29 weeks, catching up in the third trimester.

It's been a long time long time without posting; and there are so many reasons for that.  I haven't been so stressed about being pregnant, so the need for blog therapy hasn't presented itself as much as it did earlier in my pregnancy, but mostly because Josh and I have been busy getting ready for this little baby!    If you had read this blog in the past  (I've been blogging since 2007) you'd know that we bought a house that had lots of fixing up to do.  We have built a basement, bathroom, bedroom, landscaped most of the yard, added a deck, patio, raised gardens, and now we are finishing things up by painting and adding new flooring to the upstairs.  We will also finish drywalling the laundry room, add slate tile to the dining room and kitchen and will get new carpet for the living room.   This is a lot of work in general, but now that I am in my third trimester its making it a lot harder for me to help with the house projects, even though we need all hands on deck to complete them.  On top of just getting ready for the baby and all the house projects; our foundation which we had repaired when we bought the house is still settling and we have to have more work done on it, which was not a problem before we drywalled the downstairs, but now that the project is complete and we have to tear holes into the drywall that we hung ourselves feels like a step backward and another project that needs to be completed before baby is here. I am worried it all won't get done in time, but am trying not to stress about it. 

Looking back at my second trimester: I found that I grew to like pregnancy a little more; not that I loved it, but I felt much better than the first trimester and my energy level was much higher and I felt more 'normal' than I had in months.   I finally began to not only 'accept' my pregnancy but to embrace it and try to enjoy the good parts of pregnancy because I'm definitely a 'push through and get it done' type of person and 9 months is not something that you can speed up, so I decided that I might as well try to enjoy it.  This summer I was able to hike some amazing and difficult trails by myself including a 13er Mt. Cupid, The Incline in Manitou Springs  (with Josh), and several trails in Coal Creek Canyon around the reservoir.  Those hikes during the week have been such stress relievers for me, and have helped me focus just on myself and baby which is something that I needed.

Baby Movement:  I started to feel the baby move around week 21 which is a little late and that is due to having an anterior placenta (in the front, so the baby is kicking through that placenta like a pillow muffling it's movement.  When I felt those first few movements I must admit they were very alien feeling, people used the terms "flutter" and "butterfly wings" but to me it felt like something was trying to get out from inside me!  The movements were stronger than a 'flutter' and maybe thats because the baby was much bigger at 21 weeks than when people usually start to feel he movement at 16 weeks; but due to my placenta being anterior  it took several weeks longer for me to notice it.  When I did start to feel the movements, they were on the sides of my body and not in the center, which was very weird to me.  After a few weeks the feelings started to become more normal and that helped me to enjoy the movements and connect a little bit with the baby inside of me.  Now the baby kicks are much harder and stronger and they almost hurt a little bit, and I can only imagine what they will feel like in the weeks to come.



Body Changes:  Just as my third trimester started, I started to become uncomfortable again.  My belly is much bigger and I have to use momentum to sit up or get out of bed, bending over is becoming a real chore, especially putting on my shoes and socks, or even clothing.  I can't imagine needing to wear tennis shoes in the fall months and have been lucky that I can usually make due with flip flops in these summer months.  Something else that has become uncomfortable are what I think are Braxton Hicks contractions, which aren't supposed to hurt, but these are a little painful.   I'd love to hear if other mothers experienced this?   Also, my feet, ankles, hands, fingers and every part of my body is swelling and I have already gained 30 lbs in my pregnancy  The weight gain has really bothered me and I don't handle standing on the scale very well at the midwives office to check my weight.

Growth:  I've learned that no matter what, people will give you opinions and advice on pregnancy, childbirth, and child raising; even on your baby registry and baby products.  While some of the advice may be helpful and all well meaning, it does make the mama-to-be a little overwhelmed with her decisions and choices.  It's like every parent knows better than you, which they probably do from experience, but that doesn't mean your opinions and choices aren't valid.  And just like anything in life, parenting might not turn out exactly how you want it to, but like with anything you will grow, adapt and change.  Child rearing isn't the only unpredictable part of life, all of life is unpredictable but somehow child rearing spurs on tons of opinions/advise and I am not sure why?   But knowing that helps me accept those unwanted opinions and advise with a better attitude.

Now that I need to rest more in my third trimester, I hope to be able to blog a little more, so stay tuned!