Sentimentalism

'Isn't it great to be back with real friends? I mean the kind you can tease relentlessly until they really hate you?'

Yes, yes it is...eventhough she was mostly referring to my ridicule ;)

It's also great to be with people who know that having your hair played with is one of life's greatest pleasures, and that snuggling 4 people to a bed is still proper protocol for sleepovers even at 24 when two of you are five months pregnant.

I have a story from the weekend, but it requries a preface.

Those who have slept with me know that I rarely snore, but do have another annoying/endearing (depending on your perspective) sleeping quirk. I click. Somehow I produce a strange clicking noise in the back of my throat every time I breathe.

This weekend, Erica and I were bedmates. Seeing as it's been six or so years since freshman year when we shared a dorm room, I suppose I can see how she'd forgotten about my clicking. In any case, apparently I fell asleep in the middle of Shiloh's (baby bump) evening calisthenics routine. The clicking started up, and she began to wonder if Shiloh had picked up some new communication method to supplement his kicks. She laid in silence feeling all around her stomach for a good 3-5 minutes before realizing that the sound was indeed coming from the pillow next to her and not, as she had suspected, from her stomach.

I think the incident illustrates how radically pregnancy changes your body - considering that the production of a strange noise at regular intervals could be considered normal development. Craziness. I'll leave additional commentary on the side effects of pregnancy out for the time being, but I will say this: If you're a female, don't assume that morning sickness and swolen ankles are the worst of what you deal with. Health class lied. At this stage in the game, I'm utterly shocked that women pull this off all the time. Maybe they keep us ignorant of the details as long as possible so we don't chicken out. I don't know...but I do know that I admire my friends for what they're going through and have an entirely new respect for mothers!!