The new baby: October 2007 Archives

1. What the inside of my belly button looks like. I can see now why I blocked that memory out.

2. Which parts of me I haven't seen in quite some time because of my belly. Trust me, it ain't just my feet.

3. The hip pain that wakes you up after you've slept on one side for, oh, a whole hour. Of course, by then I've gotta pee again, so that makes getting out of bed and walking exponentially more difficult.

4. The unquenchable thirst that starts around 28-29 weeks. I can drink a 16.9-fluid-ounce bottle of water in under 15 seconds flat -- and by then I'm halfway between my desk and the water fountain where I just filled up, which creates the "do I really want to walk the whole way back to the water fountain again if I'm this close to my desk" dilemma.

5. The frustration of trying to get the baby to kick when someone else lays a hand on my belly. I think my husband has felt little Mr. Noah move exactly twice so far, while I have felt him move roughly 8,675,432 times -- mostly when I'm either a) trying to sleep, or b) in a business meeting where people will think it's odd to see an elbow or knee shape suddenly poke out of my midsection.

Dear brain,

How are you? I apologize for contacting you in this form, but I feel like we really aren't connected the way we used to be. And besides, unless I write this down, I don't think you'll remember it.

Which brings me to my point. What the heck's going on up there? Yes, you and I are very busy right now, but we've always been so great at multitasking together. Now, it seems like you can't concentrate on one task, much less help me get through two or three simultaneously.

And your ability to store information for me to retrieve later? I've gotta say, the service in this area has been quite poor. I'm screwing up words, I'm forgetting appointments, I've misplaced my cell phone three times in the last 10 days.