I have reached the point that I feel like a bit of a spectacle everywhere I go. The belly is the first thing everyone looks at when I walk into a room. And it is OK. I get it, my profile surprises me sometimes when I walk by a mirror too! It is "all good." Ginormous or not, I feel happy and healthy and thankful.
I have been keeping a mental list of the many uses of a baby belly:
Joshua loves to use the baby as a pillow.
I prefer to use her as a convenient rest for all sorts of things - coffee cups, books, my crossed arms.
The baby belly also works wonders when I need help lifting, loading, or opening a door.
It is a pretty handy tool, really.
It is also great entertainment. I LOVE watching it rock and roll as baby stretches and kicks.
And thanks to this baby belly, I tried something today I never really wanted to try. . . acupuncture. I have personally never been interested in acupuncture. Chad has tried it a few times - with some success. I know others that have as well, but I always been more of a skeptic.
Well, my OB suggested I try it. My OB tends to be fairly relaxed, yet thorough. She is also conservative - in my opinion. So when she suggested acupuncture as a method of ensuring this stubborn baby flips, I decided it may be worth a try. It is certainly better than a c-section. . . right?
So - today was my first appointment.
It was weird.
Really weird. (Sorry if you are a big fan. I am not saying it won't work - just that it is weird!)
So he explains all about Chinese medicine and chi (sp?) and all sorts of other things, while I try to focus and not giggle. Then he asks to see my tongue - at which point I did laugh - and take my pulse.
Next he placed needles in each of my pinky toes, the back of my calves, the top of my forearms, and the top of my head. Then I sat in a dark, quiet room for 20 minutes. (That part I liked!)
He returned. Pulled out the needles. And gave me a homework assignment. I am supposed to "smoke my toes" (my words not his) with burning moxa herbs several times a day.
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For real.
Are you laughing yet? Me too!
Told you it is weird.
But I am trying it. After all, what can it hurt?
I go back for more needles Tuesday.
Yep - I have officially lost it!
On a more serious note, Chad has Joshua's new room almost painted. The carpet installers came and measured for the carpet today. That is the good news. The not as good news is that they are predicting it will take 2 weeks before they will have time to install the carpet. I will be honest, this highly hormonal momma was not happy about that timeline. I am ready to get things in their place.
As I thought through why I was so disappointed, I realized that the main reason I was bugged is that I want things done so that I can just sit back and relax for a bit. In my timeline, I wanted rooms complete by Valentine's Day so that I could have a month to just chill.
Really? I want to rush now so that I can chill later? More likely, I will come up with more stuff to do once this stuff is done and never take the time to chill. Right?
So I am (trying to) choosing to chill out now and later. There are a few things I can and will do outside of my "perfect" order. Other things will wait. Some things may wait a long time. . .
But I am trying, really really trying, to chill out, relax, and enjoy each day no matter how many items remain on my to-do list.
Hopefully, this becomes a life-long habit, rather than a pregnancy survival technique.
