chlorine drenched relief

Yesterday as I moaned about how icky I felt, Clark suggested I go for a swim. I haven't swum since the weather got cold, but since it's warming up, I allowed myself to entertain his idea. He was quite persuasive.

"With that thing," he said, looking pointedly at my belly, "I'm sure you'll, uh, float."

Hmm...floating did sound appealing, and I really liked the idea of being weightless. So today, when Abe finally prodded me out of bed (at 1pm), I decided to go for a swim.

As I walked down to the pool, I felt sorry for the doorman who has to watch the condo pool on camera. What would he think when he saw a pregnant woman of elephantine proportions floating blithely in the pool? Would my stretch marks show up on camera?

But I cast those thoughts aside as soon as I stepped in the water. Words can not describe how utterly blissful that pool felt. Here are a couple reasons why it felt so good:

1. The water made me feel light as a feather! Weighing in at 200 + lbs, that is a special feeling I don't get often.

2. My thighs are constantly rubbing together in a very unpleasant way. In the water, I could spread out all of my limbs and let them enjoy the silky feeling of water. I closed my eyes and pretended I was skinny, and no physical sensations contradicted my pleasant delusions.

3. I could lie on my back!! That is my most favorite sleeping position, and these days I can't sleep like that without experiencing exquisite pain upon waking up. In the pool, I could lie on my back and bob like a cork. Wherever my belly bobbed, the rest of me followed. It was so fun.

4. When I did decide to be active and do some laps, I felt great. No worrying about whether I was hurting my low-hanging baby, no sweat where my new folds of fat rub together, no stretching myself into uncomfortable positions just because the yoga lady on the DVD appears to find these stretches pleasurable...in short, I could have stayed in the pool all day.

But all good things must come to an end. When it was time for me to get out, Abe took a couple pictures at my request. I wanted to remember how great it felt to be in the water, and I also wanted to share the pictures with you! If you are or have been pregnant and are experiencing/have experienced a body image crisis like mine, this picture will comfort you. I have more abjectly humiliating ones I am happy to send out upon request. For any non-pregnant readers, feel free to avert your eyes. =)

I am doing slow snow angel like moves and grinning. At that moment, life felt beautiful!