25 Weeks

25 weeks down, 13 to go!  

(It's more like 15, but one can dream, right?) 

I used to have this theory that my boy pregnancies are easier then my girl pregnancies.  Not anymore.  That theory is gone out of the window now that I'm more then half way through my second boy pregnancy and it's going just about as bad as (or worse than) Libby's pregnancy before this one.  Now my theory is that each pregnancy is just going to get worse, and I can see that pattern now as I look back through my pregnancy journal at all my other pregnancies.  Keira's pregnancy was difficult, but now that I look back on it I realize it was mostly stressful because it was the first time I was pregnant and having complications, and I really wasn't in much pain... comparatively.

Anyways, I'm 25 weeks (or 6 months, 1 week) now and finding it hard to do much of anything.  I've been feeling random contractions since my first trimester, but two weeks ago they kicked into regular, painful contractions.  Since then my body has pretty much been broken.  I can't do much without having hard contractions and/or pain in my lower back and cramping, which of course leaves me quite tired most days.  I'm having a hard time doing the simplest of tasks without leaving me in pain.  Making dinner, sweeping the floor, doing laundry, bathing the kids, doing dishes... any one of those tasks by themselves confines me to my big comfy recliner for the next hour or so, and combining any of those tasks leaves me in pain for the rest of the day.

So, where does that leave me?  Not even in my third trimester and I'm effectively on bedrest.  My ward is bringing in meals once a week, my visiting teachers are babysitting for me once a week, my mom's babysitting for me once a week and helping me make meals I can freeze, and my husband is picking up a lot more tasks at home then he's used to.  In effect I'm being humbled once again.  Figuring out that I can't do things on my own (simple, simple things that a woman should be able to do) and asking for help is HARD!  It's hard to watch my house go to pot and my weeds take over.  It's hard to ask people to do what you should be able to do yourself.

There's always a silver lining, though.  My kids are learning a bit more about work these days.  Keira cleaned the bathrooms while I supervised, vacuums, unloads the dishwasher, and Garrett and Libby are getting better at cleaning up toys and putting their clothes away and all of them help with laundry and dishes.  My house may not be close to as clean as I'd like it, but my kids are learning some invaluable lessons from this, and so should I.  ;)  And as always Richard is wonderful at encouraging my rest and taking over where I need him to without complaint.  And most of all, baby William is doing just fine, kicking his heart out, and I'm showing no signs of actually going into labor.  Just having pain while effectively in preterm labor.  I dread what's to come, since I haven't even hit the typical hard stage.  *sigh*