i can't believe it's march

March already, and my due date is March 12. It seems surreal, except when I feel excruciating pain like I did last night. You'll have to forgive me if I seem a bit incoherent or disjointed in this post, but I'm exhausted since I didn't get much sleep.

For those of you who might be getting a bit excited at the prospect of "excruciating pain" + pregnancy, no, the pain wasn't due to contractions. It was due to stretching ligaments/muscles/whatever they are at the top of my inner thighs, something that I've been assured by two doctors and a physical therapist is "normal." Of course, no one had any suggestions for relief and two of the medical professionals were male, which means they've never experienced this type of pain before. These ligaments/muscles have been tight and sore for months (and I'm assured it's due to my body preparing to kick the kid out), but last night was unbelievable. Any attempt to lie down resulted in "ahhh--I can barely move" moments and when I did lie down, the pressure put on those ligaments/muscles by the other leg and pillow between my legs resting on top of it was unbearable. I finally gave up and went to the recliner around 11:30, sleeping much better, if still a bit fitfully.

One moment during the night that I hated (besides the pain): It must have been a dream, but didn't seem like it. I heard the screen door from the garage open (this must have been the dream part) and someone come into the house. But the sound woke me up and was not connected in any way to another dream, so I thought it was a real sound waking me up. Since it was 2:00 am and I knew Al was in the bedroom, it startled and scared me. I tried to say his name to double check that it was him (and for some reason he had gone into and come back out of the garage in the middle of the night), but my body was still in that paralyzed sleep stage and I couldn't speak or move. I hate, hate, hate that sensation and that scared me even more. I sat there in the recliner until I was able to speak and move, and by that time I was too scared to say anything. I was imagining someone going into the bedroom expecting two victims and finding only Al and hurting him. I had to convince myself that the sound must have been part of a dream that woke me up, that no one else was in the house, and that Al and I would be just fine. I prayed that God would take the fear away. It also helped that Serena was still sitting in my lap and purring loudly (and not running away scared, as she usually does when other people are in the house). Eventually I fell back to sleep.

Like I said, though, the lack of sleep pretty much exhausted me for the day. I still laid down yet another coat of stain on the changing table, and--get this--finally put the clothes and blankets away in the perfect dresser we got last night from Babies R Us for the nursery. Yes! It came in! (No pics of the nursery until the changing table is done, though.) But it wasn't quite as fun as I had been expecting, mostly because I was ready to fall over instead of being on my feet. I spent most of the rest of the day at my dad's with my siblings, niece and nephew (the kids pictured here), and aunt and uncle. And now I'm going to try to sleep in the bed. After last night, I'm finally ready--whether the house is completely done/clean or not--to get this kid out of me and be done with being pregnant. But just because I am doesn't mean the kid is, so we'll see how much more I get done and how much longer we have to wait before it happens. Anyday now, kid--really!