For example, this morning I woke up to that feeling you get after you've had a really hard day of exercise, where you worked it and the next day you are stiff and sore. In my hips. Know what I did yesterday to warrant this left-over-from-too-much-exercise feeling? I went to bed, and then woke up. A work out! To be fair, the books tell you that at this stage you start to get sore hips, as your cartilage and ligaments soften (that's right, the stuff holding me together goes mushy) to prepare space for baby while he's in and space for when he wants to come out.
I'm pretty sure everyone has heard about my 'alien' movement. Turns out it is probably my gall badder. We are to keep an eye on it in case of whatever. Thankfully, I haven't heard from my alien in nearly a week. I'm glad to see the last of that troublemaker. Ah, but remember what I said about one symptom replacing the other! You don't get off scotch free (what does 'scotch' free even mean?). I traded in my alien for what most possibly is a torn abdominal muscle. Happened last week. I've been trying to take it easy, but even doing the dishes the other night I pulled that spot again and was sitting on the floor for a few minutes to recover. Since this newest thing, I've stopped all my exercises and try to lounge around as much as possible. It hurts just to laugh. It is really frustrating. I didn't realize how much I move throughout a day until this. To add insult to injury (I'm grand with the cliches today), I pulled a groin muscle. These pains are making the left-over ache from night time leg cramps seem like a party. And Santo you'll want to know right now that the hardest part of sleeping is trying to roll over. It's like a joke being played on pregnant women. One day when it's your turn you'll remember this and feel not so alone.
Poor Sean has been a saint through all this. I mean, I can barely walk on some days so he does all the shopping for groceries, carries up and down laundry, gets me drinks, etc. Some vacation for him! But speaking of that - the time he took off, while not a fun relaxing time, was still a productive time. Jason and one of our friends (Rob) both came up on separate days to help out with the renos. Things are really moving along! I'll include some photos but I really have no idea how to put them into this website properly. So far, the new (used, purchased at an incredible savings) patio door has been installed, wood covered up, and made pretty; sunken living room ceiling and walls torn down, new stuff put up, patching completed (awaiting sanding and priming now); bookshelves for the library in this room have been figured out, wood purchased and cut to size (awaiting installation after painting of room is done); old door to the office framed in and drywalled - no more office door; electrical box thingy for the ceiling light installed; paint colours (for that room at least) picked out; baby room carpet and tacks ripped up, most of the (4 and 5 layers) of wallpaper torn down. Whew. What a list! There is still a lot of work to go, but a bulk of it got done and soon we can return to living and eating like proper humans - where you use your kitchen table for food instead of all the computers.
Another bit of luck for us lately - my darling brother has offered us his stroller and car seat. As soon as baby Matthew gains one more pound or turns one (happening so soon!) they can get a forward facing seat, and we can use their car seat. This saves us a minimum of $200, which is the cheapest combo seat/stroller I was able to find yet. The one we liked was $450. I nearly had a coronary in the store. Jason brought up the stroller already and I am so happy! It is easy to fold down, it looks really cute, and it folds up small enough to fit in both of the cars. We were really hoping for an easy fold and good fit, and this stroller is better than any of the ones we looked at in the stores currently. Evenflo model. Gotta love it.
When Rob came up to help over the weekend, he brought along with him two bags of stuff from our old friends Donna and Tony. Turns out I just hit the maternity clothing jackpot! There were some cute baby outfits in there as well, and I'm eager to start hanging up baby clothes now. It's becoming more and more real every day.
Below:
New patio door is installed. You can open and close it with just one hand!
Kitchen table during the reno.
New drywall is up, ready for painting.