Dear Peanut,
In an earlier post, I told you about winning the lack of usual pregnancy symptoms/effects. Well, karma is a bitch. Lumabas ngayon lahat starting at 35 weeks.

Lower Back Pain From Hell

The past week had been crazy. I’ve had shoulders and back pain before but the pregnancy-related lower back pain is the epitome of all that things shitty related to back pain.

Sometimes, I couldn’t get up from our bed without asking your father for help. He would laugh first, thinking that I look like an overturned turtle with my big pregnant belly trying to get up but fighting a losing battle. Then he’d help me.

Sometimes, in the morning, I would call him and he would help me get up from the bed by hugging me and pulling me upwards. It’s not sexy.


Phantom Pee in the Middle of the Night

Sometimes, I need to nudge your father awake in the middle of the night so I can get up and pee. You’re pushing my bladder and whenever you move, the sensation is like my bladder would burst.

But when I get to the bathroom, only a fucking trickle. I’m not mad at you. As you may know by now, your father and I like profanity. (P.S. You will only be allowed to curse like this out in the open when you turn 18).


Octoberfest Feet

My feet are like sausages now. And they hurt. In fact, whenever I take a bath, I can’t reach my lower body anymore that I’d ask your father to help me bathe. No, shower sex is officially off the menu (at least for the meantime). It’s not sexy at all.

I can’t reach my feet anymore. So your father needs to bathe my legs and feet for me. You know how, sometimes, when you cook Lucban longganisa and the thin casing would sizzle and burst open? That’s how it feels every time your father would wash my feet. They hurt, even at the slightest touch.

One time, he was squatting at our shower and when he got up, nataaman nya yung faucet. He got a huge gash from that incident and for weeks, he had to wear 3 to 4 Band-Aids (because we didn’t have a big one).

As of writing, he has a huge scar on his lower right back. Not sure if it will fade away in time, but if it’s still there years from now, this blog entry is a testament to your father’s dedication to cleaning my sausage-like feet when I was still carrying you.

Super Itchy !@#@($)@$*@($ Skin

When we were still in Malaysia, I often had a hard time sleeping mostly because of itchy skin. I remember a phase when I would steal whisky from your father’s stash and take 2 shots so I can sleep. For some time, alcohol helped me sleep. I was writing 2 books back then so I needed something to numb me down.

But when we found out about, alcohol was the first to go. The pregnancy-related exhaustion helped me sleep and for that, I was really, really thankful. I would be knocked out as early as 9pm. Miracles do happen. No itchy skin.

That continued when we went back to the Philippines. As soon as we have successfully set up our new home, I was able to enjoy deep sleep and long naps, despite suffering from lower back pain.

But these past few days, the itchy sensation return. I really don’t know where it’s coming from. The doctor said it’s pregnancy-related. And probably stress-related.

My stomach feels itchy. My boobs feel itchy. And it only happens at night when I’m trying to sleep. We’ve tried putting coconut oil, pregnancy-safe creams and lotions, and even talcum powder and sometimes, they help. Sometimes, they don’t.

One time, I was only able to sleep at 4 am and had to play games on my mobile phone to “let it pass.” Honestly, I have started to detest nighttime because I know I would have to go through it before I can get some sleep.

Sitting and walking for long periods of time hurt too. We are currently #38weeks and 3 days now and I can pop anytime. But that’s for another entry.

XOXO,


Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).