Thoughts for 9 months

Saturday marked the 9 months pregnant point. Wahoo. In a way, I feel a little cheated though. All of my life I was told that women are pregnant for 9 months. Maybe I was just naive, but when someone says 9 months, I don't expect them to mean 10. But, alas, here I am at 37 weeks pregnant, still 3 weeks from my due date, and well over 9 months. That's not fair. 

I do have pictures of me at 8 months. And, I have a bad camera phone picture of me at 9 months...but let me just spare you the pain of seeing me this large. If it helps you imagine, I look similar to this: 

We moved this weekend, and much to mine and Brad's surprise, I didn't go into labor. I have this bad habit of over-doing things, so we were pretty sure I would put myself into labor moving boxes and such that I shouldn't. We did have a really close call Monday night, but a cold water bottle, bath, and laying down made the contractions stop. Hezekiah seems pretty intent on coming out though. He has dropped down pretty low and I have way more Braxton-Hicks contractions than seems normal...but the Dr. says all is well. We are hoping he holds out a little longer though so my Mom can get here. Neither Brad or I want to do this without her. 

As for the labor, I am a freak and am really excited. I know I should be scared or something, but I am excited to see this little guy and I am really excited to use the hypno-birthing and relaxation techniques Brad and I have been working on. I have had so many people tell me I am nuts (including my Dr.), so I can't wait to prove myself to them. I know it won't be a walk in the park, but it is like playing in a championship game: you know it is going to be hard, but it is going to awesome! 

Now for some thoughts on pregnancy in general. I am pretty sure I will write a fuller, more in depth list after I have the baby, but for now, this is what is on my mind:

• Stretch marks. Regardless of how much vitamin D or cocoa butter lotion you use, if you are going to get them, there is no preventing it. I lathered myself in stuff daily, but these last few weeks of growth have proven futile for my poor belly. Oh well, they are like a cool tiger stipe tattoo, right?
• Bug Bites: My belly is a bug magnent. I have managed to get a spider bite, some other strange bug, and 3 mosquito bites on my belly in the last month. Boy are they itchy. Having stretched skin makes the itch un-soothable. Shoot. Hopefully Kai doesn't come out with little bumps all over him from everything that is biting me.
• Shoes: I wore my heels and cute shoes up until this month. It was probably stupid of me to do because my feet were so sore, but I was too vain to give them up. I have officially given up. I now wear what we call my "camping shoes" everywhere I and I don't even care. I look goofy, but they feel good so oh well. They look sexy with a skirt, just saying. 

My super trendy camping shoes

• Maternity clothes: I guess this is another instance of my naivety, but I didn't realize that you could grow OUT of maternity clothes. I was so proud of the fact that I didn't have to wear maternity pants until 7 months, and that I could still wear most of my shirt until 8 months...but those days are long gone. Last week I put on a MATERNITY shirt, only to find that it was too small: too short, too tight, too low, waaaay too much exposure. Brad's clothes and I have become best friends when I am in the house. Who knew I could get that big. 
• Waddle: I totally thought that the pregnancy waddle was something that women exaggerated a little bit. I mean, I know you are big, but waddling is a little excessive, don't you think? I apologize to every woman I ever thought that about. I waddle. I more than waddle; I scoot and teeter. Once those hips start popping out, there is no helping it. I sometimes check behind me to make sure a little line of ducks aren't following.
• The belly gravitational field: The belly has a gravitational field all of its own. Try as I might to eat like a dainty woman and keep myself clean, my chest and belly are ALWAYS covered in food, dirt, random stuff like lint and makeup, etc. There is no way to keep it clean, though it always fun guessing how long into dinner it will take me to be wearing my food. 
• Wide load: Sometimes, I feel like I am driving a wide load truck. You can't really control where the belly goes. I am always knocking into things and people without meaning to. I have no depth perception when it comes to how far away something is from my belly. Brad thinks it is funny. 

Those are my thoughts right now. Pregnancy, so far, has been a fun, new, wild adventure. I can't wait for Kai's birthday, not only to end this adventure, but start a new one. The count down is on!