Hit by a Pitch

My last post was pretty negative, so I want to follow it up with something nicer, which can be summarized as follows: Pregnancy: It’s not that bad.

I mean, it’s not that bad for me. If a boring discussion about my awesome pregnancy won’t annoy you or piss you off, here you go.

I had no morning sickness at all. I had no serious food aversions and no out-of-control cravings. (I have what I refer to as “food suggestiveness,” which means that if I smell something good, see something good, or somebody mentions something good, I really want to eat it. This is actually kind of fun.) I really haven’t had any of the big pregnancy complaints — constipation, serious insomnia, aches and pains, temperature issues, ridiculous weight gain, swelling, etc. In the first trimester, I had somewhat frequent headaches, although they weren’t terrible. I also had awful skin. In the second tri, the worst thing I have going on is heartburn, which is unpleasant but not the end of the world. Occasionally, and only on weekends, I feel a little lightheaded. I’m pretty sure this is because I don’t drink enough water on weekends, so I’m working on that.

I’m sure this is partly luck, partly genetics/the way my body works, and partly because I’m still working out on average five days a week (an hour each day). I think working out is very important. I lightened up my cardio workouts during the first tri, but I’ve been at the same level since then. My weightlifting routine is almost exactly the same as it was before I got pregnant. I’m getting to the point where I’ll probably have to lighten up the cardio again pretty soon, but the weights are still fine (that part amazes me). Lifting weights is by far my favorite workout, and I’m sure it’s going to help me prepare for the whole labor thing — I think a lot of the mental process will be the same, if that makes sense.

So there’s the good stuff. I’ve learned that I’m better off if I don’t spend too much time thinking about the bad things that can happen. I’m also better off not hanging out on message boards where pregnant people complain about their aches, pains, and gripes. On the one hand, it’s nice to be around OPP (other pregnant people), even if it’s just on the internet. On the other hand, when I read endless OPP complaints, it makes me anxious and paranoid — for a while, I felt like I was just waiting for something awful to happen or for this pregnancy to really start sucking. I mean, there’s still plenty of time for that to happen — my feet might swell up like melons and my blood pressure might get crazy — but expecting it isn’t going to make it any better if it does happen and, anyway, I might as well enjoy how pleasant this has been so far. I’m even in a really good mood most of the time. How sweet is that?

If you want a really stupid complaint, here you go — my belly is lame. It’s big, right? I mean, it’s not huge but it’s definitely big. But it’s not round at all. It’s kind of flat, like a deflated soccer ball. The part that was concave before is still concave. I don’t have a cute (and it pains me to say this) “baby bump.” Oh well. I guess there’s still time. At least I’m not gigantic.

I’ll be 26 weeks tomorrow. That means I’ll be in the third trimester next week. In approximately 14 weeks, I’ll get to meet this kid. Holy crap! That’s kind of awesome!