Pushing the Limit

I knew August was going to be an interesting month but I really had no idea. It hasn't even started yet and I'm already dreading it. Luckily the temperature has been cooperating, but I'm still getting bigger and a bit more uncomfortable each week. My right hand at work gets married next weekend so I'm flying solo for the next 2 weeks. Add to that a newly announced presentation to senior leadership and our CEO a mere 9 days before my due date and you have a thoroughly stressed out pregnant lady.

I know I can do it, I was just not really THAT concerned about going early but now I'm kind of terrified. What if I do go early? What if there's no one to give this presentation or to prepare it? I'm clearly needed at work and I can't just be out right now.

My company has been amazingly supportive and flexible with me when I was battling the pain and exhaustion of shingles by letting me flex my time, head home for naps, work from home or finish my day on off hours. But now, I see that I'm still very much needed and not "off the hook" (for lack of a better phrase) on the work front. I'm going to really need to push through the next 2 weeks and crush it until the very last day I can.

Luckily we just had our talk about pain management during labor and about how you should only focus on what you can handle now and in the moment and not what you think you can handle in an hour or two. That seems to transition quite well to this scenario. I just need to take the next 3 weeks day by day and do what I can in each day and not focus on how I will feel 9 days before my due date, presenting to our CEO and likely trying to squeeze into anything I can that looks presentable at that point.

But now to worry about the hour by hour, the day by day. To steal a play from the Birth Journeys playbook "I.Can.Do.This"

Laziness vs Listening to Your Body

Somehow I went from loving a lazy day in my pre-pregnancy life to feeling guilty for having to bow out of activities.

Today we were invited to brunch in Montpelier, and I was all for it but E reminded me about how often I push myself a bit too much and feel completely wiped out. I hate it when he's right...

Now I'm laying here on the couch, propped on my left side with pillows propping my hips open like a good pregnant lady while E is out for a nice long walk with pup. I hate missing out on these family moments. I'm getting antsy just laying here.

I think the antsy part comes from spending the better part of the past week on modified bed rest in all of the 'no no' positions for getting the baby out the right way and without back labor. As of this morning I officially think he's in the posterior position and while I have enough time to reposition him, it makes me anxious to laze about because most of the comfortable positions aren't recommended at this time.

I see how a lot of women get tired of this point of pregnancy. It's hard to get comfortable and stay that way. This is when that whole floating, water, weightless thing really makes sense. If it were nicer out today I would be out floating somewhere. But alas, it's just me and my couch and a whole lot of gravity. 

Now if I could only figure out the best time to do cat and cow poses and not feel like I'm on the verge of vomming I'd be a lot more comfortable lazing about and doing my best to get this baby to flip over...

Looking for Signs

So one of the things I failed to mention about our ordeal on Friday was something that has really stuck with me. Anyone who knows me knows I try to find signs in things because, well, it makes the world feel a little less scary to think someone is giving you clues along the way.

So as you know, on Friday, I woke up in agonizing pain and terrified by what may be happening in my body. I was convinced BabyG was dislocating my ribs or something dramatic. The pain was unimaginable. So after I finally let Evan convince me it was time for him to call the midwife for advice I was uncontrollably sobbing and convinced someone was going to have to cut my baby out of me that day. By the time we received instructions to head up to Birthing Center I had resigned to the fact that all of my natural child birthing hopes and dreams and plans were just out the window. I imagined sending a picture of my premature child to my sister, who was supposed to coach me through a natural birth and hoping she wouldn't be disappointed. And just the thought of being out of work starting that day without any real out of office instructions started up even more crying fits.

Evan strapped an ice pack to my side and escorted me to the car gently and slowly and lovingly. Got in and turned the car on. We were immediately greeted with the first keys of our wedding song. Huh. Mind you, our wedding song was You're My Best Friend by Queen. Not really a song you hear every day but also not THAT rare to hear. The weird part to me was that I typically tune the radio back to NPR when I roll into the driveway so my car starts in the morning with news and not music or, even worse, loud commercials. Ugh. So to have the car turn on to a non NPR station that just so happens to be playing our wedding song is to say the least, quite the coincidence.

At the time, I took this as a clue that we would be having our baby that day but that everything was going to be fine. I took solace in that and gritted through the pain on the way to the hospital. But now that we're almost a week out from that day and the baby is still very much in me and not on his way out, I'm wondering what that really meant. Granted, it soothing me and giving me solace is likely enough. Even if my conclusion was (thankfully) incorrect. But is there something more there?

Maybe it was meant to remind me that my husband and I are bound by love and respect and yes, friendship. That we're going to get through the good times and the bad (granted, something we did not have in our vows to my recollection but still a valid point), that he will always be there for me and will support me in ways I've never really allowed him to. Because I need him. We need each other. I don't think I could have gotten through that day without him. He was so amazing. So supportive. So loving and really took charge in ways I've never seen him do. Again, because I never really let him. I'm usually the take charge person. Because I like taking charge, not because he's ever failed to do so. As I think back, I never really allow myself to be scared and need to be taken care of. This was the first time in our entire relationship that Evan was able to or had to really support me in that capacity. He's always been supportive but this is just a totally different level of support. I physically couldn't speak, or stop crying, or really move. I've never been that dependent in my adult life. Ever. I've never broken a bone or been hospitalized. I've never needed someone that much and fully as a grown up. I have to say, my husband really rose to the challenge and I love him more deeply for it.

29 days to go until our "due date" and while I can't wait to meet our little man, I need him to be patient so I can heal fully and prepare for his arrival. Sit tight little one. Mommy wants to meet you but it's not time yet!

Lord make it go away

I've said it before but I'll say it again, I am SO grateful I was so healthy and active for so long in my pregnancy. I haven't been able to be active since Wednesday last week and its killing me. Just when I thought I was getting better, I had a pretty painful day and lo and behold... my shingles spread. For serious!?! I was really hoping to get back to the pool by tomorrow. 

I managed to squeak out a mile or so of a dog walk with hubs tonight and plan to wake up early enough for another mile or so dog walk in the morning. I'm not sure swimming is in my best interest right now but I figure walking can't hurt...

Here's hoping this goes away soon! This shit is getting old 

Relief in the form of giant horse pills

Today I went back to work then headed to the dr to try and figure out exactly what's wrong with me. We met with my

Midwife, whom I love, and she listened to bambino while checking me out. Toward the end of our visit I pointed out to her a tender red spot about 6 inches below the sore rib spot that sent me to the hospital only a few days earlier. Her eyes lit up and it clicked. Shingles, she says. Shingles. Apparently shingles are extremely painful and effect only one side either right or left. The rash was the missing piece.

She called in one of the doctors for a second opinion and called Dr Jennie who helped me at the hospital on Friday. Apparently Jennie squealed with delight when Kristen called her. The pieces all came together for them. 

I did some googling because honestly, I knew little to nothing about shingles. I knew it was a form of chicken pox that happened in adults vs children, but not really anything else. To be honest, I was concerned it meant I was a huge pain wimp but apparently they can be extremely painful and anyone I've talked to that knows someone who's had it has said it's some of the worst pain you can experience. I guess I'll take that! I'm just relieved that nothing is broken and I'll be fully healed in time for this kid to come out. Whew!

A different kind of scale

It's been an eventful few days over here, my dear friends. It all started at around 2am Friday morning with me waking up to change out my ice pack and go pee. I had been sleeping with an ice pack on due to some dullish rib pain. I awoke again at 5:30am in excruciating pain. Now I know pain scales are pretty subjective based on the person experiencing the pain and up for negotiation as to what actually is "unbearable" or "excruciating". For the first time in my life, when I was asked to rate my pain on a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the worst pain I've ever felt, I actually answered 10. I could barely breathe and was uncontrollably sobbing.

Thankfully, I have an amazingly supportive and wonderful husband who immediately sprung into action. If you thought you loved a man fully before experiencing him rubbing your back while simultaneously calling your midwife to talk about hospitalization and pain management options for his sobbing mess of a wife, think again. My heart grew 3x that day.


We then headed straight to the birthing center at our local hospital to meet our midwife and to get me checked out. This is when my sobbing got really bad. I was just seeing all of my natural vaginal child birthing plans fly out the window and having a hard time with it. I knew they weren't taking me to the hospital to take the baby, but depending on what was wrong with me, I was irrationally afraid they would have to take him out early. Something I wasn't ready for and really didn't want.  I had to check my fears and compose myself because when you're having severe rib/chest pain, crying really doe exacerbate the situation.

We got to the hospital and found the right floor and met with our midwife at the nurses station. They admitted me and put me into a triage room on the labor & delivery floor. They asked me loads of questions while I was still writhing in pain like some poor sap dying of a gunshot wound in a western. I always thought those scenes were over acted. I sit corrected.

So after several hours of them monitoring the baby and trying to figure out what exactly was wrong with me, the head nurse on call and resident on staff were leaning toward kidney stones. Then my Dr came in and I swear I heard angels singing. Now to give you some context, my midwifery is a collective. This means there are 3 midwives and 2 doctors that you see during your pregnancy and depending on who is on call, could be present at your birth. Now Kristen was my OBGYN before we even started trying. She birthed both of my sisters kids and is just absolutely wonderful. Since the beginning of my pregnancy, Kristen has been and remains my favorite midwife and Amy was my favorite MD with Jennie coming up third. Jennie was the one who sat through our uneventful first 20 week ultrasound and was able to tell us "there's penis everywhere" for our second, more successful, 20 week ultrasound.

So I'm in the hospital for the first time ever in my life, in the worst pain of my life and in walks Jennie and I felt this huge wave of relief wash over me. She came in, took a look at me, took a look at my charts and tells the nurse and resident she doesn't think it's kidney stones and starts gently palpitating me to prove to them its likely ribs and not stones. She stands by me and we talk about my pain management options. She knows I want a natural birth and haven't taken any OTC meds since November so she knows this is a really important discussion for me. She tells me what they want to give me and how much and what it will do to both me and the baby. We order in an egg sandwich (it was delightful btw) so I have something in my system before taking pain meds.

We decide on a pain reliever and muscle relaxer and in 15 minutes I'm down from a 10 on the pain scale to a 5. After another hour of observation (a total of 5+ hours round trip) and I'm out the door with instructions from Jennie to take the pills based on the instructions as much as I need them but as little as I have to and to call her on Monday to make a follow up appointment to check me out and discuss alternative pain management techniques like acupuncture.

One of the bonuses to being in the birthing center for the better part of a day was that we got to hear a baby being born in the room next to us. Only a few quiet(ish) grunts heard from the room next door and the faint mewling noise of a newborn. As E wheels me past the room we hear Jennie say "woah, placenta!". That's when I knew I loved her and that I want her to be at my birth. She's now been the source of 2 great quotes in my pregnancy. She's a keeper.

I attempted to start this post several times but was too medicated to stay awake or string together words and make sentences. Since Friday I've been slowly improving but having a hard time being on bed rest. I have the utmost respect for women who are stuck on bed rest for weeks or months during their pregnancy. For me it's been 2 days and I'm going bananas. Here's hoping I'm able to get through a day of work tomorrow and that Jennie clears me for physical activity so I can regain my sanity for the remainder of my pregnancy.

As much as I would prefer not to have had this situation arise, a lot was learned from my experiences:

1. The staff at the birthing center at Fletcher Allen Hospital is great.
2. I love my midwifery and am so confident in my ability to have a great birthing experience with them.
3. We should not trust our GPS instructions for getting to the hospital on labor day.
4. My husband is amazing and capable of being supportive of me when I'm in agony.
5. I'm surrounded by loving people who care for me and will sneak into my house to leave me flowers and ice cream.
6. I now need to be more open minded.
When I was at the peak of my pain on Friday I was terrified that I would have to have a cesarean. Now that I'm healing but not fully healed, I am concerned should I go into labor before I'm fully healed I would need medication. Having felt so horrible and so afraid my baby would be in pain (he was a total rock star during the entire ordeal, by the way) I realized that the way he makes it out is less important than his overall health and his ability to get out safely.

I still hope I will be able to have a natural vaginal birth, but I'm more open minded now than even a few days ago to my options should they be deemed necessary. I've been humbled by my experience and more than a little bit scared. I continue to be impressed by what my body can handle and how clearly it speaks to me when it cannot handle something without help.

Now that I've been on bed rest since Friday I've been stress eating ice cream and a bit worried about my next meeting with the scale. Let's hope this one also doesn't leave me in excruciating pain...

I'm sure there's a biblical reference here...

Well I'm 34.5 weeks pregnant and officially uncomfortable for the first time. Let me clarify. Not just uncomfortable. In some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire recollection of pains felt in my life. This is exactly the reason why I stayed as functional as possible and did as many things around the house and at work as possible. I have zero guilt (not that I should at all) for being completely laid up right now. It's not mandated bed rest, but any small movement makes me cringe and actually brings an occasional tear to my eye.

So what's happening you ask? Oh, well my amazing baby who has been phenomenally head down for 12 weeks decided to move from his cozy position along my right side to my left and has in the process dislocated at least one or more ribs. Hence the biblical reference. I'd elaborate but I've never read the bible. But I know enough to know there's something there. I'm pretty sure it has to do with me and a mans ribs but apparently my baby isn't religious either so he didn't get the memo that he's not supposed to eff with moms ribs in utero. But I digress.

When he first moved it wasn't THAT bad. Occasional sharp pain with a dull ache. Not awesome but not terrible. Then I bent down today. That's when I felt a rib move. Oh then things got fun. 

At this point any movement is painful. Silly things like getting in or out of the car or sitting on the toilet can reduce me to tears. Exciting stuff. 

The nurse at my midwifery said it should subside by tomorrow and to ice it but in general there's really nothing I can do. Again. Really exciting stuff here...

Here's hoping my ribs chill out sooner than later because this is horse hockey.

Ready

During your pregnancy, especially near the later months, people will ask you "are you ready?" My answer was always that I didn't want to rush it and I was doing my best to enjoy each day in this stage of my life and that my baby needs more time to grow before I'm ready for him to come out.

That's a really polite way of saying "no." I mean, it's totally true, but I just knew I wasn't ready yet. Well, kids, at 5.5 weeks out, I think I'm nearing the ready stage. Now that we've had a few more birthing classes under our belt and I'm starting to get uncomfortable, I'm getting more and more prepared to meet our boy. We're still not 100% there in terms of "things" but newborns don't really need a lot of things. Just for my boobies to be functional and my body to be ready to get him out.

While I've enjoyed my pregnancy, I'm glad my gestation period is almost complete. I'm so excited to be a mommy and to meet my boy, but I'm also ready to regain my body. I know it won't be "mine" for some time, but to move freely without pain in the somewhat near future. To bend over, shave my legs, paint my toes, do situps. I never thought I'd miss situps! Oh the joy. I miss my cheekbones, my clavicle, my waist. A waist! God I miss having a waist. Not that it was anything to write home about, but I miss my old body. I've really enjoyed growing this one and the process of getting here but now we're to the less fun parts that make moving difficult, sitting difficult, pretty much everything difficult. I can see how some women don't enjoy pregnancy. I've been so blessed to have such an able body that has allowed me to remain active and flexible and mostly functional up until now. I'm still pretty darn functional, just not comfortably. Here's hoping I can make friends with a pool and get some gravity-free time to get me through the next few weeks. I'm also no longer betting on this kid coming out in September. You come whenever you're ready baby. Mommy can't wait to meet you.

Slowing Down

Well I knew it. The time has come. My ability to remain active and at mostly the same speed as my pre-pregnancy self has gone bye bye.

We went to a wedding this past weekend and I was determined to have a better time than at the last one. While the company was vastly improved for the most part (I even had a fellow pregger to keep me company!), my energy level dropped quickly and any attempt on my part to bust a move was met with a low deep stretching muscley feeling in my low abdomen. Not something I'm really going to mess with. So by 9:30 I was in the tub at the hotel eating a vastly overpriced Snickers from the minibar. A small slice of pregnant lady heaven.

I woke up the next morning with an annoying cramp in my left side. That cramp has now turned into sharp, shooting pain that makes #2ing and sneezing a quite painful experience. After some crafty Googling I found out I likely have my first real pregnancy side effect. Subloxated Ribs.

Pain in the mid-back that radiates into the ribcage is often due to subluxations that cause the nerves between the ribs to get irritated. It may be uncomfortable to take a deep breath when this occurs. Chiropractic adjustments remove the subluxations to decrease the pain and return normal function. - See more at: http://womenswellnesscare.com/common-pregnancy-discomforts-that-do-not-have-to-be-so-common-2/#sthash.mab6y3wQ.dpuf

 Here's what the experts have to say:

Rib pain during pregnancy can be a persistent problem, especially during the third trimester. Your rib cage may feel mildly sore or extremely tender and bruised. You may have discomfort on either side, or both sides, though it is commonly worse on the right side of the ribs. Pain occurs in and under the ribs as your uterus grows. Later in pregnancy, your abdomen becomes stretched, and your uterus stretches upward as well as outward. Your pelvis and abdomen are becoming full, and your baby is beginning to press up under your ribs and chest. This upward pressure from your baby may also make you feel short of breath. This pressure on your ribs and diaphragm may also result in shoulder pain, because there are nerves in the diaphragm which can refer pain into the shoulders.

Pain in the mid-back that radiates into the ribcage is often due to subluxations that cause the nerves between the ribs to get irritated. It may be uncomfortable to take a deep breath when this occurs. Chiropractic adjustments remove the subluxations to decrease the pain and return normal function. - See more at: http://womenswellnesscare.com/common-pregnancy-discomforts-that-do-not-have-to-be-so-common-2/#sthash.mab6y3wQ.dpuf

Let me translate this for you: "Suck it up preggeroni. You've only got a few more weeks to go"

I do have to say that while I feel pretty darn uncomfortable right now, I've still been so lucky to have had a relatively easy pregnancy with very few side effects and (at least as of now) no stretch marks. Huzzah!

Let's hope this kid proves me wrong and doesn't come late. Mama is getting a wee bit miserable.

Mood Swinging

Well I think they call this the 'home stretch.' If babyG decides to come on time I'll only be pregnant for 6 more weeks. If memory serves me correctly, this is exactly how many weeks pregnant I was when I found out I was going to be a mommy. 

Since then I've definitely gained a different level of respect for my body and the female form in general, gained about 30 pounds, fully unleashed my love for ice cream, learned countless lessons about myself, life, my relationship and my family and what it means to be a mommy. And I know I still have so much more to learn.

Lately it seems easy for people to try and turn my pregnancy into something negative. Yes it's hot, yes I'm big, yes my energy levels are waning and yes I've been pregnant for a long time. But I'm growing life, I'm going to meet my baby soon and it's no more hot here than anywhere else and I'm no bigger than any other woman who's 34 weeks pregnant. Being a bit uncomfortable is better than my baby coming before he's ready. 

I worry that I've let some of this get to me. The last few days I've been a little sad. It's one of those sads where you're not 100% sure why it's there or where it came from, but I have a few guesses. 

I think I'm sad because I'm not ready for him to come out yet. 

I think I'm sad because I am uncomfortable.

I think I'm sad because it's easy to let people's negative comments about my body make me feel less beautiful. 

I know I'm a little sad because I'm at the point in my pregnancy where I can't do everything I once did and I don't take well to feeling limited or weak. 

I know I'm going to need to get used to that for the next 6 or so weeks, but that's a long time to be sad and that's not how I want to end my pregnancy. I'm just not sure how to pick myself up by the bootstraps and put on a happy face. 

I don't think it helps that we've had a very long last few weeks. So many events, so many visitors, so many trips and too many nights away from my own bed.

This is our last week of travel before I'm homeward bound and waiting for our baby to come out and meet us. I'm trying to put on a happy face and be excited but the excitement isn't coming quite yet. I'm even more sad that I'm not excited about a wedding. It makes me sad because I love weddings. They're so full of promise and happiness and love. Going to a wedding pregnant is more difficult than I ever imagined. Strangers feel compelled to say things about your body that make you feel less confident in a formal gown. By getting this out I'm hoping to release this negativity and allow myself to be happier and more confident. Here's hoping it works!

Baby, I can't wait to meet you and be your mommy. I hope you know how hard I have worked to be the best mommy I can. I know I won't be perfect, but no one is. But I promise to learn and grow with you. Daddy and I love you so much. We're so excited to meet you, but stay in there until you're ready. We'll wait.

Future CEO vs. Rebel Extraordinaire

I've been in no less than 5 meetings today, most of them spanning an hour or more. This child has not moved unless I was in a meeting. Granted, the majority of my day was spent in conference rooms but I do not think it's a coincidence that he only moves and grooves when mommy is quiet and trying to pay attention to other people. That's when my favorite distraction decides to moonwalk across my midsection.

Either this little one loves meetings and is primed to be a future CEO, or he's a regular mischief maker and destined for the life of a rebel. Only time will tell...

Being Thankful

I know I've already posted a few times today but seeing as I'm catching up and reflecting back, a lot is on my mind so bear with me.

As I sat with family last weekend and have been reading, watching and hearing more birth stories, I've been reflecting a lot on my pregnancy.

I'll be the first to admit I've had a blessed pregnancy so far. No real nausea, zero vomiting, no real health issues or implications. I was able to keep my pregnancy a secret as long as I wanted/needed to and maintain my daily life in a way that didn't tip anyone off. I've been able to remain active throughout the entire time. As I close in on the final weeks of my pregnancy I can't help but marvel at what my body has and continues to do. I lay in bed at night and hope to erase all of the bad things I've ever thought or said about my body. I feel my baby move and kick and grown and take back each time I've longed for slimmer hips or ribs or even just a few less pounds or a more waifish frame.  My body was made for this and has been doing an exemplary job at it. I almost get teary just thinking about the women who have fertility issues, pregnancy issues or birthing issues and how easy it was for me to get and stay pregnant then to thoroughly enjoy my pregnancy and hope to have a similar situation in birth and labor.

I'm also truly blessed to live in a state where my decisions about my body are my own to make. I'm not forced to do any one thing for my labor and delivery or even my pregnancy. I am able to birth at a hospital where specific birth wishes are a given. I will be allowed skin to skin contact with my baby. He can sleep in my room with me. I can request no intervention unless absolutely necessary, etc. I can also remain mobile during labor if I choose, use a pool if I'd like to, and even pull my own baby from myself if I want and am able to.

While I'm still weeks away from meeting my little guy, I look forward to enjoying the remainder of my pregnancy to the best of my ability and doing what I can to attempt the most comfortable (relatively speaking of course), timely, natural and safe entry into this world for my son. Here's hoping this fairy tale pregnancy has a story book ending.

Documenting the Process

Before our trip to the Berkshires we met with my sister for a quick maternity session. I had been stressing out a little about the scheduling aspect because we've been so busy and if we didn't sneak it in randomly between trips, I'd be huge by the time we got to them and likely wouldn't be happy with how I looked in them. One of the benefits of having a photographer for a sister is that not only do you get incredible photos at a moments notice, but she edits a few choice shots right away and sends them to you before you're even expecting them.

Here are some of our "proofs". I cannot wait to see how some of the rest of them came out!!

 

Reflecting Pool

I took a bit of a blog break because we've spent the last few weeks traveling around the Northeast and visiting with friends and family. We have but one weekend of travel left before I can finally sit back, relax and just be pregnant. It's been so great to see everyone but I definitely feel my energy levels waning a bit. The heat we've been having doesn't help either.

Over the last weekend in June we traveled to the Berkshires in Massachusetts to reconnect with E's college friends and to finally meet their burgeoning families. Everyone's kids were so well behaved and mild mannered and all really got along well! It was quite surprising, actually. It's always fun to see E interacting with kids because it doesn't happen often and kids either love him or are very unsure for quite some time. Luckily most of the kids really loved him (and me too), which was really great.

As a special bonus I was also called "the most impressive pregnant woman" by a friend who has been pregnant not once but twice. So that was a total win! We also went to the beach and I broke out the fat lady bikini. Here's a photo to embarrass myself with now and in the future.

This past weekend we traveled further south to New York for a family wedding. While traveling in a southward direction during a heat wave isn't always my favorite thing to do, it was so lovely to catch up some of the more far flung family members we don't get to see all that often. Especially E's sister and her family. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since our last visit. They hadn't been back to the states since she officiated our wedding in 2011. Since then they've had another sweet baby whom we got to meet for the first time. As luck would have it, they're hopefully planning to move back to the states, which would just be delightful!

While we had seen them more recently than E's sister, his cousin and her husband were in from Denver and have also had a baby since we last saw them about a year or more ago. Their little one is 3 months old and such a little cutie. It was so nice to see them so happy and such wonderful parents already. It makes me so excited to meet our little one.

Now any trip to the metro NY area wouldn't be complete without a few fun stories now would it? While it was super lovely to see everyone, not everyone was as lovely with their words. Don't get me wrong, some people really were! Here's my list of the best and the "best" quotes from the weekend.

Best:
"I was talking to my friend this morning after seeing you last night and I said 'I saw the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world last night!'" She then went on to say I was more beautiful now than before, which she wasn't sure was possible, and that she had never seen the pregnant woman glow people talk about and that I had it. This person is obviously my favorite. Love them.

"Best" - please note that by the "best" I mean ohmygod how did that come out of your mouth without you being immediately embarrassed by yourself:

Quote 1:
Me to bride: "you look beautiful!"
Bride to me: "you look pregnant!"
uuuhhhh... thanks?

Quote 2: 
After seeing me and waving politely but walking away this person comes back around to apologize for "not recognizing" me then proceeds to ask "are you having a cesarean section?". So not only am I apparently unrecognizably large, but so large that one cannot comprehend that my child will come out of me any other way than surgically. Um, thanks, super awesome person.

I do have to say, that my husband was absolutely amazing this weekend. Constantly showering me with praise and making sure I was taken care of and comfortable. There may be a lot of people in this world who don't know how to speak to a pregnant woman, but I am so lucky and grateful to be surrounded by amazing people who love me.

Well that is my reflection over the next 2 weeks. Now to find a pool to float in because at 33 weeks pregnant I officially understand that whole "pregnant women love being in water" thing. Totally get it.