the perks.

Although pregnancy was an adventure and a good one at that, it is awfully glorious to to feel like a normal human again.  I literally feel like a whole new woman!  You don't realize all of the different symptoms that have been slowly and discretely piling up over the whole nine months until all of the sudden, they all disappear. My list of symptoms would include: (1)  Heartburn.  My irresistible love for fresh garden tomatoes loved that. (2)  Constant sweating.  Not like, ew I think I might have tacos (wet underarm marks) but more like  200 pound me running on a treadmill kind of sweating all day long. (3)  An extremely oily face.  Even after taking away moisturizer I was still a hot shiny-faced mess full of blemishes. (4)  Coarse, tangly hair.  I had hay growing out of my scalp.  It's fine. (5)  Forgetfulness.  Pregnancy brain is not a myth my friends.  I literally should have been in preschool, not teaching it. (6)  Mood swings.  A swing is too gentle for this comparison.  We'll compare them to the twister ride at a cheap, smelly carnival.  You're right side up so excited to ride one minute, then the next you're upside down clawing faces off and throwing up.  Yeah, it was like that.  Somehow Dall miraculously survived though.  I'm not quite sure how it was possible, but he's still among the living. We're happy about that. (7)  Swelling.  We'll call this the beloved water weight.  Let's just say I've lost 35 pounds since last Wednesday.  That should help you visualize.  My ankle bones were non existent. (8)  Dry, itchy skin.  Most likely due to major weight gain but still obnoxious all the same. (9)  Stretch marks.  They covered my bum and thighs but not my belly.  Go figure.  While everything was getting larger, you'd think the stretch marks would go to the thing stretching the most but nope, those pesky things wanted to visible in a swimming suit.  Thank you, I appreciate that. (10)  Last but not least, the dreaded fat hospital face.  Check out insta for proof.  It will shock you.
I'm sure there are more but that's definitely the brunt of them. Doesn't it make you want to get pregnant tomorrow?  Don't lie. It's all worth it though.  Once you hold your little one for the first time, the fact that just minutes before you were a fat, sweaty, hormonal wreck couldn't be further from your mind. It's replaced with a kind of love you didn't know existed. I instantly knew I would go to ends of the Earth for this girl.
P.S. No, I have not filled that middle frame yet.  We'll disregard my laziness and blame it on not having the right picture to put in it.  We had Brynn from Sunnydays Photography come take newborns so I'm thinking we'll have the perfect family photo to stick in there!