Exhausted

We are at 32 weeks! The last week or two I've really been feeling spent at the end of the day. I find my self huffing and puffing after climbing a flight of stairs, can't stand for long periods and more often than not I need assistance when getting up from a seated position.

I've been trying to stay active - mostly through yoga and walking, but even that has started to get harder and harder. Talula and I have a regular route that we walk through the park - past the Aviary, Children's Museum, over to Cedar, up to AGH then back along North Ave. The loop is about 2 miles and we can usually knock it out in 40 minutes with appropriate puppy sniffing and bathroom breaks. Lately, though, we've been cutting the loop in half and still taking the same amount of time - and getting home so out of breath you'd think I waddled a marathon.

I'm also having a lot more trouble getting comfortable at night and finding myself not easily getting back to sleep after waking up to go to the bathroom (over and over). I'm also getting to experience the joy of swollen feet and ankles (just in time for sandal weather!).

Still, I'd say I'm holding up pretty well. The comforting thing is that I'm having a textbook pregnancy. I was sick when I should have been sick, I felt great when I should have felt great, and I'm exhausted now in the home stretch. I'm still not at the "get this baby out of me!" phase, but I'm really beginning to understand and appreciate the way pregnancy is designed. At the end of the second trimester I was feeling really sad and wistful that it would be coming to an end soon - but now I really feel myself physically getting ready for the next phase, which has helped me get there mentally and emotionally.

I'm still loving feeling our little monkey inside me and dreaming about how our lives will be post-May. The onset of gorgeous weather has also been really nice - even if my walks have been abbreviated. It's been so nice to open the windows and feel like the whole world is beginning all over again.