8 weeks and 5 days to go!

8 weeks and 5 days left...

Pregnancy itself is so surreal.  I dreamed my whole life about how fun it was going to be when I was pregnant.  The growing bump, the cute waddle, the cravings, the maternity clothes and the special attention :)  I definitely have all of those attributes, but they aren't as "fun" as I imagined them to be!  I have a serious love/hate relationship with being pregnant.  I LOVE the end result, but some of the process- eh, not so much.

My pregnancy with Brady was SO easy, with the exception of a little (very expensive) 36 hour stint at St. Johns for what turned out to be a muscle spasm that caused contractions.  I gained 46 pounds, but otherwise, I had no complaints.  I slept beautifully (which I could've done 24 hours a day!), no muscle cramps, no morning sickness, no strange cravings.  Moodiness was present, but not rampant.  Well, maybe you should ask Chad about that one.

This pregnancy however has been a completely different ballgame.  Thankfully, no morning sickness!  Although, I have had the stomach flu of some variety 3 times so far and let me tell you how irritating it is to throw up when you're visibly pregnant.  Taking care of Brady (who is the world's easiest little man to care for!) has been a major factor in how different  this pregnancy is.  He's just learning to walk, so obviously we carry him a lot, and carrying a 29 lb child can be a bit more than tiring for an ever-expanding body.  Some nights when I'm rocking him (on what little lap I have left) I swear the two of them are fighting for space.  Brooklyn from the inside and Brady snuggled up around my belly from the outside.  Kind of endearing, but exhausting at times too.

Perhaps there's a reason my OB told me not to get pregnant for at least a year after Brady was born.  "Your body needs time to heal."  My body felt fine to me. Or maybe that was still residual effects from my C-Section pain meds and riding high on hormones?  Regardless of how/why/when my princess is coming, I'm anxious to meet her.

And the process of growing a girl has been an adventure.  I've been a self-proclaimed b**ch on some days, then there are days when I can cry at the sight of Brady playing with bubbles for the first time (really, I did.)  I get frustrated that I have so much I want to do, but no energy to do it.  So I rely on Chad to do a lot of grunt work that I'd rather do myself and my brain function is completely gone!  I spend most days in a mental fog and it takes A LOT of energy to stay focused and think through things.  Thank God for people around me who aren't drowning in progesterone!

But, despite the muscle cramps, insomnia, crankiness and never ending trips to the bathroom, there will be a new princess in the King home in 8 weeks and 5 days... and we can't wait to meet her!