stretch marks and other third trimester fun.

[why not throw up a non-glamorous shot of pregnancy?!... curlers in the hair... painting my nails outside with the dogs... trying to get some spring-vit D-enriched-sunshine?!...it's me and the spud-belly in our final trimester together...thanks photographer matt]

Yup, I have the marks. I guess it's genetic... so I could use all the creams in the world (ok, I only used 3 of them religiously) and I would still get my destined stretch marks. I found these little squiggly red lines under my belly last week. I don't know why the ones on my hips don't phase me one bit...but on my belly?! Tiny bummer. I think my bikini days were over about 8 years ago....but I still like to do the float the river thing during summertime... and now I have lines that who knows how big they will get this month.

What other fun things can I reflect on this third trimester of pregnancy?!

• close to 50 lb weight gain. Yikes....right?! I'm still shocked by this number, so I don't weight myself at home any longer. Once a week at the OB appointment is plenty.
• swelling in my ankles that makes them feel like logs I voluntarily lug around.
• pregnant butt...thighs...arms...face. Yes a systemic pregnancy. It has engulfed my whole body, there is nothing localized about this.
• waking up every two hours to pee and potentially eat is a norm in our house
• my energy level has drastically plummeted from my 2nd trimester bliss. It feels a bit like the first trimester except sleep is impossible and no nausea.
• my pubic symphysis cartilage (that groin area...wiki says "symphysis pubis dysfunction") feels like it's majorly bruised/ripping apart... I think a nurse at work described it as though you crotched-a-bike. Yup. Check! I got the dysfunction...that will hopefully be uber-functional next month.

I'm not complaining about any of this, pregnancy is just a trip. I wouldn't change any of it for the world... I will actually miss it when it's over. I have loved this process of growing our little human and I hope I this won't be our only time. But for those of you trying to get pregnant or early pregnancy I think its nice to have a realistic idea of what can happen. I know I searched the internet like hell to find the pubis-dysfunction because no one really talks about it. When does "hey...so.. my groin feels like it's severely bruised!" come up in conversation? It doesn't. It's more fun to talk about meandering elbows and rhythmic hiccups in the belly. So here you have it!