35 Weeks and Counting

I do this all the time. I don't intend to, and I can honestly say that I do begin projects in a timely manner, but the problem is that I tend to overestimate how fast i can get things done and I underestimate the time it just might take. This doesn't help in general, but it seriously poses a problem during pregnancy because the more needs to get done close to the Blessed Event, but the ability to get things done has quickly and dramatically decreased.

Let's take today for instance. It's a Wednesday and my husband has a trip and those are the perfect days for me to get the kids' rooms cleaned up, laundry washed and folded and possibly even put away, errands done and dinner prep done ahead of time... Theoretically, this sounds absolutely and completely do-able. My soul is willing, but I never seem to take into account the state of how my body may or may not react. Why I cannot seem to get it through my head that I am 35 weeks pregnant and that I can't catapult into my day with a massive jolt of caffeine and hit the ground running astounds me every day. I would compare it to what I must imagine those little old 95 year-old ladies who wear the coke bottle glasses and are still driving (at 15 mph, mind you) and teeter about thinking that everything is perfectly normal and that they don't need one bit of help. I am sure they believe themselves to be not a day over 68 and all is right in their world, but the reality of the situation is quite different. Such must be my case. I THINK I can, but CAN I? Every day I am slightly disappointed... and I really shouldn't be.

I made myself a list as I do when my husband goes on trips- an extensive To Do List that makes perfect sense and quite easily (in my mind) accomplishable. However, I propped myself up in bed last night with about five pillows and my trusty body pillow to help ward off discomfort and the acidy heartburn that comes from, well, virtually anything combined with a horizontal position and I decided to get a good night of rest. 10:30- lights out. Sleep did not come until 12:30am and I was up before 1am because I had to pee. I did fall asleep when I returned until about 2:30 which is when the next bathroom visit was necessary. 4:15am was my husband's alarm and again another bathroom break and I was simply lying down at 4:30 or so when my husband needed to actually get up to go to work. Shortly thereafter, I had a bed visitor, my five year old daughter knew Daddy was leaving and likes to join me and an hour later my son also joined us and extremely quickly after that, the urgent inquiries to watch tv began and after the lack of sleep and the kicking baby in my belly, I quickly relented. Needless to say, this is how the snowball begins. A shower was more than necessary and needless to say, breakfast wasn't on the table until past 10:30am. And now, all I wanted to do was to sit down. Had I accomplished anything other than my usual goal of "not stinking" and getting dishes done and children fed? Nope. Did I now feel like dressing the kids, getting the dog settled, and get out the door to go on the errands to the four separate places that I needed to and intended to go, all requiring both the exiting of the car and carts and then once finished at the locations, the loading of the car, seatbelts, etc and then off to the next one? Really? And THIS is when I look at my list as I've just been completely tired out by showering, breakfast and dishes and my already slightly swelling feet and ankles and think, "What on EARTH are you THINKING?!" Maybe there are some Super Pregnant Mommies out there who can do all this without batting an eye lash, but my eye lashes are batting a mile a minute with intermittent eye-rolls inserted as well to those women who are obviously making me look very bad at this point.

My husband keeps telling me to just do what I can and take it easy... He is the most wonderful man ever and I should probably just listen to him. Pregnancy is temporary and it won't be like this forever, but unfortunately that doesn't help me today...