Third Trimester Eve

      I used to think 9 months was a loooong time to be pregnant, but now that I see how fast it flies by and how much there is to do & prepare.. I wish the human gestation period was a bit longer.  But you can ask me again at 36 weeks, I’ll probably be singing a different tune.

 

     The second trimester did eventually live up to it’s “honeymoon of pregnancy reputation.” The all day morning sickness did eventually fade away with only occasional bouts of it now. I just have to make sure I don’t get hungry. Hungrer= Nausea. The morning sickness gave way to heartburn, though that is mostly kept under control by Papaya Enzyme. I had a couple of those excruciating leg cramps in the middle of the night, but calf exercises before bed has mostly taken care of that annoyance too.

 

     I’m really thankful that I’ve been blessed with a healthy pregnancy so far. I just passed my gestational diabetes glucose test last week which I was a teensy bit worried about. I have an insane sweet tooth & lack of self- control when it comes to anything delicious. My simple solution to this problem is to just keep sugar and sweets out of the house. That goes for salty snacks too! BUT it IS summer, which means I’ve not wanted for ice cream cones, cake at all the summer weddings, delicious desserts at family weddings, and most recently- a trip to visit the grandparents meant many, many desserts. I guess I should mention Marcus making a double batch of chocolate chip cookies the night before the test, too. Despite my apprehension, one sugary, yucky test & a blood draw later.. all my levels were in the normal range. I’ve been pretty good about eating a protein-rich diet {especially now that I am eating meat again} and I love my fruits & veggies. I don’t know if I could identify specific cravings associated with this pregnancy, but rather “food kicks” that I want to eat for a couple weeks straight. Of late that that has been me making French toast for breakfast ,lunch & dinner or needing carrots dipped in ranch before bed every night. Before that I ate more than my share of oatmeal squares for  weeks & I don’t even like cold cereal. I had a love affair with cold chicken salad, too. I could definitely say that pregnancy intensifies taste- for me everything is either SO-SO-AMAZING good or repulsive. Most foods find their way into the so amazing category. A redemptive move since I had so many food aversions the first trimester.

 

     I’ve been exercising to prepare for the marathon of childbirth. I’ve been pretty good about keeping it up. I love to swim so swimming is by far my preferred exercise but now that I am not working at a pool anymore, I’ve done some laps here and there at the pool in my parent’s neighborhood as well as gone back on base with Marcus to swim laps. He is working on swimming so it benefits both of us. Once fall rolls around, I’ll definitely try to head to the pool 3x weekly. We take a lot of brisk walks around our neighborhood, but I’ve mainly relied on work-out videos at home. Which, believe me, is ridiculously funny. One of the videos is really hard, and I can’t do two days in a row. I look and sound so insane while trying to keep up I have to close the living room curtains.  The other one is more mild, but it does the job. There is even a “couples” component to the work-out video which is neat. It probably is not as fun for Marcus, but I’m pretty proud of my 10 wall pushups supporting his entire body weight, as he leans his back against my back while I work out my arms.

 

     We just completed our childbirth class, which was taught by the doula’s we hired. It really was a great class, and I would highly recommend it to anybody. They made it really fun, even for the dad’s. We looked forward to going together & talking about the different topics afterwards. Marcus has done his part, taking the supportive role very seriously and even made me a schedule to ensure I was practicing all my labor positions and stretching. I think he knows I skip them on the days he is working and will call me out on it, haha.

 

      We are up to our ears in Vaccine research, pediatrician searches, baby registry research, changing table hunting, life-insurance acquiring, deep breathing practicing, and most recently.. investigating homebirth. We’ve been less-than-thrilled with our OBGYN so we’re exploring the options. When I’m not dropping my jaw over how expensive it is to have a homebirth, I’m sipping my red-raspberry leaf tea while reading this sweet book. And this one.  {Please excuse the cheesy cover photos} Because while there is a lot of wordly prep for a baby, I know the most important preparation is prayer..so I’m trying to be diligent in praying for this little man.

 

     Speaking of my son, he is always on the move. My mom said that’s why she guessed he was a boy. I KNEW I felt him for the first time when I wasn’t quite 15 weeks and Marcus felt him kicking HARD at 18 weeks. I am hoping he wears himself out in the womb, because frankly, I am a little intimidated by his energy levels. It’s not rare to watch my stomach jump about at his kicks and flips, like a bowl of jelly. There is not an inch of my uterus he hasn’t worked over. I’m not sure when he sleeps. I’m pretty sure he knows his dad’s voice and hands too..as he will really ramp up any movement when Marcus talks to him or touches my stomach. The baby favors my right side, so belly bump looks pretty lumpy! I have not had any strangers come up and touch my stomach, but I don’t think it would bother me if they did. {Again, ask me at the END of this trimester..} I like it that a baby in the womb can bring joy to so many people and I’m glad to provide it. While nobody is touching the baby bump, nearly EVERYBODY comments on how I am carrying. I’ve had a couple people tell me  “You MUST be having a boy!”  Some lady even chuckled when she looked at me the other day saying my stomach looked so funny and low. “Like a basketball” or “so, so low” are the most comment comments.

 

     I have Braxton Hicks constantly and have been since about week 24. They are only bothersome because of their frequency. We also can listen to the baby’s heartbeat on Marcus’ stethoscope from work. It takes a while to find it, and I can only hear it when he has his back pressed up against me {and I can typically encourage him to turn around if he is not the in the best position my patting and gently shaking my stomach, or getting on my hands and knees for a couple minutes}

Marcus took this the first time I heard his heartbeat, week 25. I think you can typically only hear it with a stethoscope after week 20.

      We have some favorite names picked out, but are waiting until we see his face so we know which one fits! I know these next couple months will fly by and it won’t be long until I am blogging with a baby on my lap. We have some fun things planned, like a trip to Ohio to see my grandparents, and an overnight at a Bed & Breakfast {Thank you Guinn Family!!} and an annual trek to the Apple Festival. I’m hoping to get a little hiking in too, like last year! Fall is my absolute favorite season. Even though September starts tomorrow…I’ve got my heart set on Oct & Nov. I won’t rush the summer away though—it flies by fast enough on it’s own. I’m still planning on our beach-after- Sunday mass trips for a least a couple more weeks.

    Whew! That’s all folks!