On the cusp

Tomorrow Baby 2.0 will officially be full-term (although still a ways from done yet, I think). Yay! I have to say, the second time around, I was much more concerned about making it to full-term than I was the first time. I think having a friend with a preemie opened my eyes to how much development is critical and crucial in those last couple weeks.

Having said that, this pregnancy has not been as much fun as the last one. I've got pain around my belly button which only gets intensified when I cough or sneeze, which means I'm doing this flailing thing every time I cough or sneeze where I clamp one hand over my mouth and the other over my belly button. I feel uncomfortably large; there's no position comfortable to sleep in. I'm still hitting the inhaler pretty often, which means I'm still shorter on breath than I want to be.

This one's not a kicker like A was. This one's a stretcher and a wriggler. C made the observation that A is still a kicker who bangs his feet or hands against things rhythmically, so we'll see how this one is. I was forever taking walks with A to make him go to sleep and stop kicking me, but this one can't be stopped from stretching or wriggling, which can get painful. Walks don't help; standbys like juice or ice cream don't help. Kid's stubborn, like its big brother and parents.

I've learned that my love of ice cream has nothing to do with the temperature and everything to with being in the third trimester. This time, I've been eating a lot of chocolate ice cream, which I normally can't stand (true--except if it has something in it like peanut butter or brownie bits).

I still have a long list of tasks that need to be accomplished before 2.0 gets here. I'm considering this whole pregnancy and birth practice in letting go and adapting to the now. Yeah.