Beating Me Down

1. During a run.
2. While moving boxes up three flights of stairs.
3. Zipping side to side as a masked figure takes aim at your back.

All of these are acceptable situations in which your heart may thump madly in your chest.

Lying on the sofa while eating a chocolate chip cookie? Not so much.

One of the oddest things for me about my pregnancy is the way suddenly, for no reason at all, my heart begins pounding while I'm at rest. The first time this happened I was sitting at a coffee shop while typing. The change was so immediate and noticeable that I stopped typing and sat perfectly still. I looked down at my T-shirt, and my chest was pulsing--I mean, visually PULSING--with the beat of my heart. So, I ran to the go-to guide for all such dilemmas: "What to Expect When You're Expecting." This book has more than once saved me a trip and a $20 co-pay to my ob/gyn.

The good news was that a racing heart is common among MTBs. The bad news was, it could occur at anytime.

When it happens, I become entirely distracted with the thought, "What could possibly be going on in there?" I can't continue until it abates. I woke up once feeling like I'd just sprinted a quarter-mile, and it took me half an hour to get back to sleep. I tried to explain how dramatic this can be to Tim, but he's a CALM person, so I don't think he could truly sympathize. His version of a dilemma can be summarized by a conversation we had last night while baking:

Me: "You know, I think we can probably add some more chocolate chips to the batter, just so we can finish off this extra bag."

Tim: "Now you want to add more chips? Of course we should add more chips! The first word is chocolate, then chip, then cookie."

Who wants to dwell on racing hearts when there's not enough chips in the dough? :)