Frightfully Biological - feel free to skip this one

I am completely fascinated by what my body is doing. This post is going to be a bit more graphic than the rest of the posts I've written before. Either skip it or brace yourself.

The day after - more pink than red. Still painful.

I'll ease my way into this... I sunburn very easily now. I used to burn occasionally, but I think I've burned my shoulders at least three times so far this summer. Today I did something terribly dumb. I was weeding in the garden and my dress (yes, I garden in dresses and skirts. They are very comfortable and when I stand up in the breeze, very refreshing) crept above my knees. I was sitting on an upturned bucket, so the belly could go between my legs when I bent over. It must have been the angle of the sun, but the tops of my knees are bright red, hot, and tender.  My calves and shins are fine.  The parts of my knees that I kneel on are fine. I never noticed how much I actually slap my knees until today. Who does that?

My neck is holding them up. You don't
want to know where they are before I tie
them up. 

I've written about my breasts before. They are getting bigger and heavier. They are so heavy that holding them up is painful - my shoulders, my neck, the places where my bras rub - all hurt at the end of the day. Then I take the bra off and they get really heavy... seriously, I can't win. Bryn will occasionally walk up behind me and cup them for me when I seem tired. He has no idea how good it feels for them to be held up independently of my body. Hence the bathing suit. 

Swimming, as previously mentioned, makes me buoyant (but if the belly floats too high it gets hard to breathe). It also makes my breasts buoyant. I suffer through the halter top so I can get in the water. 

Attached to my breasts are my nipples and areolas (I warned you). The areolas have become enormous and are turning pink. It is getting really hard to hide them in my lower cut tops, bras, and the bathing suit. Bryn is usually poking at them and tugging at my tops to tuck them into whatever they've escaped from. I don't notice anymore. God help us when I start nursing again...

Speaking of, I've started making colostrum. I didn't leak at all with Alex, but when I wake up in the morning or undress at the end of the day my nipples and areolas have a bit of slightly sticky colostrum on them and in the little creases of my nipples. Okay, that was more gross than I intended, but I think it's so neat. I'm already making the baby's first meal, and he's not even here yet. Just like me to screw up the timing of a meal though... 

Moving south... Vurps. The gas thing has been mentioned. It's still a problem, but worse is the vurp thing that's begun with more frequency. With my stomach so close to my mouth lying down is scary if I've eaten recently. Let's face it: I've usually eaten recently. My whole digestive tract is uncomfortable, actually. If it comes out the top, it's gross and makes me queasy; if it comes out the bottom, it hurt. 

Everything between my legs is tender. Swollen, pink, and always damp. Everything. I started wearing pantyliners because I was sick of having to change my panties in the middle of the afternoon.

I've been sitting on a 65cm yoga ball for the last week or so, and it's helping with my pelvic pain. I think I need a bigger ball, though, especially if I'm going to be sitting at the computer on it. I still need to sit in the recliner on a regular basis though... My feet actually got swollen last week. It was scary. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I'd been doing dishes and sitting at the computer and I went to put my flip-flops on and they were tight. I got home and put my feet up. My ankles were puffy. It was weird. Bryn didn't really notice, but I could feel it.

The peeing thing... I pee a lot. Last night I was up every 45 minutes or so. I would sleep a lot better if I weren't constantly peeing. At about 4am I contemplated just sleeping in the tub. But at least when I get up I can get back into bed and sleep on the other side. My hips get sore if I lay on one side for too long. Heck, my butt gets sore if I sit for too long - but then my back and hips hurt if I stand or walk for too long - and "too long" is really subjective. My five minute showers, while I'm busy scrubbing, are totally okay. Standing in line at the supermarket, not so much.

Speaking of standing: I can't do dishes anymore! I can't reach the bottom of the sink for the belly. I tried doing them sideways, but that put a weird strain on my shoulders and back and I needed to have a foot up on a stool. It was torturous and awkward and Bryn has taken over for me.

The kid, himself... he has taken to squirming. He wriggles and writhes under my ribs, under my books, on top of my bladder, into my stomach and lungs... Sometimes he will move suddenly and sharply and catch me off guard and I gasp and startle everyone around me. He threw me off balance once and I caught myself against a wall. Pregnant women should not walk swiftly - a good plodding waddle is fast enough. If the gyro-scoping kid acts up, you're less likely to fall. I think he's getting ready to arrive. I wish I were more ready...