You want me to pee in that?!?!?!

Haha, so I know the title of this blog probably leaves many questions in your mind. Let me clarify, it is not as bad as it sounds. Also, I know that I was going to write about things that I think you should know, and quite honestly, I feel like this could be important!

Today I went in for my regular check up. Usually, the routine goes something like this; I get weighed (I hate this part), go in the check up room, get my blood pressure checked and hand her my pee cup. Well today I forgot to pee in a cup before I went and she had to give me one when I got there. Imagine my surprise when she handed me a cup the size of a film roll!!! Ok, I know a lot of you out there are thinking that this should not be an issue; seriously, how hard can it be to pee in the little cup? Well, let me just remind you of one thing...belly the size of a basketball! Now, imagine trying to see and "catch" with the belly in your way. Not an easy task. What made it even worse was that I was at the doctor's office and not at home so I had to try so hard to do what I needed to do without making a mess...also not an easy task. Thank goodness for my bella band I was wearing with my skirt--I used it to hold the skirt upright so that I could have all hands on deck for the task at hand. I am so glad they don't have cameras in the bathrooms!

Here is my point (I know, even I can't believe there is a point to this story). When I was back in the exam room, I told the nurse how crazy the tiny little cups were for pregnant women. She then proceeded to tell me that most women use the plastic drinking cups sitting next to the toilet to pee in first and then pour in the little cups, ingenious! I felt kind of like an idiot, but I guess I will know for next time!

To run or not to run....

So, picture this...you're at the gym on a treadmill and you look beside you and see a very pregnant woman running next to you. Now, this alone would not make you laugh, but now picture that same pregnant woman with a shirt on that is slowly creeping up on her belly and she is using one hand to constantly pull her shirt down and the other to hold on to the side of the treadmill. Now you know why I get funny looks at the gym. This is my daily routine, which is kind of embarrassing. However, I really just don't care. I have convinced myself that running is what is helping to keep my ankles from swelling (watch, I say that and now they will start swelling tomorrow:) and what keeps me in shape.

Lately, a lot of people around me have started saying that I should start walking. I am so afraid to stop running. I am terrified that once I stop, I won't be able to start again after the baby is born. I know that sounds stupid, but if you are a runner, you will understand the obsessive compulsiveness I am talking about. I will be seven months next week, and until yesterday, I was convinced that if I just gradually slow down and run shorter distances, I can make it to nine months.

Well last night I received an e-mail from whattoexpect.com and it had an article talking about how you can tell if you are overdoing it. It said that you should feel the baby move twice within 30 minutes after working out. I did not feel it move until an hour after I had worked out and now I am worried sick. I am not sure what I should do and I don't want to make a mistake before the baby is even born!! So, for the next day or so I am on the hunt for any type of reading materials that have other factors for determining whether or not I am overdoing it.

"mommy" glow...

...not for me. Dang it. I have had many requests from friends to take pictures of my growing belly (and believe me, it is growing every day), but I'm a little hesitant because what people might see is a giant strawberry. My whole life I've had eczema, and no, as my friend Mel once asked, it is not contagious, ha! However, it does have a habit of making my eyelids look swollen and dry and scaley. This doesn't happen all of the time, but it is often enough that I often go to work with no makeup to let it heal. Lately, it has been a different story. My entire face is constantly swollen, dry and pealing. It has gotten so bad that people have constantly been asking how I feel. When I respond, "fine," they always go, "oh," like really, are you sure? So I have learned to follow up with some response about my allergies driving me crazy, that usually seems to satisfy them.

This week, it finally got to me, I'd had enough and realized that this is not normal so I went to the doctor. She couldn't believe that I had waited so long to come in; she said it was terrible and that usually with cases this severe they use steriods, but that was out of the question because of the bug. She also told me that some people get lucky and babies make their skin beautiful, others, like me, get the raw end of the deal where the baby makes everything 10 times worse than it was. So now I have four different ointments on my face and hopefully it will start to look normal; maybe I will even get that "mommy" glow!