26 Weeks

Today (Thursday, July 11th) I am 26 weeks along. Today I woke up and suddenly, I feel HUGE. I feel like my abdominal wall is stretched to maximum capacity and I will just rip open if I get any bigger. I know this can't be true, because I still have 12 to 14 weeks of growing to do. What!?

Nothing is ideal. Sitting, standing, lying down. Nothing. But also, nothing is unbearable. Everything is okay, but long gone are the days of napping comfortably on by stomach, outside in the shade lying on a blanket. I don't think I could lie on the ground comfortably on my side anymore. So I guess I'm not 12 years old anymore. No more Nancy Drew novels digested while lying on my stomach on the floor of my room, knees bent, feet kicking back and forth above my body. Wait, that never happened. I've never read any Nancy Drew. More realistically would be me reading Christopher Pike or something. Die Cheerleader was one of my favorite books as an 11 year old girl. That may be more realistic. Still, none of that comfort. I'm no longer able to be carelessly unaware of my body. Here it is. I am here.

The other day my husband walked into the room with two more hot dogs on a plate and said to me, "It's one of those 'eat a whole package of hot dogs' kind of days. Do you love me anyway?"
I responded. "No, I love you because."

Fact is, I can only love a man who can drive a full pack of hot dogs in him. No more, no less. He is the perfect man for me.

Here is an example of what makes me a truly happy person. Sure, maybe we're not millionaires. Maybe we don't have fancy cars and clothes and gadgets. Maybe my dog is a blind mutt and our cats are secretly plotting to kill us, but we are happy. My blind mutt is happy, and our homicidal felines are pretty happy to. It is the small things that we must not over look. The small, wonderful things that we might miss if we hurray past. I love my husband, because he makes me laugh, because he is kind and thoughtful, and because he can put away a full pack of tube steaks.

So when I have a side ache because my core is being stretched to the max, or I can't seem to figure out how to flip over from lying on my left side to lying on my right, I think about all the little things and I smile. I laugh because I'm a giant turtle, stuck on their shell. I'm happy because I have another human forming inside of me. Someone who we are already familiar and we have not yet met. A little Paul and Lanni and a whole lot of individual. I can't wait to meet him. Any discomfort is temporary and well worth it.

I will remind myself daily to look for joyful things. To give myself moments to enjoy things and to accept the little gifts the universe throws at me. If my husband and I can teach our child anything, I hope it will be to be happy.