06-1-2009 - The Third Trimester

My mood while writing this blog: Ok

So imagine when you read this blog title that you hear the dum dum dum theme music. Lol.

I have had a pretty good pregnancy so far. The first trimester was full of extremem fatigue and nausea, but I still managed to keep what I did eat down, unlike most women. Smells turned my stomach but thankfully I wasn't clinging to the toliet every 5 minutes.

The second trimester was slightly better but also worse in ways. The nausea and body draining fatigue finally faded and no more running to the bathroom 10 times a night. But, alas, a new enemy reared its ugly head - the hip pain. The pain was excruciating. The doctor suggested water aerobics which I looked into but never found the time to actually do. She also said it would only get worse, so to find something that works before it gets too bad. The pain was terrible and made me so extremely uncomfortable that I could barely walk and sitting was painful. When I did find a comfortable position my left side would fall asleep and I would have to move and start the hurting all over. Well, luckily the pain ended up subsiding towards the end of the second trimester. Don't get me wrong, I still have hip pain, just not the debilitating pain that made every move miserable like I endured for a couple of months that seemed more like a couple of years.

The second trimester also brought the most amazing things - at 13 wks I found out contrary to my rigid belief I was carrying a boy, I infact would be giving birth to a baby girl. I also got the first looks at an actual baby and not just a blob that some misc tech declared a baby. At 17 wks I started to feel my little one move. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can describe the amazing wonderful sensation of feeling your baby move. Or the heart numbing worry when your little one doesn't move as much as she did the day before.

Now we reach the third trimester. Silly me I thought since the second trimester was a breeze that things would be smooth sailing from here on out. It seems as soon as I hit 28 wks my body started protesting and went on strike. The frequent urination, I believe, was the first thing to ressurect its ugly head. Then the insomnia, which could be a direct result of the frequent urination. I now get up several times a night, I swear one night it had to have been 12 times, to pee. Every time I wake up I am immediately wide awake. No sleepy intermission for me that allows a nice transition back into sleep and dreamland when the urination is over. No. Wide awake and mind going 90 miles an hour. I have pondered many times (most of them in the middle of the night) how someone can wake up thinking and worrying about things. It doesn't make sense.

The heartburn. Ugh. Sometimes it strikes immediately after you eat (or even drink a few sips of water) and sometimes it strikes hours later, when you think anything you had eaten would have already been digested. The hip pain is still there, but mostly when I sleep. I wake up with one hip killing me so I have to turn on the other side - not an easy feat by any means.

The waddling has also branded me as a pregger - to people miles away it seems. The last time a coworker commented on this, while I was sitting at my desk scarfing down a salad like I hadn't eaten in a week (and never actually looked up at the coworker, just managed to mutter in between bites "yep, paint me black and white and call me a penguin"), she had seen me briefly waddle into the break room to get a sprite.

The all-encompassing hunger. I wake up in the middle of the night starving. I spend 90% of the day either hungry, eating, or thinking about what I am going to eat.

Now we come to the good stuff. I can barely move anymore! Getting up from a sitting position is laughable. I find myself getting all the essentials and peeing, even if I don't feel like I need to, before I sit down because I know it will exhaust me just to take the 5 minutes to struggle myself up from a seated position.

The backache. Cooking dinner is like some sort of medieval torture. And washing dishes is even worse. Grocery shopping is a nightmare. Pretty much anything that requires me to stand for an extended period of time.

Constipation. Oh god! Not necessarily just the lack of bowel movements, but the pain when you finally do have one because it feels like you are passing a gigantic lump of coal. TMI, I know, but painfully true.

The inability to bend over has amazed me. I swept the other night and then tried to bend over to clean up the dust pile and couldn't breathe. Not only that but it felt like all my organs were literally being funneled thru my throat. So I have discovered bending over is a definite no no.

And the fatigue. I thought the first trimester was bad. Now it's just a fond memory. Perhaps the fatigue didn't seem so bad because I could actually sleep back then. Who knows. Last night was actually a good night because I DID sleep. I struggled thru the day (at one point my manager even came over and saw me and was like "don't fall asleep on me") and went home and immediately cooked dinner because I knew whatever didn't get done right away wouldn't. I ate, I watched a little tv, I put up leftovers for lunch today, and went to the bathroom one final time before going to bed only to realize I had passed part of my mucus plug. Finally, right at 10:00 I went to bed. I actually slept thru the night, only getting up once to throw up and pee and then went right back to bed. Getting myself out of bed this morning wasn't a herculean accomplishment. I actually got some sleep last night! I feel like I have won some amazing prize. I didn't even mind the middle of the night puking because I was able to swiftly pass right back out.

And now the best part of the third trimester - knowing you will soon be a mother. Not a pretend mother, not a mother-to-be, not some far off distant idea for the new year. You, in a few short weeks that seem to be passing by quicker and quicker, will have a beautiful little bundle of joy in your arms and will be a real, live mother. I still can't fathom it. Neither can DH. We talked last night about how it still doesn't seem real. Even though I can feel her kicking and the pressure of her 5+ lbs has made my vagina feel like it's going to give up and let go, it still is just like a dream to me. I cannot believe there is a whole live person growing inside of me. As I tell DH she is a perfect, miniature blend of him & me combined. All the good parts rolled into one amazing little girl.

Childbirth still scares me, but I think I am getting used to the idea. Look how many women have gone thru it before me. If all these other women can do it, I certainly can. Especially when the end result will be a beautiful little baby for DH & me to love and care for. So, you know what? The third trimester isn't so bad after all. In fact, it may just be the best one yet.