Pregnancy Body... a lot changes in 2 weeks

Christmas break is a True Christmas Miracle for teachers.  A gift, arriving at the perfect time, it prevents us from going a little crazy.  Or a lot of crazy.

It also gave me a chance to sleep (or at least lie down) for a few precious extra hours, and wear comfortable clothes.  One of my goals was to avoid real pants for four days.  I won that game.  I only broke out the jeans for ONE DAY!  It was glorious (not the jeans... those have started to hurt).

But going back to work last Wednesday really drove home how much my body has deteriorated ... grown ... advanced in its pregnancy in the last few weeks.  For example,

• Before break, I was working 9.5-10 hour days trying to get ready for emergency sub plans, etc.  I was tired and cranky.  Wednesday and Thursday, I tried pulling those same hours and went home nearly in tears, my body ached so much.  I tweaked my right knee (due to relaxing joints), spent too much time with my weight on my left foot, thus tweaking my left foot.  Standing, walking, and sitting in one position for too long make them throb.  Also still painful: pelvic bone.  When I stand up, I take the first five or six steps bent over like an old lady until the pain subsides.  
• My belly itches all day long.  I think about it constantly.  David started making fun of the noises I make when I scratch.  I have tried four or five so-called "tried and true" lotions/remedies to no avail.
• Crusher is still pretty high, so my BH contractions literally take my breath away, as my uterus presses against my lungs.  That doesn't hurt, it just makes it hard to explain the placement of reflexive pronouns or walk up stairs.  He also still likes pushing my right rib with his wee foot.  
• I pee every 45-90 minutes or so.  Apparently when he drops, it will be more frequent (???).
• My brain is completely gone.  Last night, I set an oven mitt on fire because I turned on the wrong burner.  David caught it before the kitchen went up in flames.  I also can't remember words like drawer (that openy thing in the hallway where the stuff is?) or keys (the things that you put in the  door to make it open?).

On the plus side, my leg hair stopped growing, so I don't have to do complicated shower-yoga to shave.  The most intricate and perplexing position I have to assume is at the doctor.  Peeing in a little cup when you can't see anything down there... it's an adventure.

Also on the plus side, there's a real person in there.  It's still pretty surreal, but I want to meet him.  I want to see his little face and kiss his little feet that hurt my ribs and kick David when he touches my belly.  But this train of thought is making me cry, so, suffice it to say, my body is making it easy for me to start looking forward to labor.