Coccoon or Pregnant Sleeping

These days, sleeping has become quite the affair. I've reached the point where, even though it's still difficult to see that I'm pregnant, everything has become that much more difficult. When lying in bed, I can feel the weight of my stomach. It pulls forward on my back when I lay on my side; it presses down on my spine when I lay on my back. Since I'm not supposed to lay on my back, I try to lay on my side. Unfortunately, this further squishes my already compressed lungs and I find it hard to breath.

So, when I go to bed at night, I build myself a little cocoon. Or rather, since I can't really move very well by that point in the day, Hubby usually builds it for me. There's a body pillow that lies against my back. It pushes me forward ever so slightly and keeps me from rolling onto my back throughout most of the night. There's a pillow that goes between my knees. I don't know why this helps, but my back and hips feel better throughout the day when I use it. Usually, it's the body pillow bent to an angle and shoved between my knees. In front, I hold a dog. It's a stuffed puppy that is just the right size for hugging. This keeps my ribcage open enough that I can actually breath while lying on my side. One of his little legs gets stuffed under my belly to help support it throughout the night.

When I'm all tucked in, covers over me, pillows surrounding me, and Hubby has turned off the light and wriggled into the remaining space in the bed, our cat jumps up and snuggles, purring at the top of her lungs, right on the body pillow. Occasionally we have some disagreement over where exactly she should sleep, and I have to firmly insist that she not sleep on top of me, but eventually we all get settled down.

It's a cozy scene, really- Me, Hubby, Wooble, body pillow, puppy, and cat. Maybe tonight I'll invite Schprid to come sleep with us, and see how well we can make room for her. Heck, if that works, maybe I'll invite the horse, too.