The ninth month

"So far it's come on like a Mac Truck.

I'm much more tired. If I don't rest for most of the day I have a terrible night's sleep. And it's only the fifth day of this month.

My feet began to swell a little a few weeks ago (nothing noticeable to the public, but I can feel the difference and my doctors can see a slight difference). Now my hands have joined in the "fun." I do not think it's fun. The joints of my fingers and knuckles ache. My rings are extremely tight, so much so that I'm in the process of trying to pry them off my fingers. I'm down to one ring, my wedding band, but I think I have to give that finger a little break before I pry it off. Despite all the cold water and soap I'm using to shrink and slime it up, I think it was abused too much by my attempts to get my engagement ring off. It took about ten minutes. Seriously. Others may not notice the difference (I have little hands) but I sure do...

There will be lots of other exciting changes coming on this month, too, like contractions -- false or of the actual labor variety. The end is near!"
--Clare, 1/5/06