26 weeks, 2 days

My pregnancy calendar ("Countdown to My Birth"--from the baby's perspective--much fun!) recently passed the "100 days to go" mark. 100 days still seems like a really long time! Next Monday it will be three calendar months until my due date. Part of me knows that the time will fly by, and the other part, the part stuck in the here and now, can't imagine that three months would feel like forever!

Of course, I'm mainly talking about the anticipation. I can't wait to be a mother!

Time also tends to drag slowly when you're feeling sick, sick, sick. I had one of my worst nights of pregnancy three nights ago, and a worse one still two nights ago. Last night I only had to get up twice, but it was hard to get to sleep in the first place. I'm talking about heartburn-nausea. In my first trimester, it was nausea. No throwing up, but I was nauseous most evenings and mornings. In my second trimester, it was pretty much constant heartburn. Tums were my friend. (Mary, I was way ahead of you--Tums are always on my bedside table.) Now (coming into the third trimester), it's a mixture of the two. I can't tell which, as they just seem to be one lump of pain from my neck down to my uterus. Tums do not help.

On the worst night a few nights ago (I was going to blog about it the next day except I was completely wiped out with exhaustion), I could not lie down. The day started with a highly-anticipated massage. The masseuse was quite good (except for maybe being a bit too chatty--please just let me relax!), and she had a pregnancy pillow made out of foam so that I could lie on my front without my belly pressing against the table. Unfortunately, I was feeling nauseous that morning, so no matter what position I was in for the massage, I couldn't enjoy it. I had to sit up several times, sip some water, burp for about 3 minutes, pray I wouldn't throw up on her pillow or her new carpet ("Please don't throw up on my new carpet," is exactly what she said, which I thought was a bit insensitive. I wouldn't try to throw up on her carpet, but just her saying that made me want to...just a little bit.), then resume my uncomfortable position. Front didn't work, back didn't work. Maybe I would have been OK on my back had there been enough pillows to prop me up. Finally, with five minutes left of my hour, I asked if I could go on my side. Ahhhh...try this if you're getting a pregnancy massage. Of course, there wasn't enough time for me to flip over and have her massage my other side. So I left with much less money in my wallet and not much relaxation. I was very upset because I'd been looking forward to the massage so much. I do believe I cried in the hardware store about 10 minutes later.

Post-massage, I felt horrible all day. The nau-burn (new word?) just wouldn't go away. That night I slept for maybe an hour. I could not lie down at all. I was an emotional wreck through the night because I was absolutely exhausted. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I could not even put my feet up on the couch. I watched some TV until 3am, tried sleeping again, and finally had about an hour at 5:30. Just brutal.

Part of the sick feeling is that all my insides are being pushed north by this baby. I'm still breathing ok, but I have a feeling that my day will indeed come where I can't take in full deep breaths. For now it just feels like I've just eaten a huge pancake breakfast, and I'm so full, I can feel the food up to my throat. This feeling is constant, not just after I've eaten (and I guarantee you it hasn't been pancakes...try one hard-boiled egg and a piece of toast).

OK, Mom friends (and pregnant friends who've gone through this already)...help! Is there any way to alleviate this feeling?