Finals Week

Here we are, Tuesday of Finals Week.  With two classes down (that will be three by noon), I have the mother of all finals still before me, scheduled for tomorrow at 10am.  I am not too worried, as I would have to terribly fail the final in order to get the non-passing 74.9 in the class, but I guess stranger things have happened.  I would assume, however, that come tomorrow at noon, this horrible semester will be behind me.  And good riddance.

My new job starts on Monday, and though I'm slowly realizing what I have signed on for (roughly a minimum of 68 committed hours per week spent out of the house, not including time for projects, papers, or studying), I keep reminding myself that this is temporary, people have survived worse, and, really, there isn't another place I would rather be.  I'm excited and terrified and nervous and ready all at the same time. 

My pregnancy is moving along, into the 17th week now.  Here is (kind of) what the baby and I look like:

I feel good most of the time, but when I don't, I really don't.  We've accidentally referred to the baby by name a few times (Adam and I both), so committed to one name in particular, that I hope it doesn't lose it's appeal before October.  (No, we don't know what we're having.  I promise you that.  We both feel strongly in one direction, but that's always subject to change...and we could, of course, be wrong.)  The strangest part of this pregnancy are these sudden "electric shocks" I experience frequently.  While I don't know what the technical term would be, or even if there is one, that's the best way I can describe these sensations.  (I googled it, naturally, and came across the "Lightning Crotch" phenomenon.  While it sounds similar to what's going on, I promise you it has nothing to do with my crotch.) 

Instead, in the upper portion of my abdomen, and especially at night, I experience these electric sensations with the smallest movement (mine, not the baby's).  It feels as if someone touched a live wire to my stomach.  While I wouldn't describe it as painful, it's very uncomfortable and, just last night, made me laugh and cry at the same time, frozen in fear that if I moved, it would happen again.  My best guess is that there is a compressed nerve somewhere causing these jolts and my hope is that, as the baby grows, my uterus will shift, and that compression will be relieved.  In the meantime, I don't mind dealing with it; the surprise of it is worse than the actual sensation.
 
We go back to the doctor on Thursday morning.  I'm hoping to get an ultrasound scheduled in the next few weeks.  I'm ready to see what's going on in there and to make sure that everything is fine.  I feel movement fairly frequently, especially over the last few days.  While that's reassuring, it's always nice to have a visualization of the baby, and the peace of mind that things are progressing as I assume.

My fingers are crossed for luck across the board, from today through Thursday.  It's a big week, I guess!  It's time to close one chapter and move on to the next, and not soon enough.