Judging by a couple of email I received yesterday in response to this post, I’m gathering that reading negative thoughts about New York City isn’t an easy pill to swallow for some New Yorkers. And to the folks who cried, “Well, then get out!” We’re trying. We don’t necessarily want to, we’d like to stay here, raise a family (safely), get our kids the education they deserve, and embrace everything this city has to offer. But it’s not that easy. I imagine that we’ll move to New Jersey or Upstate New York so we can have the best of both worlds. My post was written out of frustration. I’m certainly entitled to feel frustrated by this city. Goodness knows, frustration is a catalyst for change and you’re lying to yourself if you don’t think that this city could use a little change. Anyway… I’m done with that for now.
Tomorrow I have my weekly check up and I’m absolutely certain that little Ndugu has dropped. I’m certain of this because I can no longer sit with my legs together. My belly is literally in my lap, so much so, it’s pushing my legs apart. I am very uncomfortable.
I’ve been sleeping propped up on pillows. Not because of terrible heartburn as one might assume. I sleep that way because when I lay on my left side (which is the side you’re supposed to sleep on in order to get as much blood to the placenta as possible and to alleviate Braxton Hicks contractions) the upper left hand side of my belly becomes numb and starts to burn. It feels as though someone is holding ice to it. Sound weird? Yeah, well, I’m 9 months pregnant, nothing related to my body will ever seem weird to me ever again. If I lie on my right side, I wake up an hour later with hip pain. I can’t lie on my back because the baby is too big now and we both suffer. Plus, I have trouble breathing if I lie on my back and he moves around in a most peculiar way; it’s his way of letting me know that he is NOT comfortable and I need to move. And I find that funny, because when I first got pregnant and started reading up on the dos and don’ts of pregnancy, I read that it’s best to not stay on one’s back for too long. I remember thinking, “How the hell am I going to make sure that doesn’t happen? What am I supposed to do if I end up on my back while I’m sleeping?” The book stated that the body has a way of letting a woman know. And boy was that ever true. It’s become physically impossible for me to do so. It’s far too uncomfortable. (If you do find yourself knocked up, buy yourself one of these immediately. The Snoogle was, by far, the most important item we purchased.)
I have to be honest, I have had trouble addressing this site recently – stuck between wanting to write out the whole gruesome truth and writing nothing at all. But then I think about everything I didn’t know about going into this and I figure, why not just put it out there? But I’m going to try and avoid too many gory details even though these things are absolutely natural and normal and I wasn’t ever really that good at keeping my mouth shut. So if you’re not one for gross talk, you might want to avoid this site from here on out. You’ve all been warned: I’m a gross, disgusting woman who willingly writes about poop, vaginal issues, eating placentas, and breast milk.
My due date is right around the corner. One of the many signs that labor is on its way is flu-like symptoms. (Translation: “women get the shits.”) They say that this is nature’s laxative – a way of cleaning the body out for what’s to come. (In the past, doctors used to give women enemas in order to clean out the intestines before giving birth. Some women still do this at home when they first go into labor. I find that a little crazy. What’s wrong with a little poop?) I was told that women who are susceptible to getting sick before they get their periods would most likely suffer from the flu-like side effect before they go into labor. If I remember correctly, this is caused by the hormone oxytocin. Without going into too much detail about my menstrual history, let’s just say that now that I’m deep within “Labor Month”, things are totally out of whack with regards to my system. I’ve reached a new level of discomfort. I’m a host at this point, on hold.
The good news is Nico is coming into the city tomorrow for a visit. And I haven’t had a social outing in a few weeks. I think the last time I went out was with Dave and Brad and we had dinner in the city. I’m looking forward to some girl talk. I’m looking forward to taking my mind off things for a while. I’m looking forward to gabbing. I’ll try and keep it clean, however. And I’ll try not to go into labor because Nico said she’d freak out.
Mihow 
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