Entering the Third Trimester

Pregnancy reminds me so much of just living life's finite stages and trying to find the grace within each one of them, always trying to navigate them in a more happy and healthy way. We know that at the end of nine months we will give birth to a child, hopefully one whose arrival was eagerly anticipated, so is my case. While I'd love to be one of those women who blissfully sail through pregnancies without nausea, morning or in my case, all day sickness, exhaustion, and everything people never tell you about pregnancy, I'm not one of those women. Not only am I high risk but also had horrible first and second trimesters of throwing up multiple times per day and when that ended, the next stage began the following day, horrific heartburn that brought on fear and took away all desire to eat. Yes, they do have pills for that, and as soon as I learned when to appropriately medicate I got diabetes so then the food that I had started to enjoy became my enemy every time the little sugar meter beeped into a culmination of numbers higher than 120.

Now I have entered the third trimester and after a month of balancing sugars, they no longer balance. Rules abound: eat an apple, must eat cottage cheese; no juices; no starches- and can I say how much I love my whole wheat rice, pasta and potatoes? At my last OB visit, Dr. Jamison instructed me to gain weight. However, how does one who starts out pregnancy at 87 lbs. gain weight if on a serious carbohydrate diet? We will have this conversation once again next week.

Now at 29.2 weeks and so excited to be here. I have gained about 11 lbs. so far, which I know for a woman who is so underweight (even though proportionate), I need to gain more. My belly has grown bigger than when I delivered Liam and I am at the exact weight, 98 lbs. I bump into everything now and my center of equilibrium is a little off. All the counters seem to want to fight me and poke me. Turning at night is a horrible 10 time (for peeing) 5 point parallel park of a large Cadillac in a tight VW Beetle spot. Pillows all around, separating me from the love of my life with whom I've always spooned. It's no wonder that I get up now at 5 a.m. and try to enjoy the start of a new day.

Two days ago the baby got the hiccups for the first time. That was so neat. I'd been waiting and frankly, a little concerned that it had not yet happened. Liam got the hiccups before the 24th week. These hiccups are so cute and so different. For each hiccup Liam had my belly shook like a 6.7 Chilean size-mick earthquake. This baby hiccups like a whisper, only for a very short time. Liam sometimes would hiccup all day long. It's unbelievable the things we remember.