Braxton Hicks and Other Fun Pregnancy Happenings

Being pregnant has been so easy for me. I have missed out on some of the "joys" of pregnancy. I have had zero morning sickness, very little achiness (nothing that a little Tylenol couldn't fix), no strange cravings (except for that gas station burrito), zero constipation (I know, TMI), etc. etc. All in all, I have been very lucky, or as mom says, blessed. Lately; however, I have begun to experience the other "joys" of pregnancy.

The first "joy" occured the other night. My big bouncing baby boy Parker, decided to take flips and leaps inside the uterus. I was working on my tetris game on the internet, our laptop was teetering haplessly on my tummy. All of a sudden it got knocked to the right, and then to the left. I'm not kidding, Parker kicked hard. Plus, on top of his kicking, I had tons of gas bubbles that he decided to box or play kickball with. Basically, whenever Parker decided to kick, or punch, he would aim for a gas bubble causing a sharp shooting pain to run through my tummy. I had to stop what I was doing, pause my tetris game and hold my breath. Geoff thought for sure that I was dying. "Babe, you're scaring me. Should he be moving that much? Is that healthy? Are you gonna be ok? Is Parker hurting you?" Geoff asked, anxiously. I reassured him that this activity is both normal and healthy, but it hurts because of my gas. Geoff then sits back and watches the action. A couple seconds pass, and before you know it, Parker's at it again. Punching, kicking, rolling, flipping. This time, he stops and appears to pose. That's right, he posed. He kicked and held his little foot out and pressed it against my uterus as hard as he could causing my tummy to go lopsided. I pressed where his foot was pressing. It was the hardest little mass that I have ever felt. Geoff pressed too and told Parker to "stop it, stop hurting mommy". I laughed, and then held my breath and whinced in pain until he moved. Then, all of a sudden he flipped and held, what we think may have been his little butt, tight up against my uterus. So again, Geoff and I put our hands on the little bump and felt yet another hard mass. This went on from roughly 7 in the evening until I went to bed at 11.

Today brought another "joy" of pregnancy that I had yet to experience, all though, this one is not quite so fun. Braxton Hicks. I thought I had experienced these before, but I guess I really hadn't. A few days ago, when I thought I had experienced them, I was driving to pick up Geoff when I started getting cramps. The cramps began in my lower abdomen and that's where they stayed. They lasted for just a few minutes, but they were not fun at all. What I experienced today was nothing like that. Today, as I was sitting in our break room, eating my lunch and reading Steven Ambrose's Victors (Yes dad, I believe that's your book) my tummy hardened. I felt like it was going to harden forever. It hardened so much that it felt like it was just solid! I freaked out. I thought it was going to crack or burst open, one of the two. All I could do was just stare at it. After lunch, I went upstairs and told my co-workers what happened. They gave me the funniest reaction. They were both so excited for me. My co-worker Tina shrieked with joy and exclaimed that that just means that I'm getting close. (CLOSE! I'm only 33 weeks!!!! I have 7 weeks!!!! I NEED those 7 weeks!!!!) Anyway, I laughed it off and went to my desk. About an hour later my tummy did it again, and then again, and then it stopped. Praise the Lord it's just Braxton Hicks, awful, awful Braxton Hicks.

So that's it. I made it 8 months with not much excitement. I made it 8 months with nothing to freak out about, nothing to complain about, not much to worry about. Now, I have the joys of an overactive baby and Braxton Hicks. Praise the Lord for the joys of pregnancy.