I Just Realized I Never Posted This One:

Lightening or “dropping”:

For the past couple of weeks people have been saying that I’ve ‘dropped’. I feel like dropping is one of those things that people like to tell you that you’ve done to make you feel like you could deliver any minute. It’s typically associated with the end of your pregnancy and so the first time I heard it my first thought was “oh please – I’m only X weeks”. Not to mention, just before these comments I had been told by the doctor that I’m still very high up and that I hadn’t really progressed at all. I felt like it was just like any other end-of-pregnancy sign, like nesting. Any time I’d mention cleaning, installing my car seat, etc. I’d hear “the night before I went into labor with my son/daughter I cleaned my house from top to bottom!”. Generally my response was that I’ve been scrubbing my house for the past month so if that’s the case then I should have been in labor for quite some time. It just seemed like everyone was trying to get my hopes up – or at least were trying to get some shriek of excitement out of me like “ohhhh! He’s coming tonight!!”.

In reality, I’m in no huge rush. I mean – don’t get me wrong - I am anxious to see his face, touch his tiny hands, etc – but I’m fully aware that my life will change dramatically in the next couple of weeks so I am enjoying the last bit of time that Ryan and I have together to be spontaneous and carefree and productive. I’m taking the whole experience day by day and not rushing into the future. I know that once he arrives, time will begin to fly by and I’ll look back and wonder where did the last 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. go??

With that being said, I woke up this morning saying what I had been hearing for the past 2-3 weeks: “oh my goodness! I really look like I’ve dropped!”. I guess I could say that I’ve been slowly noticing it over the past couple of days (the doctor even confirmed at my last appointment that he had come down a little), but this morning it really hit me while looking in our full-length mirror. What once in my opinion was a very ‘fit’ looking pregnant belly now looks to me like a droopy old-man stomach. While washing myself in the shower it even felt different – like I was reaching lower or something (all in my head?). It was very strange. I’m now eager to go into my doctor’s appointment next Wednesday to see what they have to say about my progress. I still don’t expect to deliver early and have pretty much told myself that I’ll be most likely be induced, but I’d love to be able to say things are moving a long.