At 32 weeks pregnant in July, this heat is not for the weak. My body is starting to tell me to slow down, and I don’t really know how to do that. But I have to.
The other day, I picked up the girls from daycare and started driving when I noticed a hot smell coming from the car. I checked the fluid levels, immediately turned around, and brought it to NAPA. I’m so glad I did because they told me my engine would have blown if I had tried to drive all the way home.
The thought of being stranded on the side of the road in 95-degree weather with two toddlers in the back seat terrified me. My husband rushed into town to help, and in the middle of all the excitement, I started feeling sick.
I’m a redhead, so growing up I burned in the sun very easily. I still do. But once the temperature gets above 85 degrees, my body starts to feel ill. It’s almost like I’m allergic to the sun. Now that I’m in my third trimester, it’s even worse.
It only took about ten minutes in the heat before I started feeling sick after I got home. I jumped into a cold shower and drank lots of water, but by the end of the night, something still felt off. Braxton Hicks.
At this stage of pregnancy, your emotions run high. Every unfamiliar feeling can be a scary one. Your baby is growing, pushing on every organ, and every little ache makes you wonder, Is this normal?
After about an hour, I started timing the pains and eventually called my doctor around 11 p.m. I hoped they would tell me I could just go to Britton to get checked and avoid driving all the way to Aberdeen. Instead, they said if I needed to be seen, I’d have to come there.
I really didn’t want to load two sleeping girls into the car at midnight for an hour-long drive just to be told everything was normal. So, I waited it out.
Thankfully, by morning everything felt fine.
But I’m starting to realize that everyday things are becoming much harder. Walking hurts. Bending over to pick something up off the floor is basically impossible. By the end of the day, my belly feels heavy and tight, and my body is simply exhausted.
I’m sure this all sounds a little dramatic, but I wanted to write about it because I want people to understand just how hard pregnancy can be on a woman’s body. The smallest bit of patience or sympathy can mean the world to a mom who feels like she’s carrying the weight of everything.
While she’s literally carrying a baby, too.
It’s still too soon for this baby to arrive, and now I’m starting to worry that I won’t be able to keep up with my cleaning jobs much longer.
For now, I’m trying to listen to what my body has been trying to tell me all along:
Slow down.
