Halfway

I'm a little more than halfway through this pregnancy, and things are starting to get rough. Where the first semester involved me sleeping a lot and forgeting that I was even pregnant because nothing seemed to be happening, the second semester involves being tired but never getting enough sleep and feeling bigger and bigger with every passing day.

My belly is beginning to get in the way of my life. It's hard to get out of bed. If I sit on the floor or somewhere else low, it's even harder to get up. I'm trying not to do that, but the packing and cleaning involved with moving sometimes makes that impossible. I'm tired and achy in a way that I didn't think would happen for several more decades. By 8'o'clock most evenings I'm completely spent. But then I lie there for hours trying to fall asleep.

My belly is also covered in stretch marks despite the fact that I'm using shea butter religiously. I don't know if the shea butter is completely ineffective or if my pale skin means that it would be evn worse if I stopped using it. I don't really want to know either. So I continue to use the shea butter and track the growth of the kid by the stretch marks that are slowly climbing up my torso. They're just past my belly button now.

I'm sure the most of this isn't just the prgnancy. The misery is being compounded by the summer heat and humidity and the fact that we're getting ready to move. There's always something to do, and I'd always rather just be lying on the couch. Maybe it will get easier next month when we're settled in the new house. Then again, maybe it won't. At least I won't have to take the metro anymore after we move. I always arrive at the office lightheaded and shaky, needing to sit and drink water for ten minutes before I can think about starting work. The evening commute isn't quite as bad, since the train is emptying rather than filling, but it still sucks.

I realize that this is a lot of complaining. I expect it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm going to get bigger and hungrier and more tired. Hopefully my blood pressure will stabilize and the dizziness will fade.

At this point, I'm just excited to get the kid out of me so I can finally put it down. Even if it's only for an hour at a time. I can't belive I'm only halfway through this thing.