pregnancy dreams

Everyone knows that with pregnancy comes a surge of hormones so incredible, they practically swallow you whole. These hormones are wonderful and magical things, protecting the baby in the earliest stages of pregnancy, helping him/her grow. They also have the added effect for some women, such as myself, of making them very sick, and often very, very emotional.

One additional side effect is what one of my pregnancy books calls "vivid dreams." That's a really, really nice name for what they are. My dream life has always been on the unusual side, pulling together the most ridiculous memories, imaginings, and things seen over the course of my lifetime and putting them all together and then hitting the "Randomize" button. For example, there's one dream I had when I was probably in elementary or middle school. It's still famous in my family. It goes like this:

I'm on vacation in Spain with my Mom and Dad, my siblings having opted to stay at home. While in Spain, my Mom and Dad and I somehow end up in pursuit of dangerous criminals who have disguised themselves as babies [[I told you this was ridiculous!]], wearing baby-type clothing complete with bonnets, ruffles, and rattles. In pursuit of these criminals, we end up chasing them not via car, but via a crazy roller coaster that instead of coming to a stop like normal roller coasters do, ends up plunging us all into a big vat of chocolate sauce [this part is not so bad]. Criminals-disguised-as-babies have been STOPPED. Hoorah!!

So, after our successful capture of these Spanish criminals, we return home in seeming triumph. Peder and Kaari are standing in our driveway and behind them where our house used to be is a black pile of smoldering rubble. Oh yeah, Peder says. We forgot to tell you, the house blew up.

Desperate for accommodation, we decide turn to the summer camp that is just a few miles away, toward the south end of the lake. After setting up our gear [from whence did this camping gear come, I do not know] in a cabin, we walk down to the lake where we can see the small island that is just across from the camp. As we look closer, we find that Fraggles (you know ... Fraggles ... of Fraggle Rock fame ... you know, the cousins of the Muppets??) inhabit the island and have come out to greet us.

And that's all I remember of that dream. Aren't you glad? :)

And I've really been having some doozies lately, most of them not at all related (as far as I can tell) to being pregnant, giving birth, or even babies in general. I wish I had kept a journal of all of them, but here are some of the ones that I recall.

* My sister is getting married but even by the day of the wedding, has not introduced her husband-to-be to any of her friends or family. Just trust me, she keeps saying. She is looking rather gorgeous, by the way. She's having an outdoor wedding and I can see all these quaint little benches sitting in a sweet, tiny garden. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and you can ever so faintly hear the angels singing. Just then, I remember that I don't have my camera with me (which, if you're related to me, you know full well that The Camera comes even to the must mundane of family events). I yell, "Wait just a minute, I've GOT to get MY CAMERA!!" and when I run out of the house to get my camera, a torrential downpour outbreaks, complete with thunder and lighting. They wedding is delayed, Kaari is crying, and I am soaked to the bone. [[And then I got up because I had to use the bathroom, no doubt spurred on by the torrential downpour in dream]]

* I end up at a retreat or summer camp-type week with a bunch of young girls (about high school age, like, OMG!!). Everyone in attendance had the habit of leaving their items in the common restroom where we all showered. I was very put out on the day we were packing up to leave to discover someone had taken ALL OF MY AUSSIE HAIRCARE PRODUCTS. AND MY BODYWASH!! I made an announcement to hundreds to let them know how angry I was, and to return my conditioner promptly. I'm pretty sure they were all shaking in their boots. But I don't remember if I did get my conditioner back.

* James and I learn that the Lord of the Rings films were not filmed in New Zealand like everyone thinks, but actually they were filmed on Cougar Mountain in Issaquah -- right where we live!! And we had NO IDEA!! We decide to go on one of the tours being offered, "Walk in Frodo's Footsteps." It was magical. Really, you had to be there.

* I also dreamed last night that I had to pee so much that I made the toilet overflow due to the volume of urine I was expelling. [[You might also notice this is the only dream that is even remotely connected to pregnancy, and the one most closely linked to reality.]]

Well, even though this side effect is utterly bizarre and leaves me wondering at what kinds of substances I have flowing through my system (and at what levels), not to mention what underlying psychoses might be cropping up, at least it doesn't involve me losing my lunch.