Thoughts on pregnancy

Hello all! I am back from my blogging hiatus. Mr. Owen is taking a little snooze right now so I thought I'd write the post I was intending to do the night I went into labor. Somehow I couldn't manage a witty blog post in between contractions.
I must say pregnancy was a wild ride. There's the first trimester, where you are so excited and nervous all at the same time. You feel horrible all of the time, but can't complain to anyone because you're trying desperately to keep your news a secret. The receptionist at work knew, because in her words "You walked into work at 6:45 am looking green." I don't know how nobody else knew, as I was eating Cheez its at 8 am (my only morning sickness cure) and falling asleep on my friends' couches at 7pm.
The second trimester was much more fun. You start to show, you get all the attention, you have showers planned for you and get to register for all that cute baby stuff. Most of all, I felt good. I wasn't too big and could move somewhat gracefully and I had the appetite of a 16 year old boy.
Third trimester starts to wear on you. I had terrible swelling from about 23 weeks on, which just seemed to worsen as time went on. The heartburn was also very fun. I couldn't even drink water without getting it. Now seeing Owen with all his hair, I guess that old wives tale is true in my case. Most of all, the lack of sleep was bad. Dennis would laugh because I'd have a pillow fortress all around me trying to get comfortable enough to sleep for a few hours...then I'd inevitably have to pee. The anticipation at the end and wondering which contractions are "real" is also difficult.
Everyone always said that you can't describe what labor and delivery feels like, you just have to experience it. This was definitely true. I was lucky enough to have a pretty smooth delivery with no big complications. The only problem was that all the anesthesiologists were called to emergencies just after I signed my consent form for the epidural. Therefore, I had to wait until 8 cm to get it...not a fun time at all. Afterward was heaven. I could've kissed that doctor who came to my rescue. Seeing Owen for the first time was such a surreal experience and definitely made all 9 months worth it. I'd go through it again to have him.

In my job I deal with the public on a day to day basis. This made for some pretty funny conversations with patients. I love how so many people feel the need to make comments to pregnant women. They say things that one would never dream of saying to any other person, but since I was pregnant, apparently I was also fair game. Here's a selection of some of my favorite comments from my pregnancy:

1. You look like you swallowed a basketball
2. You look like you swallowed a watermelon
3. Wow! Look at those cankles!
4. You are going to pop
5. You are going to blow
6. I hope your water breaks at work...that would be fun
7. It's a girl, and you're NOT gonna make it
8. Boy, you really are swelling up in your face
9. It's a boy/girl because you're gaining weight in your hips/thighs/face/butt etc.
10. You look really tired honey
11. You really shouldn't reach above your head because you could strangle your baby
12. I really don't think that shirt fits you anymore
13. My personal favorite: If I were you, I wouldn't even be out in public!

There was more on an everyday basis, but this is all I could remember off the top of my head. Luckily, Owen came on time and I didn't have to be overdue. I worked the day I went into labor and was supposed to have one more day. I don't think I could hear "You're still here???" one more time. Lesson to all: when talking to a pregnant woman just say "you look great" and leave it at that. She will be much nicer to you...especially when she's your physical therapist and is going to have to stretch your shoulder with the torn rotator cuff...I'm just sayin.I promised Natalie I would post a picture of my belly. This was taken 5 days before I had Owen. It's amazing how quickly that belly goes away! What's even more amazing is the end result of all of this...totally worth it!