Circus Freak

     I'm 32 weeks pregnant!  Woohoo!  5 more weeks and he'll be full term and I would love for him to come right then.  I'd prefer not to wait until 40 weeks or even longer.  I'm really starting to feel the effects of the 3rd trimester.  I feel my birth canal widening so my whole pelvic area is sore.  My lower back is sore as always.  I'm not sleeping as well (but a friend of ours let me borrow her pregnancy pillow and it has worked miracles!).  And, if you can believe it, the swelling in my feet has gotten worse.  It's now moving up my legs as well, although the majority is in my feet (something my Dr. says is very uncommon).  The swelling has gotten so bad that any time we're out with friends I temporarily turn into a circus freak as Jackson shows all the cool tricks he can do by pressing on my feet and ankles (the deep indentions that don't away when he lifts his fingers, the bubbles he can create under my skin, etc).  I don't mind, first of all it feels good any time he presses on my feet and second of all, I'm still pretty intrigued by it!  However, the swelling is not as fun as it used to be.  It's worse, a lot more painful, and I miss wearing cute shoes.  But it is what it is and at least it makes for some entertainment.  Here are some pictures of what we can do, although the pictures don't do it justice!

The picture above is especially good at showing the bubbles we can create under my skin.  There's so much blood to push around!  

Below is Jackson massaging my feet.  He does this every night, sometimes multiple times a day.  It hurts the same way it hurts to work out a knot.  So it hurts but feels sooooo good at the same time.  He tries his darndest to squeeze the blood up out of my feet.  He's such a sweetheart. 

Below are the impressive effects of wearing a pair of Jackson's socks to bed.  I took the socks off in the morning and discovered these!! 

The other day I was feeling like such a swollen pregnant woman that I just had to show Jackson what my legs looked like all through college.  

There I am on the left.  Jackson's "WOW" was enough motivation by itself to get those legs back after I have this baby of ours!  I haven't always had swollen cankles and waddled.  :) 

Besides the swelling, I also sometimes have some crazy hot flashes.  The other night I started "breathing like an alien" (Jackson's words) and Jackson turned to look at me beside him on the couch and exclaimed, "what on earth is the matter?!"  I faintly replied that I was hot and didn't feel good as I sank further and further into the couch.  This had happened once before at church and this time he was prepared.  He jumped right into action.  As I sat there feeling faint, dizzy, extremely hot and wanting nothing more than to pass out to make it stop he quickly grabbed an ice pac from the freezer, stuck it under my armpit, grabbed another for my forehead, and shoved a glass of ice water in front of me.  Disaster was averted.  He asked me why I didn't speak up and say something and I tried to explain that it happens really suddenly.  I don't think he believes me.  But it's true!  Anyway, I began feeling better within a few minutes and regained my energy and normal body temperature.  Below is me in the midst of the hot flash.  Jackson says I look like a sad lost puppy. 

So there you have it.  Some of my pregnancy woes.  They weren't kidding when they say being pregnant in the Texas Summer isn't fun.  But as long as my baby keeps growing and getting ready for his debut I can make it through.  He's worth it.  We are so excited to meet him!