TMI, but this explains so much!

Gentle Reader...I've never had such horrific heartburn in any of my pregnancies prior to this one. This last pregnancy will be remembered if, for nothing else, the BURNING in my esophagus and throat that I've "enjoyed" my last trimester. Yesterday was seriously the worst.

In any case, as I was reading up about being 36 weeks (please don't ask why I'm reading up on this, especially when I've been here 3 times before. It's a strange, obsessive thing, I know. I just can't help it), I found the following picture.


OH MY! Look where my stomach is!!! You know, between my stomach being squished and the hormones that have relaxed oh so many things in my body, including the "lower esophageal sphincter" (LES)--which means that it doesn't close as tightly--no wonder I'm having terrible heartburn. Of course, it doesn't explain why I'm having this problem NOW, but it's still good to get a visual. Probably a little too much to digest in the morning (ha! I'm so funny when discussing heartburn!), but ohhhhhh the wonders of the human body.