37 Weeks

This week was the first time I can officially say that I am legitimately uncomfortable.  My hips hurt, my lower back aches, and I am having Braxton Hicks contractions on the regular.  My little one seems happiest when he is right square on my bladder and I have never peed so much in my life.  I wake up every hour on the hour throughout the night to readjust and/or pee.  Everyone keeps urging me to relax and rest and take it easy but, quite honestly, when I sit still I only feel worse.  The more I move and stretch and bend, the better I feel.  And so I keep busy with my normal, everyday routine, allowing my body to take on its normal chores and tasks.  The longer I sit still, the more achy and sore my muscles feel and so I keep on keeping on.  My patients keep asking me when I will take my maternity leave and I just smile and reassure them that I won't go into labor in their living rooms.  Maternity leave will come soon enough and I will delve into that time just as deeply as I have delved into this one.  My yoga practice is looking pretty ridiculous these days despite my dedication.  I can barely bend over anymore and so I stick to my standing poses and lunges.  But it helps, keeping all of my ligaments loose, and so I press on.

I am nesting in every way: cooking, cleaning, storing away as though we are all about to go into hibernation.  My lists are getting shorter and shorter as I knock them out day by day.  It is an amazing experience to me: the journey of pregnancy.  Putting so much time and energy and effort into preparing and making way for a new life.  I take such great pride and joy into getting everything ready for I know that the more I do now, the less I will have to do when he gets here.  Because the only thing I want to do when he gets here is hold him, rock him, and soak in every ounce of who he is.  That's what this is all about, after all.