belly boom.

A few months ago my sister and I were talking on the phone and she alerted me to something I should be ready for in pregnancy. She mentioned how I might suddenly have a lot of pain from bla bla bla and that when it happens, I shouldn’t be worried, it’s normal and natural and means that I am just growing and stretching.

So Saturday night, I woke up from a dead sleep, seized with pain just below my growing tummy around my hips. I groaned and tried to find a different position and ended up standing next to our bed with my elbows on the mattress, hunched over and breathing deep.

Rory was very concerned. But because of the gift of having a big sister, I was able to say, “Annika told me about this. I can’t remember what it’s called or why it’s happening but it’s normal. I just hurt.”

Sunday I woke up, sore, but fine. Went to church and then to camp. At camp we stood to sing a song and I felt this same pain, but in a more minor way but still just an unbelievable stretching and pulling that took my breath away. Then later in the day when I got up quick from my chair to get something from the printer it seized my body again.

So I looked it up on thebabycenter.com and figured out that the bla bla bla that Annika had forewarned me about is called Round Ligament Pain. And it basically means my muscles are stretching real fast. It told me that these intense moments happen often after a day of abnormal active activities (my nieces were here on Saturday and we went swimming twice, I swang with them, carried them around a lot and I even got on the seesaw…very abnormal activities!) and happen because your muscles are stretching so fast.

Well holy cats. It is stretching. I had several camp staff come up to me today (Tuesday) and say, “I saw you on Friday and you still didn’t look pregnant. But what just happened? Do you really get that big in just four days?" And I just marvel with them, because it is undeniable. This belly didn’t just pop. It busted itself out into the universe, shouting to all who happen to look my way, "Make no mistake! This woman is preggers!"

I'm mentioning all of this for the sake of any friends reading who don't have a big sister to warn them of such sudden things during pregnancy. And, for the record, that probably was my last seesawing for a while...