growing pains

well, we are plugging along in this little experiment called pregnancy. we are 34 weeks today and there are times when i feel like this has been a very.....long......process with lots of changes and newness. on the other hand, there are times when i feel the complete opposite and i simply cannot believe that 34 weeks has gone by so quick! i'm not ashamed to say that as we are now, only about 6 weeks from the mystical "guess date" there are a few things that are starting to suck a little. don't get me wrong, despite even how i thought that i would feel, i have actually really enjoyed being pregnant. i had a dreamy first and second trimester, very little nausea or sickness (other then some overly dramatic side effects from the tdap vaccine i received at 32 weeks). i haven't had many insane cravings. we choose not to talk about that one night when i might have cried until chris stopped at shamrocks to pick me up some onion rings. i've had some days when i've been pretty tired on an off, but otherwise, compared to what i've seen so many other mamas going through, i have no cause to complain. my little guy's movements and hiccups and the fact that he always seems to be the most active when he hears his daddy's voice, never gets old. it's always exciting. and I do mean always. even now, when he wakes me up in the middle of the night with his kicks, or when the turning of his little head is pressing on some of my (ahem) lower, a little more sensitive regions, i have to smile to myself because, well.....it's pretty amazing.some of the no-so-great things i'm referring to have a lot more to do with my inability to do certain things because of my current state. this week marks the first experience i've had with the pregnancy body aches, my feet are sore most of the time, my hips are tender and my lower back is definitely feeling the extra weight, so it's a little harder to walk around and it's hard to be on my feet for very long, so that makes being in the kitchen a bit tougher (if you know me you know how hard this is for me). i have to take frequent breaks while completing tasks at home, so i can sit and rest. there are also some mundane things like carrying our csa box in from the car, or carrying a laundry basket up or down stairs, or retrieving a stray dog toy that made it's way under the couch that are just more challenging and tiring. i don't have as much stamina as i'm used to which does not bode well with with my ever growing to-do list or my personality. my poor husband has been carrying the brunt of my shortcomings these days. big props to him for stepping up and being awesome and, for the most part, not complaining. ;)it's funny if i really sit and think about it because this whole experience, has been great training for getting chris and i prepared for life after baby. i mean, i will be tired, i will be on my feet probably a lot (chasing a kid around), i will make plans that i have to modify, i will have a to-do list that won't get done, there will be growing aches and pains, chris and i will have to make concessions for each other, it WILL be hard.....but at the same time, i know that the hard parts are temporary and every time we look at our baby and he smiles at us, everything else will fall away.so, i have to remind myself with every ache and pain, with every trip to the bathroom, with every kick to the bladder, with everything that won't get done, with every time i have to ask my husband to help me because i just can't get out of bed again to turn off the light.....eventually, i'll hold my baby. eventually, i'll sing him to sleep in my arms. eventually, he'll look in my eyes and call me mama.  and i'll have to smile at myself, because, well....it's pretty amazing.