Okay what is with this? I hit the third trimester and whammo, my body freaks out on me. That’s really quite cruel, especially after I was saying how wonderful I was feeling and how I didn’t have X or Y. Ha! My body is so funny.

Yesterday the rib thing started. I have no idea if it’s temporary or not, and it’s not constant, but I am getting frequent little twinges in the right side of my ribs. It comes and goes. It’s not quite painful, but uncomfortable, like I need to stretch and rub my ribs. Just like someone is pushing on them in a weird way… hmm, wonder why. ;)

I did have a good sleep without aches and pains though! I tried sleeping at first in my old favorite position of nearly being on my stomach, but with a pillow under my top leg… but I always sleep on my arm in that position and it was starting to fall asleep a little bit. I do think I fell asleep like that, though. I woke up in a totally different position… on my back, with that pillow under one side of my butt/back so I was tilted at an angle… and one of the cats was curled up in the crook of my arm with his little head nestled under my chin. That arm was going numb a little bit but I had to just stay there for a while and cuddle with him. Awwwww. He’s usually a very pushy cat who likes to lay ON your face and step on my hair, so for him to curl up nicely like that is really very sweet! I do love my kitties.

And the best part is that my hips weren’t hurting at all! Yippee! The last three nights I’ve been sleeping in “shifts”… I fall asleep in the evening at around 7 or 8pm, then wake up just after midnight. I’m awake for a few hours, I eat, pee, surf the internet, get up and walk around, then I go back to sleep for another 3-4 hours. Not really ideal in terms of getting decent sleep, but it does seem to help keep the stiffness at bay. I’m not really thrilled with falling asleep at my computer by 7pm though. But a large part of that is due to me having three very early mornings in a row. If I’m up early and don’t have a nap during the day I do tend to crash early. The reason I’m such a nighthawk normally is that I don’t get up until after 10am!

Devin has still been doing that funny position, being at work today was really weird because it’s an odd pressure that makes me have to pee even though I don’t have to pee. Then when I got home and climbed into bed with my laptop I look down and notice my belly is way lopsided. Something large and round pushing out my right side. I called Den in to ask if I was nuts, but he saw it too right away. Then a few minutes later I felt movement and looked down to see my belly ROLL and the ride side push out even further! For some reason I just keep picture him shoving his butt up. lol Goodness that was funny/weird. Den pointed out that it’s going to get a lot weirder as he grows!!

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In the hospital for my midwife appointment today I saw at least one mama who was there for a NST. She was obviously due or overdue. I looked at her belly for a moment in wonder. It was a beautiful, perfect belly. Large, sure… but beautiful.

I admit that, amid all the times where I feel so perfect and gorgeous and proud of my belly I think how much bigger is it going to get in the next three months?? I know I’m not huge by any stretch, but it seems hard to wrap my brain around continuing to grow for 3 more months!

But then I remind myself… all through this pregnancy it always seemed hard to picture myself in a month. And yet every time I get to the next “stage” it feels so normal and natural that I can’t really remember what it was like to feel any smaller. There’s really no sense worrying about how big I’m going to be… it will be what it is and I’m pretty sure that it will feel completely normal to me.

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I’m still getting around remarkably well. I have a very obvious baby belly now, but, other than some minor difficulties (like bumping into things when I try to scoot past!) I’m not having any problems.

I waddle… when my hips hurt in the early morning. Or if I have to pee really bad, lol. Other than that I’m just fine. I even jogged to my car today after my appointment (it was raining, and I can’t find my damn umbrella), no issue at all.

I do have to bend/lift differently than I used to… more of a wide-legged squat to make room for the belly. And it is certainly a little harder to get up than it used to be, a little more weight to push up! But still not much of an issue. I’m bending down to pick things up/wipe something up all day at work and home.

I do get winded more easily than I used to, though that’s been happening since my first trimester. Carrying things up and down the stairs at work causes me to get warm (I dress in layers so I can wear just a light shirt when I overheat!) and need to stop to breathe a bit. But it’s not like I’m going to keel over dead or anything, just a little winded. And the other funny thing is that as my belly grows larger it’s harder to carry things, because the belly kind of pushes whatever I’m carrying out further. It’s a little less stable than it used to be, lol. (And don’t worry, I don’t try to lift everything up at once!)

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At work I felt that heavy pressure thing again and sure enough the middle of my belly was firm, some body part pressing against it. I went over to my supervisor and asked if she wanted to feel something funny… she seems quite awed by the whole thing (and a little grossed out at the same time, lol). She said, “Wow, your belly really is… pregnant!!” LOL! That cracked me up.

Tuesday evening I had a meeting with my supervisor and boss. Now my boss is not one of those touchy feely types. She has no kids and doesn’t seem to display much interest in kids or babies. Polite interest, sure, but she is NOT one to fawn over babies or ask how I’m feeling or what’s new with the baby. Very matter of fact lady. So it surprized me when after the meeting we passed in the hallway as I was leaving and she patted my belly as she walked by and said, “Hee hee!” I was quite amused by that, it was just so unexpected from her.

I am discovering that I don’t mind people touching my belly nearly as much as I thought I would. I’m normally very attached to my personal space and don’t like people invading it, even standing too close gets me a little anxious. But the belly? I am just so damn proud of it that I want to show it off. :D And it’s not like I’ve been groped or anything, people usually ask if I mind, then just pat it gently. That’s cool. I don’t mind that. :) Especially if they ask first.