At 36 weeks, I’m discovering why so many people talk about “the last month of pregnancy.” I had been coasting along just fine, minding my own business, enjoying the occasional run/walk, lifting the occasional weight at the gym, when all of a sudden, everything became WAY more challening.
It started with some lower back pain around 35 weeks, just some creakiness in my sacrum and around the sacro-iliac joint. It was enough to slow me down on the treadmill, but I forced the last few planned minutes of running out of my week and figured I’d get back to it the next day. WRONG. This particular malady doesn’t seem to be just fading away. In fact, as time goes on, I’m finding that the pain now radiates into my left side, and not only can I not run anymore, but I walk funny. I have the pregnant waddle.
My hope, of course, and what I must tell myself is that this will correct itself as soon as the baby comes. My great fear, however, is that there is currently permanent damage being done to my sacral region that will never heal. This being my first pregnancy, I’m obviously a little more paranoid than the average person, but do I have any guarantees??
I’m hoping to try to enjoy my last few weeks of pregnancy in a different way. Instead of giving in to the pressure to do everything just right, to squeeze the gym into my limited downtime, I’m indulging in the forced luxury of taking it easy. I’m shocked by how much free time I have when exercising is no longer on the table. It’s bizarre! Where did all my time go before? Why did I think I was so busy? For the next few weeks, I’m enjoying doing a little reading, a little writing, and working on some old photo books I’d been struggling to complete. I’m probably watching a little more TV, and I’m trying really hard not to wish away these weeks. It’s tempting to just want the baby to come RIGHT AWAY because I just want my body to start feeling normal again and to get to the next step now that we’re feeling pretty prepared. But these are the last four weeks of my life before parenthood, and I keep trying to remind myself to cherish them for what they are.
Here’s hoping that my last days pre-parenthood are fun and relaxing, that I remember to enjoy them, and that when they’re over I get my pelvic region back the way it once was…. (yikes).
The Goldfish Diaries 