I'm 2/3 of the way through the last 1/3 of this pregnancy. That means I only have a month left to go (give or take a little bit, depending on when she decides to arrive)! I can't believe we're getting down to the wire now. I feel SO lucky to have had such a great pregnancy so far. Maybe I'm jumping the gun here. Maybe the last month will be hell. But I feel like I can honestly say I like being pregnant and I'm probably going to miss it after the baby gets here. Crazy? Like I said, maybe.
The first trimester was pretty much a breeze. I only felt nauseous a few times, I typically wasn't any more tired than normal. Almost nothing about my life changed much except that I started checking out midwives/birth centers (though, I think I actually did all that research before I had even confirmed I was pregnant). We told our parents really soon after finding out, then told family around 6 or 7 weeks, then told "the world" about 12 weeks.
As I entered the second trimester, I initially thought I was finally going to start experiencing all the negative effects of pregnancy everyone complains about. For a couple of weeks I was exhausted. As I mentioned in a previous post, my gag reflex suddenly turned on though I never did actually throw up. And then that subsided after a month or so. I did have to start sleeping on my sides instead of my back (which took some training for my body), but once I finally figured out the proper "nest" of pillows, that became fairly comfortable. My main annoyance was incredibly superficial. By the end of my second trimester, I still wasn't looking pregnant, just fat. But so what? I was healthy and the baby was healthy. And aside from several super intense bouts of heartburn near the end of the second trimester (in which I temporarily thought I was possibly having a heart attack), I was still feeling pretty great.
Because I had gotten so lucky for the first 2/3 of my pregnancy, I figured there was NO way my last trimester would follow suit. It just didn't add up. The women in my family all seemed to suffer during pregnancy either from morning sickness, migraines, intense swelling, extreme dehydration (probably from the morning sickness), or whatever. I couldn't possibly be so lucky as to actually somewhat enjoy pregnancy.
Yet here I am, less than a month to go (theoretically) and I'm still comfortable enough that I'm not anxious to get this baby out. Sure I've got braxton hicks quite frequently (but I've been getting those since about 22 weeks), my feet and ankles are so swollen they're even stretching out my flip flops, and I've recently developed carpal tunnel syndrome and now have to wear splints on my wrists day and night, but those are my worst complaints! Seriously, that's it!
For me, pregnancy has been such a cool experience. I've loved getting to feel life form and thrive inside of me. And even though by the time I deliver I will have probably gained close to 60 lbs, I've loved seeing my body expand so uniformly and perfectly. It seems to be getting soft in all the right places that a baby would want to snuggle. Sure I'm covered in stretch marks and I'll never look the same as I did before kids, but why would I want to? I'll never be the same person I was before kids. I love my body for so effortlessly doing exactly what it was made to do.
The first trimester was pretty much a breeze. I only felt nauseous a few times, I typically wasn't any more tired than normal. Almost nothing about my life changed much except that I started checking out midwives/birth centers (though, I think I actually did all that research before I had even confirmed I was pregnant). We told our parents really soon after finding out, then told family around 6 or 7 weeks, then told "the world" about 12 weeks.
As I entered the second trimester, I initially thought I was finally going to start experiencing all the negative effects of pregnancy everyone complains about. For a couple of weeks I was exhausted. As I mentioned in a previous post, my gag reflex suddenly turned on though I never did actually throw up. And then that subsided after a month or so. I did have to start sleeping on my sides instead of my back (which took some training for my body), but once I finally figured out the proper "nest" of pillows, that became fairly comfortable. My main annoyance was incredibly superficial. By the end of my second trimester, I still wasn't looking pregnant, just fat. But so what? I was healthy and the baby was healthy. And aside from several super intense bouts of heartburn near the end of the second trimester (in which I temporarily thought I was possibly having a heart attack), I was still feeling pretty great.
Because I had gotten so lucky for the first 2/3 of my pregnancy, I figured there was NO way my last trimester would follow suit. It just didn't add up. The women in my family all seemed to suffer during pregnancy either from morning sickness, migraines, intense swelling, extreme dehydration (probably from the morning sickness), or whatever. I couldn't possibly be so lucky as to actually somewhat enjoy pregnancy.
Yet here I am, less than a month to go (theoretically) and I'm still comfortable enough that I'm not anxious to get this baby out. Sure I've got braxton hicks quite frequently (but I've been getting those since about 22 weeks), my feet and ankles are so swollen they're even stretching out my flip flops, and I've recently developed carpal tunnel syndrome and now have to wear splints on my wrists day and night, but those are my worst complaints! Seriously, that's it!
For me, pregnancy has been such a cool experience. I've loved getting to feel life form and thrive inside of me. And even though by the time I deliver I will have probably gained close to 60 lbs, I've loved seeing my body expand so uniformly and perfectly. It seems to be getting soft in all the right places that a baby would want to snuggle. Sure I'm covered in stretch marks and I'll never look the same as I did before kids, but why would I want to? I'll never be the same person I was before kids. I love my body for so effortlessly doing exactly what it was made to do.
(36 weeks and a couple days. Please note my crazy swollen feet and also Indiana's prime position in this picture.)
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