25 February: On mucus plugs and getting to know my kidneys. (Jen)

One of the first signs that my body was changing was an insane amount of discharge -- almost like a transparent period. Yup, before my breasts began to swell, before I felt extra-fatigued, and within a week of missing my period, the mucus plug made its presence known. "What", you may ask, "is a mucus plug?" Well, it's just one more of those things they didn't teach us in Sex Ed, but should have. After that one special swimmer beats out all 5 million or so of his closest buddies and implants his head in an egg, the one who issued that egg seeks to protect it. So, basically, once my body knew that there was some fertilization going on down there, it sealed up my uterus by creating a big snot plug and wedging it in my cervix (the opening to my uterus -- kinda like the opposite of the fundus). And, get this: that plug is the only thing that keeps bad things out of, and the baby etc. in, my uterus! So some women think that jumping into a pool late in pregnancy could dislodge that plug and bring on disaster. This business of baby-growing is really precarious. No wonder God made us to like having sex -- we have to increase the probability that a fertilized egg just might make it for 9 months, protected by just a slimy mucus plug! Oh, and supposedly "passing" the plug is a sign that labor is about to begin. So, I noticed the plug being "built" in the first week, and now, 11 weeks into pregnancy, I'm noticing what every woman has in varying amounts: an increased amount of discharge. Yup, like I'm on a 9-month transparent period. No embarrassing stains, but still not cool at all. But at least my bladder seems to be working better than ever! In fact, I still don't get out of bed at night to pee -- I just hold it until I wake up in the morning with two piercing pains in my lower back (why do we say that instead of "upper butt" which is really more like it?) which can only be relieved by peeing. My poor kidneys. They're gonna be hating me by the end of this. But I really trust them now -- even more than my bladder!