Well, we have made it past the halfway mark. Exciting stuff. I love watching the ultrasound video and imagining holding that little butt in my hands. ;) It’s amazing to think that the thing growing in me is half me and half Johnathan (poor kid). I wonder what it will be like to actually hold our baby. I wonder what it will look like. I wonder what its little personality will be like. I look at Kylie and wonder what Tater will be like at that age. So many questions, but so much time to find out. Gosh, I hate waiting.
Along with the realization that we have made it halfway, comes the realization that we are only halfway. I’m not sleeping. Well, if you count 1-2 hours at a time as sleeping. . . then, you’re wrong. I went home early from work yesterday because my ribs and my back were hurting so badly, and I was just exhausted. I have decided to start looking at the clock every time I wake to determine how much sleep I am actually getting. Tuesday night, I went to bed around 10:00 or 10:30. I remember seeing the clock at 2 am, 4 am and the alarm went off at 6 am. I felt vindicated that I wasn’t exaggerating about the “every two hours”. But that means I got, at most, 4 hours of straight sleep at the beginning of the night. Last night, I stayed home from church. By the time Johnathan and Kylie got home, I had slept for maybe an hour. Johnathan made me a glass of warm milk (that was gross. . . sipping it was excruciating so I started gulping it as Johnathan chanted, “chug, chug, chug”. . . it’s been years since I have been encouraged to drink something really fast). I finally laid down and dozed off around 9:30 or 10:00, but my “loving” family thought it would be cute to call my cell phone from the office to ask me a question. (How thoughtful.) It took me a few minutes to recover from that, but I dozed again. I’m not sure what time I really went to sleep, but I saw the clock at 1-something and then every hour after that. I expected this in the third trimester, but for me, it started in the first trimester. I want to caution you here. I am so tired of hearing, “That’s just God’s way of preparing you for the minimal sleep you will get when the baby is here.” That is such malarkey. First, your body does not “get used to” going on a little sleep. All you “get” is sleep-deprived. Even when the baby gets here, you don’t get used to the two hour feedings. You just do it because your baby needs you. Second, the baby needs you to get your rest. Nourishing and growing a baby takes tons of energy. Your heart works 4 or 5 times harder than usual to keep an adequate supply of blood flowing. (I can send you reference material if you need it.) So here I am, about to start my 6th month. . . .the last month of the second trimester. . . and it just gets worse from here. aaarrrrgggghh By the way, did I mention that sleep deprivation makes you grumpy?