Not For Lightweights . . .

(Disclaimer: This post is in NO WAY meant to solicit comments about my current weight or what I look like 7 1/2 months pregnant. I'm currently feeling really good about those things.) I had an epiphany the other day while I was at the local rec center pool, where in an attempt to exercise, I was placing altered body into the warm water for a half hour of gentle swimming. In my black one piece maternity tank suit - not even rankable on the fashion spectrum - I fondly thought of myself much like a killer whale. There was just something about the way the water glided around the suit creating an ebony shine as it stretched tightly over my big belly.

Swimming felt completely theraputic and for a full half hour I was weightless and free, completely forgetting the additional twenty-some-odd pounds I am carrying as I grow a child in my womb. After endless nights of uncomfortable sleep and long days with back aches, being in the water brought relief to this body that currently seems so foreign to me.

The whole time I was swimming I thought about those whales - actual mammoths of the animal kingdom - who spend their days moving around in the water just like I was (albeit more gracefully than I was). Suddenly it donned on me that killer whales have absolutely no idea how heavy and ginormous they are! They are completely oblivious. And I'm really happy about it too, because I'm sure it's the only reason they are able to do this:

Can you think of any other explanation for something weighing 9 TONS to be that far out of the water? Meanwhile, it took me three, YES THREE, tries to heft my pregnant body out of the pool when I was done with my little swim. Okay, so maybe I'm not "killer" yet - just a whale, but I'm headed back to the pool again today nevertheless.