No one, not even the rain, has such small hands, right?

Too bad Michael Caine's smarmy character in "Hannah and Her Sisters" has sort of ruined that beautiful e.e. cummings line for me.

I love the rain.

I know it's flooding all over the world -- but of course there's no such thing as global warming -- and no less here in Texas, but it's kept the killing heat at bay during most of my pregnancy, and for that I am grateful.

(It's all about me, as usual.)

I encourage all of you to move to higher ground in the next couple of years.

I am experiencing some classic pregnancy symptoms now. Once again, I am shocked and thrilled to be in the third trimester.

Please, feel free to analyze my baby registries and let me know where I am lacking. Or what you think is a waste of money.

I was so paralyzed with fear for most of the first and into the second trimester; I had spotting and cramping and had to go on bedrest several times, and I was afraid I was going to lose the baby. But I didn't. And the pubic symphysis pain as my pelvis opened was almost unbearable at times. I only puked once, but was seasick all day and night until about week 20. I've had insomnia (and exhaustion) pretty much the whole time.

All in all, it has not been too bad!

NOW I'm waking up ravenous -- and yes, I can still eat without gasping for breath -- and seem to be able to eat almost an entire meal without exploding. Although...I did have to choke down the eggs I ate today, whereas yesterday they were absolutely delicious. There's just something so wrong about a pregnant human lady eating a chicken lady's eggs, I think. I am starting to think dairy products in general are not my friend right now.

My gums have been in pretty good shape, no bleeding, at least not until this morning. Pink Sink.

I'm getting the dreaded and mostly feared nasal congestion at times. My ankles and wrists are quite swollen. I'm swelling, what can I say? I took off my wedding rings; I don't want to have to saw them off later. I am still quite short of breath. I have to pant with my mouth open during my yoga practice. And I'm sweating, a glistening Christmas ornament.

My bowel movements are still spectacular. I know; that may change at any minute too. But yes, I do eat a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. I take prenatals, fish oil (not vegetarian), chinese herbs, emergen-c, and I drink iced red raspberry tea every day. Lots of it. And I've allowed myself cups of green and black tea here and there.

I think starting out healthy before getting pregnant may be a leading indicator of how a pregnancy might go. So even though I'm not doing my daily, hour-long asana practice that I used to do, after 20 years of practice -- and nearly daily, sustained practice for over half that time -- I still feel strong, and I know that all those years of work and love will see me through this.

I'm deep in the middle of finishing up my Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training homework, due August 1st. So I'm revisiting pregnancy physiology and anatomy today, and birth and labor and postnatal bodies. I never go to prenatal classes, and I should. I need to be around pregnant ladies.

I kind of like the idea of sleeping more if I can now, in these next couple of months. Cuz after Hercules arrives, sleep will become a distant and longed-for memory.

I'm So Tired

I don't know if it's from all the housebuying frenzy, the reading last week, or having an all-day yoga teacher training day yesterday or WHUT, but man. I'm exhausted!

It's my third trimester now, and I think I read somewhere it's quite common to be very tired at this time. Well. I AM.

And I woke up this morning RAVENOUS. That has happened a lot less than I thought it would.

Come to think of it, I'm ravenous RIGHT NOW. I've been eating strawberries and figs.

Lord I'm tired.

Yet I actually feel better now than I've felt the entire pregnancy. My pubic bone pain is basically gone, my heartburn is still manageable, I can still move around a lot, and even my hip pain is a little better. I can really feel the baby rolling around in there. When I look down at my belly, I can see where I think his little butt must be; it sticks out!

My aunt is hosting a shower/mother blessing for me in H-town this coming weekend. I'm excited to have many family members present, and some of my H-town friends. My Austin pals are also throwing me a shower/blessing here in August, which is also very exciting. My friend Jennifer has offered to do a belly cast with me. I can't wait!

I didn't really get to celebrate my birthday this year, and I meant to, so maybe having two blessings will make up for it and I'll get to bond with my friends.

I am a big believer in parties and celebrations and rituals that mark birthdays, anniversaries, special times of year or rites of passage.

I will warn everyone now, though.

I'm not big on Thank You notes.

I wish I were, I always have the best intentions to be, and then I just completely get swept away and never get to the sweet formalities.

Does that make me a bad person?

I rarely receive Thank You notes, if that means anything.

We met the inspector at the new house today. It was built in the 50s and has a lot of updating that needs to be done, but seems basically stable. We'll have to call in some repair-types to give us the story, but the husband didn't seem too anxious about it, so that is good.

I really think the owner kept it in pretty good shape all these years.

We'll find out!

It makes me nervous still not knowing where Hercules will be after he's born.


I'm planning on a 1950s "cowboy" theme for his room.

Like something from the Gene Autry museum in Glendale, California. I love that place.

Do I Look Fat in This?

Let the Third Trimester begin!

Remind me to tell you all about my boobs and how much I LOVE THEM!!!!

Monday Dreamin'

Yesterday blew me out.

I co-taught a class, "Teaching to Beginners," with Genevieve, a sweet soul and intriguing Sanskrit scholar. It was really, really challenging. The students were pretty unruly, acting out in some crazy adolescent manner.

I'm still processing it.

So today I took it easy, having lunch with Donna, who is going to Italy in just a few days, and mellowing out at home. The rain keeps coming.

There was a woman in teacher training this weekend who claimed to have a stomach flu; I don't know if I caught it or what, but my throat is INCREDIBLY sore.

Oh wait, throat.

She said "stomach."

I'm feeling achey all over.

Lord, please don't let me get sick!

Om Namah Shivayah.

I just got a writing assignment a few minutes ago, so I will probably tend to that either tonight or first thing tomorrow.

After the unruly class, I came home and read Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs in one sitting.

And that sitting lasted about 15 minutes.

It's a light read.

Nothing new there.

She's kind of funny, I guess.

To be honest I was a little disappointed. I think she's cute and I expected more.

It's an interesting study in what happens when a sort of shallow celebrity type goes through pregnancy. There are all the usual jokes about cellulite, sex drive, weight gain, maternity clothes. Yawn. Her chapter on industrial strength deathscented farting was amusing, I will admit.

Her problems with constipation were the most compelling part of the book for me. She actually went two weeks without dropping the kids off at the pool and had to have fecal material surgically removed.

I will never complain about missing a day again. And that's in my NORMAL, unpregnant life.

As I've mentioned earlier in this blog, my pregnancy poops have been FANTASTIC. I am eating well and drinking lots and lots of fluids. Maybe that's it. And no caffeine.

On a positive note, Belly Laughs does help to clear out some of the negativity you get in all those other pregnancy books. I do want to know what can go wrong, and what symptoms to look for, but instead of reading only about THAT when I turn to "what happens during Week 25" in my preggers books, I'd like to see more of all the miraculous changes that are happening in both my body and in my baby's body.

Andrew and I were reading "What to Expect" and "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" last night and started laughing at what a BUMMER they are. It's like having Debbie Downer come with you to the obgyn's office and freak you out as you wait.

I guess I must be in the positive phase.

Yippee!