Here Comes the Belly

I took my 4 year-old to the YMCA yesterday morning for her twice-weekly swim lessons. As I headed down the enormous, daunting set of stairs, a woman at the counter remarked, “You look tired” in a kindly way. The blunt cleaning lady waiting at the bottom, looked at me and then declared, “I thought you would have had that baby now.”

What can a ginormous, lumbering pregnant lady say at 37 weeks? “I am” and “me too”? What I actually did was smile and just keep walking. The funny thing? So far this week, I actually feel pretty darn great. It’s all relative, of course. But, for me, having periods of the day where I simply feel tired, but don’t feel the need to audibly declare “Ow!” every time I sit, stand, walk, or lie down (just sometimes) is a huge improvement. And when my two year-old proceeded to scream about everything for the first 15 minutes of the day (even when I got him what he wanted)? I talked calmly and sweetly without feeling tempted to yell back. I couldn’t say that a few days ago.

I’m grateful, too, because the good ‘ol nesting instinct is seriously kicking in. Honestly, there is no fancy nursery being painted or decorated right now (although that would be awesome). I am, however, feeling more able to keep things afloat here. The laundry sitting around for a week actually got folded and put away (a miracle!). I’ve actually hung out on the floor with the kids, reading books and playing with toys. I think they sense that a change is coming and want extra snuggles and attention right now. And I am feeling those extra sentimental “Oh, my! They’re both so big!” feelings right now.

I still have a list of great reviews and giveaways lined up for the spring, as well as random-thought posts not related to pregnancy to write about. Please just hang in there with me because some of the items I’ll review after we’ve got a newborn to test them and I’m a bit preoccupied with my pregnant state right now. I promise, as well, that I am reading and enjoying your blogs, but just not able to sit for as long of periods of time to comment as before.