Just a little FYI

*if you are a guy, you probably don't want to read this - catch me on the next one*

Just in case you ever wondered, it IS possible to split a stretch mark.

Here's how it happened to me.

A friend and I had taken a little trip to Americus to my favorite little monogram shop... after we dropped off our stuff, we decided to grab a little lunch. I was just finishing up my Honey Pecan Chicken Salad plate and Raleigh was starting to get pretty active - not that there is ever a time when he isn't... when all of a sudden, I felt a HUGE kick/punch/head-bunt or SOMETHING to the lower part of my abdomen. My eyes teared up, I had to catch my breath... and I made a beeline to the restroom because I just felt like something wasn't right.

Well, when I got to the restroom I stood there for a minute still trying to catch my breath and I noticed that I was still in some really bad pain in the spot where he had kicked me... so I just put my hand right there to see if I could take some pressure off of it. Much to my suprise, when I put my hand there it stung really bad! So I pulled my hand away only to find it bloody.

The skin that goes across where I had my c-section with Sarah Jane has very little, if any, give in it at all and I have developed some pretty disgusting stretch marks that go right through my scar. To give you a verbal visual - they're about an inch wide and 2 inches tall and they are purple. Yeah, nice - huh? The one on the far right is the one that Raleigh decided to kick open.

Thanks kid.

It took me a while to stop the bleeding, but I did and then I walked back out. I couldn't actually see the sore b/c it is on the under side of my stomach so, when we got to the car, I showed my friend what happened. She confirmed what I had suspected. After talking to her, we agreed that we just didn't think that it was normal for things like that to happen. So I called my doctor's office...

I got a nurse on the phone... and she informed me that things like that happen all the time and I just should put a bandage on it. I have to admit that I was shocked to hear that things like that happen all the time b/c I have never heard of it... but I thanked her, opologized for being a paranoid freak, and put a bandage on it when he got home.

Well, throughout the rest of the day - it bled on and off, oozed some clear liquid junk gross mess, and still really stung. It's in an awful place for a sore because no matter which way I lay, or sit, or turn, there is pressure on it making it impossible to seal. I know... waah, waah, waah, cry me a river, right? - but it really sucks!

If this pregnancy has been any indication to me of what this little guy is going to be like when he gets here, I am pretty sure that I am going to have my hands full!

****UPDATE****

After being uncomfortable all day and not being able to get the oozing under control, I called the on-call doctor - and got to speak with the midwife. She said that it wasn't impossible for babies to kick stretch marks open, but it certainly wasn't a normal thing and she wanted me to come in first thing the next morning. I left the doctor's office that morning with 3 sutures and a sealer over them --it has been fine, not comfortable, but fine, ever since. This baby better be some kind of football/soccer/karate whiz or I am going to be really shocked.