac}. And, of course, knowing how awesome Grin will be when he/she is nearly 2.5, makes being pregnant priceless.