Belly Shelf

Today I felt rather bruised-tired when I woke up this morning. My eyes had these big dark circles under them, which has to do with a combination of 4 12-hour shifts in one week, 3 of those in a row ending yesterday, and forgetting to take my prenatal vitamins. (But I took them today, Mom.) I did get a very good nap in this afternoon, though, and currently feel much better.

I had a slight panic attack yesterday when I realized that I am now 36 weeks pregnant (you would think that I would be intelligent enough to realize that 36 weeks comes after 35 weeks), because that means I am one week away from being term, and I just don't feel quite ready!!!! There is stuff I still have to do with the house, there is money I still need to earn (that I will be just fine with if I don't have the baby for another week), and most importantly, there are holidays to be avoided. Seriously, this is sort of a moderate stressor for me right now for some reason. 14 more days. If I can not have this baby for another 14 days, I don't have to go back to work until Jan. 27 or so. Otherwise, it sort of throws everything else off, and I could end up with my first day back being Christmas or New Years. When you think about me, pray that I can make it that far. Life will still be fine if it happens otherwise, but boy, what a bummer. I'm probably going to work myself into going into labor by being so concerned about NOT going into labor. :) Knowing my luck.

Here's another example of my luck: This morning, for the first time, I wore this brand-new long sleeved shirt I got from Gap when I was pregnant last time, when I miscarried. I absolutely LOVE this shirt. It is really soft off-white cotton, with these little pearly beads around the neck. It is very "me". I would put a picture on, except that it is currently in the wash. Yes, indeed, read my lips. "IN THE WASH". Combine wonderful new WHITE shirt, with pregnant, nose-bleeding lady. Oh, yes, you heard me right. Of ALL the things to get on my new shirt, how about a nice spray of blood. Wonderous. Amazingly, though, I think it actually all came out, thanks to Mom and "Esther's Cookbook". And I had had such a good time parading around in my new shirt this morning... :)

That was kind of like my other beloved shirt that I got all sorts of compliments on - it is a really light cotton yellow with flowers and little sequiny things that just pushed all my happy buttons, that I was planning to handwash and lovingly gently lay down to dry...and then dear husband threw my fragile little shirt into the wash with all sorts of growly mean colors and textures...and it just hasn't been the same since. :(

Or my "perfect shade of blue" shirt that I ROUTINELY drop food on every single time I wear it. I never knew I was such a messy eater!!! My belly is this perfect little food-catching shelf. Speaking of belly shelf, check this out:














Last night I plopped down in the office with my new magazine and my little bowl of apples and automatically set my apples on top of my stomach for easy access - before I realized what I did. I thought it was pretty funny. I refer to my stomach as my "kitty shelf", after it served such a nice purpose when I was holding mom's new kitty a few weeks ago. :) Hey, doesn't my stomach look massive in this picture? Now can you understand my whining? :)

My goodness. Carrie has been such a chatterer this evening. At least it's been about such IMPORTANT life issues...I'm sure everyone feels challenged and inspired. I'd better go cook some macaroni and cheese now. From a box. Man, I'm a mom to admire.