Taking for Granted

As my pregnancy progresses, I've come to realize certain things that I always took for granted before and never will again. I will never again take for granted -
1) My shoe size
2) Drinking any kind of alcohol
3) Shaving my legs
4) Pulling up my pants

At almost 8 months pregnant now, my feet have begun to swell. I used to be a size 10 in my shoes, and a perfect 10 at that. My feet, strangley enough were one of the prettiest body parts I had. Even if they were a bit stinky ;D. I had a nice arch, cute little toes, and a slender curve to my feet and my ankles. But all that has changed now. Now, they are puffy little pastries that feel like they want to explode from the inside out. My ankles....are practically non existant. The creepiest thing about my feet now is when they get so swollen that the tops of my feet hurt when I walk. The fluid pools down in my feet and when I step, the tops of my feet jiggle which makes them hurt. The only relief I have found so far is to keep my feet propped us for an extended period of time. Which is not so easy a task when you work 40 hours a week and come from and married in to my two families.

Drinking alcohol.....this one is kind of a no brainer. I never felt like I was a lush or an alcoholic, but I would consider myself a moderate drinker. Though to listen to me talk now, you would think I was one step away from the Betty Ford clinic or a DUI. It's really more that when you take away all possibility and hope of enjoying a beer or a glass of wine after a hard day, you start to realize how much you enjoyed those times. Also when you are like me, and most of your evenings out centered around a few wonderful friends and smoky bar where you could sing your heart out at karaoke; you also begin to realize how much of your social life was centered around alcohol. Even if you didn't over indulge, you still miss happy hour when your pregnant.

Pre pregnancy, shaving my legs, used to be considered a chore. Now it's a luxury. Performing any task below your burgeoning belly is a luxury these days, including getting a pan out of the cupboard to cook dinner in. So since I rarely see my legs or my feet anymore unless I have them propped up on the couch, I often neglact that I have a small forest growing on my legs. I can only take "warm" baths which to me is just silly....why take a bath at all if it's just going to be "warm". And even with a bath you still have to perform yoga like stretching to shave your legs. In shower, perhaps? Not in a stand up shower, and not 7 -8 months pregnant. You might go unconsious from leaning over too long. So how did I manage it? Very carefully...sitting indian style in the shower, and doing one side of the leg at a time.

When you consider your lack of ability to bend over, coupled with your lack of balance due to your shift in gravity with the baby belly; you can start to see why pulling up your own pants would give a pregnant woman trouble. Then combine that with the swollen feet, making your feet bigger then usual, and you might get a visual image of what I look like getting dressed these days. I grab my pants off the hanger with trepidation each morning, take a deep breath, and hope for the best. It usually takes me several attempts to get my foot into the pant leg. I may lose balance and either wind up on the bed (it's very important for me to attempt this near a soft surface) or I could step on my pants in the fast reflex to balance myself on both feet. Then as I pull the pant leg up, there's typically a 30 - 40 % chance that my foot or a toe will get stuck at the very bottom of the pant leg and I can't get it free. So I usually end up on the bed again in those instances. Of course after that leg is done, I have a whole other leg to do this all over again. Between the bending over, the falling down, and the getting stuck....I never realized how adept I was at pulling on pants before my pregnancy. It had never crossed my mind that I was a frickin virtuoso at dressing myself, before I couldn't dress myself anymore.

Now with still 2 months to go until I can hold my child, I wonder what new experiences are in store for me? What other mundane tasks will I no longer be able to perform in a month? Will I ever return to my previous glory in dressing and grooming myself? I can only hope and pray that I will be able to pull my pants up once again with out the necessity of being falling distance from my bed. One thing is for certain though, I will never take these things for granted again.