Easy

Before this pregnancy ends, which will be not long from now, I have to say that it's just been.....easy....and for that I am extremely grateful. Oh, don't get me wrong, there have been some of the usual complaints: the god-forsaken reflux, the fact that sometimes I just can't find a comfortable way to sit so I'm constantly changing position like one of those animatronic dolls at bad amusement parks (put arm behind backrest, slump forward, lean to the side, repeat), and then there's the tightness of my stomach, which feels like you could pop it with a pin sometimes.

Yeah, those things aside, it's been good. I'm of "advanced maternal age" but all of my tests results have been great. My blood pressure is still low for now. My doctor visits are downright fun. I look forward to them. I haven't felt that way in a long time.


In short, (and I know I have four weeks left but...) best pregnancy ever! Maybe if I wasn't so aged-impaired I could have made extra cash as a surrogate. Would I still get maternity leave if I wasn't taking care of a screaming infant all night? That doesn't sound too bad really.

It bears repeating that I'm grateful.

Last week, C's new preschool sent a message out about one of the preschooler's moms, who has rectal cancer. She had surgery and treatment last year while taking care of an infant and a three year old. I read some of her blog, (you should too, btw) which was humbling for two reasons. For one, it's so eloquently written and rich with metaphor, yet completely buck-naked honest and grounded in reality, that it made me a little sheepish about the failings of my own little blog. But what can I say, I gotta own it, even for all that it's not. (And it seems she's a freelance writer, so I can't beat myself up too much.)

The second humbling thing is the unbelievable craziness she goes through and is willing to share. Let me say that it doesn't sound like a fun type of cancer (oh yeah, I suppose there isn't one). It did make me feel though that my experience with chordoma WAS fun in comparison. In part, that's because she genuinely has faced (and continues to face) bigger challenges than I did. But I think it's also because some of my ickier moments, both mentally and physically, have started fading to the back of my consciousness. Life is moving on.

She's in China now for two months, away from her family for all that time for an experimental treatment. Her surgery and treatment here last year didn't cover all the bases.

I sincerely hope that she has the same luxuries I have had; that today's experiences will fade to the background, that life will move on, and that some things will be easy again.