Who needs shoes?

I have graduated from basketball to beachball. It seems as soon as I get used to having a big belly hangin' around, it doubles in size. The past two days have been particularly large feeling. Based on the pressure and pains, I believe this kid is going to be completely wrapped around my middle like an inner tube by the time he is cooked enough to come out. It currently feels like he is laying on his side, spanning all the way across my stomach...with some part of him getting freakishly close to my back over on the right side.

I am now at the point that bending over for more than 0.3 seconds actually makes me feel nauseous. I can feel my stomach being squished between the kid and my ribs. This fairly new development makes it very difficult to put on shoes. Especially ones that have to be tied. I am getting pretty good at maneuvering slip-on's with my toes, but tennis shoes are a problem. It particularly sucks because my main mode of exercise is taking the dog for a walk. And because I don't hate my feet, flip flops are not an option for a 45 minute walk. So I end up propping my foot up on a chair with my leg out to the side like a frog so my belly can hang in the middle, but my foot has to come back in so I can reach it to tie the damn shoe. Have I mentioned that being pregnant really brings out the sexy in a lady?

The not bending over without feeling sick was also an issue when trying to set up the pack 'n' play for the first time. My mom and dad were there to help, but they didn't have their glasses. I could read the minuscule print, but the location of the directions was not ideal. The only place there are directions for this contraption is on the inside of the play pen, on the bottom. This required me to make a choice, bend over long enough to read the directions thus being precariously close to vomiting on my child's play pen, hold the currently unstable play pen at eye level, or figure that we are three relatively intelligent adults...who needs to read instructions? A recommendation for all trying to set up a pack 'n' play for the first time: Do not attempt such a feat without reading the instructions in their entirety. The three of us spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure out how to get this thing to stand. Travis came home and joined the circus. After a couple minutes he had the good sense to read the directions. To our surprise, it very easily locked into place and could obviously safely hold a child. Weird.