32 Weeks, Anxiety, and My New Bed Partner.

It's kinda crazy to realize that we're as little as 6 weeks and as many as 8 weeks away from a healthy, full-term birth.  I can't decide if I feel like I've been pregnant for a long time or a fleeting moment - the pregnancy hasn't really weighed on me and I'm not champing at the bit to evict the kiddo, although I won't mind being done.

For the most part, I miss my energy and cognitive clarity.  Due to lack of sleep, sinuses that are even more overworked than usual, and my aggravated arthritis and sciatica, I feel like I'm walking around in a mental fog and not getting a whole lot done.

This isn't exactly true; I'm just not walking a mile every morning with the dogs and tackling big house projects.  My online presence and gaming time have disappeared.  I'm keeping up with the laundry, dusting, vacuuming, dishes, shopping, cooking, etc.  I'm amassing what I am referring to as our "baby stash-" diapers, clothes, blankies, etc.  So things are getting done.

But... I can't walk up my stairs without getting winded.  I'm sleeping sitting up because when I lie down, my heart starts racing.  And I finally had to take off my wedding ring.  I know!  I was upset, too.  As for the sleeping thing, I recently broke down and bought a Snoogle:

Yes, it's as big as it looks.  But it's filled to the perfect dimension for supporting a preggo.  Usually I roll it up like this:

And I sleep sort of snuggled into the hole in the Snoogle.  Sounds like a Dr. Seussism.

Thursday was the 32-week appointment, wherein I have the highest blood pressure ever in my life and our newest OB (Dr. Faulkner, we both loved her on sight) reassures me that I am not dying of some esoteric disease simply because of my racing heart and high BP.  Baby Ivan is measuring right on track for an April 13th arrival, and I'm doing fine other than experiencing high blood volume (normal in a pregnant woman) and reacting to same.  She did suggest I might be suffering from anxiety, and she's probably got a more objective viewpoint than I do, so I'm going to try to work on relaxation techniques and soothing thoughts.  I am now reveling in the phrase, "You are damaging my calm."  Ah, Firefly... and my hero, Jayne Cobb.

Because of my less-than-ideal blood pressure, I have an appointment next week to follow up.  Oh!  And I found out that the baby's head is often resting right above my pelvic bones, which explains the resultant pain any time I change positions or try to walk.  But... he is in good position for birthing, so that's a relief. 

We may also get a "positioning" ultrasound at full term, so we can see just what Kiddo is up to - so yay for that!

In other news, I haven't thrown up at all this month.  I realize this may be more information than anyone wanted about my pregnancy, but it was an alarming trend there, for a while.  So that's a plus. 

Stay tuned.