Oh please, make it STOP!

Hello folks! I've been up another wonderful night contracting. Long, painful contractions 5-6 minutes apart from 10pm to 4:30am this morning. And then, as the sun came up, my contractions petered out and I managed to grab a 'nap' before it was time to get up and start my day.

I'm going slowly insane.

Would you like the laundry list? Ok......

My feet. They are elephant feet. Don't believe me? This is something Hobbits would find sexy...
They hurt. They make it hard to walk. Cori says she's surprised they waited this long to get swollen. I'm thanking God it did.

My hands. Also swollen. And numb.

I have to get up to pee 5-6 times a night. That's if I get the luck to actually be sleeping and not dozing between contractions.

Getting up, from any prone position, looks something like I'm wrestling an alligator and isn't terribly effective. It requires a plan and precise execution.

Walking. Oh, now this one is just fun. Especially at night, I have to heave myself up from wherever I am (remember, alligator take-down) and then my hips usually refuse to behave. I have to stand for a moment, talk nicely to them, and then lurch forward one step. Then another. Usually by number three I'm actually able to shuffle somewhat and stop looking like I've got rusty joints. Lately I've also had to hold my stomach because there are two very nice sized newborns in there and they wiggle around a lot. They are strong enough that if not stabilized their motion can throw off my attempts to move from point a to point b and I get completely derailed.

Standing. No more than 10 minutes at a time in any given spot or the swelling in my feet and legs is 10 times worse.

Acid reflux. Sort of a given these days. Elevating my feet to get the swelling to go down inevitably starts up the gurgling of stomach contents.

Hormones. Boy-watch out. If you live with me, take cover. If I'm less than pleasant to you or don't return your phone calls or ignore your emails please give me a pass. Everything either makes me scream or makes me cry. There is very little in-between.

Nesting. It's a sick and cruel joke that I force myself to clean in this condition, but clean I must. Baking is now starting to look awful tempting.

I've gotten a LONG way into this pregnancy without back pain, but it's arrived just in time for the last few minutes of the party and settled right down into my lower lumbar. I wish for an intense back rub every night and fall asleep with the thought (and pain) pounding in my body.

Driving! Whoa boy, I saved the best for last. Getting 4 children dressed, shoed, and decent, rounding them into the van, hauling my SPD pelvis into the drivers seat, and then actually getting a seat belt on are just warm up. The real joy is trying to drive with legs that won't actually come within shouting distance of one another anymore. Oh, and feet that are so swollen I'm busting out of my shoes don't make the best appendages to put pressure on the pedals with!

Oh and, I've got well over 2 weeks left. 18 days might not sound like much in your world. In mine, where seconds last an eternity and there is not a fun thing in sight I'm capable of doing to take my mind off the never ending moments--it's forever.