36 Weeks

Matt says it's too lame to just put up pictures without writing anything. I guess I'm a totally lame person and didn't even realize it. Thanks hubby.

In an effort to make myself seem cooler, here I go writing away.

So far in my pregnancy, I have been very lucky not to have suffered any kind of morning sickness or conditions that would confine me to bed-rest. Life is getting less and less comfortable as my abs are stretched to the point of uselessness, and being forced to sleep on one side or the other is getting kind of old. These inconveniences are to be expected when you gain 30 pounds at the front of your body. However, I have had one side effect of pregnancy that I never would have anticipated -- CRAZY dreams!

Every night, without exception, my brain and my body get a major work out from my dreams. They do not make any kind of sense, and they seem more real to me than life sometimes. I actually convince myself during my dreams that there is no possible way I could be dreaming. Then I dream about waking up and realizing it wasn't real... it's a big cycle sort of like in the movies.

I think it's safe to say that everyone I have ever known has appeared in a strange context at some point in the many hours I have slept over the last 8 months. I have dreamed of giving birth to a toddler after only 30 weeks gestation. I have dreamed of giving birth to a machine instead of a baby. I have had dreams in which I'm running as fast as I can and yelling as loud as I can to no avail. Matt has often had to wake me up because I start breathing really hard and can't escape from a nightmare. Sometimes I wake up crying. Often, I have to check to make sure the baby is still inside of me, Matt is still my husband, and we still live in this apartment. Quite honestly, I'm impressed with the wild stories my imagination has come up with.

I really should have been keeping a journal of all this craziness, because I'm sure Freud would have a lot to say about my subconscious. Some pregnancy books say a lot of women have intense dreams during pregnancy because of the anxiety they feel about all the changes they are experiencing and about entering motherhood. In my case, if I am feeling intense anxiety, it is certainly hiding from the concious part of my mind. I'm not sure what is causing this weird dream pattern, but if anyone has ideas or has experienced this themselves, I'm all ears. I could use a couple nights of solid sleep before this baby comes!