Skip The Listerine And Pass The Vino

When you're pregnant everyone has a story to tell you, a piece of advice to share and lots of well wishes to give. Some of it is pretty funny, some extremely helpful and some just a bit odd. Like my dental hygienist telling me to avoid Listerine but to go ahead and have a glass of wine when I feel like it. I have done the opposite by the way. People want to know when I'm due, what I'm having and how I'm feeling. All very happy and well intentioned questions that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It is sort of like my world has shrunk into a small community around my pregnancy. It's nice to know that neighbors, coworkers, friends and strangers at the gym always take a moment to stop and ask me how I'm doing and that they are excited for me and for this bun growing (rapidly I may add) in my belly.   

As I hit the home stretch of my pregnancy a switch flipped this week and physically I started to hit the 3rd trimester wall. I can't hide my waddle anymore and I truly appreciate just being able to sit down. My legs and feet are swelling and now trips to the bathroom are noticeably much more frequent. And I've discovered a new level of hunger this week that I didn't think could exist. Oh and my forehead looks like the before shot in a Proactiv commercial. Even though I haven't actually gained too much weight over the past couple of weeks my belly has popped out an inch further so as the head of my department said so enthusiastically to me in the bathroom the other day "oh wow looks like you're having a big baby!". Yeah...

Strapped In To Nitro

In one week I'll be entering my third trimester. That means three months to go and the baby will be here. I keep thinking how I didn't think about how this kid was coming out when I was thinking about putting it in. Labor and Delivery scare me to death and I wish I could wiggle my nose and just come home with a new baby one day. We just registered for a childbirth class which makes the whole thing begin to feel too real in my head. A short conversation with the coach had me sweating. She thinks my baby may come early since it will be summer and hot. Early is not what I want to hear. But that is just her non scientific opinion based on her experience with summer babies. I don't know if I can handle early and I don't know if late would drive me crazy with anxiety. It will just have to happen when it happens and when it does I'm just praying to God that I deal with the pain better than I think I will. I sometimes surprise myself when it comes to pain tolerance so I hope this will be one of those cases. 

We finally finished the registry last week. Took hours and I am so happy because I will never do that ever again :) Now we just have a laundry list of random things that need to get done before Dash arrives and it feels like this last three months will fly by. I'm so excited to meet my baby. I can't wait to see if Dash is a boy or a girl. 99% of the comments I get are boy because of the way I am carrying, so we'll see. 99% of the comments also mention something about me looking like I'm just about ready even though I have a whole trimester to go. So either there are 2 in here, Dash is a big baby, or I'm just a big mommy. The other day I had a thought that Dash is a girl because of something I thought was different about my face and I heard your face changes when you are having a girl. But I really have no clue. 

Physically I'm okay. The back pain is getting worse but I'm managing it with more stretching and creative sleeping positions. The ligament pains on my underbelly started this week and sometimes they are pretty uncomfortable. It feels like a pulled muscle so walking and getting up from sitting tends to be a little painful. But I am doing more yoga and reminding myself to slow down so it's okay. Mentally the stress is still a factor and it is mostly work related. And that's all I'm going to say about that...for now.
But my baby is doing well, kicking a lot and moving (quite visibly sometimes) from side to side. But I really just want Dash to stay put. In my belly I know where my baby is, I know my baby is warm and safe and I guess my world remains somewhat the same. I'm still going out, sleeping in, traveling and being normal. Just in bigger clothes. But the baby being out and in the world physically means I have to do more than just carry him or her around in a space where Dash is fed automatically and doesn't need a diaper. And that is the scary panicky part. That is what makes looking at the next three months feel like a never ending ascension on a roller coaster headed for the 1st big camel hump. You can't get off the ride at this point but you wish you could because you are scared to death of the 1st drop. But your excited for it which is why you got on in the first place. So there you are sitting strapped in climbing higher and higher waiting to reach the top so you can go screaming and down over the edge and through what you anticipate will be the best ride of your life. The next three months consider me strapped in to Nitro, waiting for the best ride of my life to start.

A Hand Slap, Four More Days and The Boy Wizard

This month's appointment felt very forward moving. We talked about hospital tours, birthing classes, glucose tests and the 3rd trimester schedule. But most of it was actually spent with me getting lectured on not eating enough protein. Even before I was pregnant hot crowded subway rides were never my thing. If I didn't eat breakfast and had to stand the whole time I would always feel light headed and weak. But since I've been pregnant it doesn't matter if I eat I still get light headed. And lately sitting doesn't help either. This week I got faint and almost passed out twice on the train. The 1st time I was on the way to yoga class and the 2nd time on my way to work. Both times I was sitting down after having stood in a hot crowd for a bit of time. So at her office this week my midwife was not pleased when she asked me to go over my diet and give specifics on what I had to eat both days. The baby is fine and healthy and looks strong but she said that I didn't look so hot and needed to understand that Dash will take what Dash needs and leave me with nothing. So if I'm not taking care of myself I will pass out on a crowded subway train. It's not enough that the baby is doing fine I need to watch how I am feeling and take care of myself. So net-net I need to eat better, get more sleep and relax. Stress is another big no-no and I am full of it. 


One interesting thing we learned this week was our due date was modified. I had a feeling I was going to have this baby late and officially I am! Based on my last ultrasound they pushed our due date almost a week later then it was before. This is actually really awesome news because it means I may actually be able to see the last Harry Potter movie when it comes out. For anyone that really knows me this is great news. I am such a huge fan that when I first got pregnant and did the math in my head I actually paused for a moment and said "dammit I may miss Harry Potter". Granted it is for an unbelievably awesome reason... but still. So with my new due date the chances of seeing the very last Potter film have increased tremendously. Yes I know, priorities.

So here we are back to 25 weeks. Heartbeat is strong. Baby Dash moves around A LOT. I will get off my arse this week and finish my registry. So things are moving along. And speaking of moving along, as I type this I just saw something moving under my shirt. That makes me smile.