you have a real problem there with not having a brain
I was supposed to meet Mom at 3pm today. While waiting for her, I got a pain my low right side so strong that I almost screamed for someone nearby to help me. Instead I breathed and tried to ignore it. I tried to distract myself but instead began to panic. The pain was intense and unrelenting. I was sure my appendix had burst. Mom would be here any minute and she could take me to the hospital. Or maybe I ripped the placenta and hurt the baby. Breathing was hard. I seriously think it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. But more than that I was scared I'd damaged myself or the baby.
When Mom arrived I just looked at her and started crying. I expected her to be alarmed but she just put her hand on my side and said the muscles were tight. "Look at your belly, that growth is sudden and huge and your body is going to have all sorts of reactions that are perfectly normal!" She made me walk and breathe through it. Half an hour later the pain started to subside. I still don't know what the hell it was and I don't know what I'd done if she hadn't been there to convince me that neither I nor the baby was dying. Is this what pregnancy is?
Pregnancy has also been, for me, lately, this: a hurt knee, a hurt hip, sciatica, weight gain, constant exhaustion, an embarrassingly small bladder, difficulty breathing, a sunburn. At the midwife appointment last Friday she said the baby's heartbeat was strong, my uterus grew 2" in the past month, and I gained 1.5 lbs. I'm also still anemic, though apparently less so. Even if this is what pregnancy is, I'm glad for it.
Aside from that, this was a ridiculously wonderful long weekend. Friends, food, Ali time, walks with the dog in the rain and through sprinklers, trips for ice cream, pancakes for dinner and the real experience of pregnancy. What more could a person want?
Tomorrow the three day work week begins.