Well we're three weeks away from my due date and officially full term so it's safe to say that sooner rather than later this pregnancy will end, giving rise to baby hood. And since I wrote about the first and second trimester, well what kind of trilogy would be complete without a recap of the last hurrah. And for this trimester, I feel much like I do about the third Indiana Jones movie: it's the best one.
I'm worried that writing about all the positive stuff will somehow jinx me but, oh well. Here's hoping I don't pay for it in labor and when she's a newborn.
Overall the third trimester is about big: big belly. It pretty much dictates a lot of your movement and makes formerly simple things like organizing your file cabinets something that you have to take breaks for. Old gray mare she ain't what she used to be.
My girl has also decided that she needs me to eat at regular intervals otherwise I start feeling weak and exhausted. I'm not sure if it has something to do with the diabetes but at this crucial time of development (a lot happens the last few weeks babies are in there), she's reminding me that I need to keep up with noms.
I'm fairly certain my food aversion is gone as evidenced by the fact that I had brussels sprouts recently without gagging. I can't tell how adventurous I'm really feeling though since the diabetic diet dictates a lot of what I'm actually able to eat but at least that horrible part of my pregnancy is over.
The most difficult part of the third trimester: sleeping. This is the time when everyone is telling me "get as much sleep as you possibly can before this baby is born" and this is the time when it's the hardest to sleep. Leg cramps, braxton hicks contractions, big belly in the way, general worries about impending labor and motherhood that don't let your brain shut off, heartburn, hips hurting from the weight of sleeping on your side, body temperature elevated and the slightest change can have you waking up in the middle of the night sweating, and of course the constant trips to the bathroom make it tough to get a good night's sleep. If I go to bed late enough and am tired enough I can get a great night's sleep waking up only to pee twice. I've learned to never let your brain wake up fully during those pee breaks, don't pick up your phone, don't check a clock, just pee and go back to bed. Eventually you'll fall asleep again within minutes. Sometimes I wake up at 4am and can't go back to sleep and make the mistake of messing with my phone and that just wakes me up more (stupid stimulating pinterest). The other essential part recently has been sleeping with a lot of pillows. I prop up two of them and am pretty upright and have a pregnancy pillow that I hug and put in between my legs. I almost wish I had a photo of my setup. If those elements combined with my wearing cool PJs and having the fan running at the perfect speed I can sleep so deeply that when I wake up for my pee break I have not moved from the position I fell asleep in. This happens a few magical times a week but when I can't get a good night's sleep I'm lucky that I am not working right now so I just nap. A lot. And I don't feel bad about it.
As for general thoughts about this pregnancy I gotta say the most abnormal thing about it was my lack of mood swings. Right around when my period would be coming I would become a monster and pick fights for no good reason but since I got pregnant I've been ridiculously nice to humans and animals. There's still the old sarcastic me in there but something about pregnancy has made me really open to kindness. I find myself less inclined to leave snarky comments on people's photos and instead put a positive yet still me spin on things, always with the overall feeling of the good I feel inside. I do cry at a lot of emotional videos but I don't find myself crying for no good reason. I expected to become a raving total lunatic but instead, I've been this happy, nice person. Something is seriously off there.
Physically I expected to become extremely fat. Chubby all over from chin to toes and I am way more shocked than anyone to report that as of now I've only gained 23 pounds mostly in my legs, thighs, and belly area. Which by the way makes sense biologically since the bottom half of your body has to be sturdy to support the weight of the belly. I started at 136 and never even crossed the 160 mark, I peaked at 159 and couldn't get past it! And let me tell you, I actually wasn't scared to gain weight, I was perfectly okay with it, I wanted to gain weight and I wasn't gonna do anything to prevent it, until I found out I had diabetes I went to town on whatever I wanted and didn't exercise. I dunno if it had to do with my awful food aversion in the beginning but I haven't really felt hungry throughout this thing. I eat because I'm supposed to eat. And the diabetes has really shocked me with how good I've been about sticking to the diet. I haven't had pasta or donuts since I found out I had it and actually lost 2 lbs since I stuck to it. My doctor said it was normal and even congratulated me on it since the baby's still growing and getting what she needs (hello, she's probably over 6 lbs already). And here's the part where you might hate me and what I'm afraid of being jinxed with the most: no stretch marks. When the ultrasound tech was putting the sheet on me she remarked with shock "What? You have no stretch marks!" Again, this might have to do with the whole food aversion thing since I didn't gorge myself and gained weight gradually due to my picky eating habits so my skin had time to adjust to the growth. My nails and hair have never looked better due to those disgusting prenatal vitamins and some voodoo magic. The nails are strong and grow fast and my hair has thickened and has a nice luster to it. And unlike those myths that a girl pregnancy makes you feel ugly, I don't feel that way.
This pregnancy is ending with my feeling the happiest I've ever felt. I sit on the couch and glance at Matt while the pets are laying around us and our daughter is moving inside me and can't imagine being any happier than I am at this moment.
But I know it's not true, 'cause soon comes Alice...
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