So, the bellybutton is officially out. It had stopped at halfway out for a while, I think it had something to do with the hole from my old piercing, but now the bottom has caught up with the top and I’m the proud owner of an outie. I’ve named him Bob. And again, I’ve received some interesting comments on this latest pregnancy development, aka Bob. While some have said, “Oh, your bellybutton is so cute!” yesterday I was at work and a COMPLETE STRANGER (who was not a patient, thank goodness) helpfully shouted across the nurses’ station, “Your belly button is sticking out!” Thank you, Captain Obvious. And what would you like me to do with that comment? It definitely was not a compliment, possibly it was an insult, but you wouldn’t insult a pregnant woman, would you? All I could think of to say was, “Don’t I know it!” Because I look at that damn belly every day. And believe you me, I know it.
Also, I’m getting puffy. I really didn’t think I would get puffy until 38 weeks. In fact, that’s what I’ve been telling everyone when they say I’m carrying the baby well, I say, “Wait til 38 weeks. I’m sure I’ll explode then.” But that explosion has come about a week and two days early, by my calculations. My rings don’t fit, and when I woke up this morning, my face was puffy. I tried all manner of facial exercises to get it to look different, but there’s definitely some puff there. I’m hoping that maybe if I take a shower and apply the appropriate makeup I’ll be able to camouflage the puffiness for a little while longer. Wait a minute, showering? Who am I kidding? These days I’m lucky if I can change out of my pajamas. New plan: I just won’t leave the house until it’s time to deliver this kid.
In non-pregnancy news, guess what? I’ve moved from the night shift to the day shift at work! This is something I’ve been hoping would happen for a long time. With the baby coming, and my obsessiveness over his sleeping schedule (I’ve been so occupied with my pregnancy woes I haven’t posted much about my baby woes, but sleep is one of my bigger concerns), I was worried we wouldn’t be able to establish a reasonable sleeping/waking pattern for Baby Smitty if I was working the night shift. Like, how could I expect him to sleep through the night when I myself don’t even do that? Plus there were daycare worries, and more helpful people saying, “If you work nights and Chris works days, you won’t need a babysitter!” Yeah, except WHEN WOULD I SLEEP?
So really, this change couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve been on days for a week and a half now and it’s been great. It’s wonderful to wake up IN THE MORNING, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and go to bed. AT NIGHT. Like normal people do. There are so many amazing benefits to working days too. Like, I can drink coffee in the morning. You don’t know how hard it was to smell the coffee the doctors would bring in in the morning and know I couldn’t have any because I had to go home and go to sleep. I can take this stuff down from our bedroom windows. I can eat in the cafeteria at work—it’s open during my entire shift! I can also watch normal TV on my break—no more infomercials for me. And I can go out at night! I get home from work around 8 and that leaves plenty of time for extracurriculars. The list, really, is endless. I can’t believe I worked night shift for so long, put up with the schedule and the lifestyle for so many months. I’m glad I did it, I am, but I’m so much more thankful for this change! It’s like, in a way, I have my life back. And when I have to give up the sleep and the normal schedule for Baby Smitty in a few weeks, it still will have been worth it.