nose bleeds, back aches, leg cramps...oh my!

It's getting to the point where I don't recogonize myself anymore.

If you had asked me last week, I would have said, sure my belly is getting BIG, but things are still pretty normal.

Well...that was last week.

I don't know what changed over the past few days, but my body has started to turn on me.

For instance, at about 2:30 last night I got a major nose bleed for no reason whatsoever. One of my most persistent, but also random, pregnancy symptoms has been nasal congestion.

Did you know that was a common pregnancy symptom?

It is. At least according to "What to Expect."

And I've been stuffed up for the past few months.

{Better in the nose than the other place "What to Expect" warned me might get stuffed}

While uncomfortable since I can't take decongestants, this wasn't a big deal.

Until last night when my nose started "running" and I just assumed I had finally caught a lucky break and things were draining on their own. I blew my nose and fell back asleep (I'm pretty tired these days).

Yeah, well, it wasn't your normal nose stuff that was running. How gross is it to wake up with a bloody pillowcase?? I felt like that guy from the Godfather who wakes up with a horsehead in his bed.

{Ok, it wasn't that bad}

But still, yuck.

Plus my back has started aching out of nowhere and I'm extremely sore -- ah-hem -- below the belt. Sorry, TMI.

My doctor clarified this one for me -- apparently the relaxin has set in and my hips are literally loosening out of their joints and widening. That stretches all kinds of ligaments and can lead to some major pains in that general region.

Awesome.

I don't mean to complain too much. Really, things aren't that bad and I've been extremely lucky so far in this pregnancy. I will definitely miss having a growing bean inside me once he's gone.

I just won't miss the lovely friends he brought along for the ride.