The Third Trimester

 I'm cheating a little here - this photo was taken back on June 11th before I departed for Europe so technically I was only 25 weeks pregnant, feeling much better, had more energy, hair was dried, make up on, etc.  Hell, I don't want to give myself too much credit but I actually look good here.

This is more what I look like now.  Frazzled, terrifying, giant, and exhausted.  So I guess that can mean only one thing - it's the third trimester!!!  Today marks my 28th week and so the final section of this pregnancy begins.  Baby is the size of a head of cabbage I think by this point.  Thankfully I'm still carrying most of the weight in my belly but it's started moving into other parts - my face more noticeably.

I've been trying my best to compare pregnancies and so far this is what I've learned.  You can't.  There are too many factors.  With Jack, by this point I had gestational diabetes and was well on my way to blowing up to 40+ lbs on top of my normal weight.  But I could go home each day and take a nap after work so i wasn't as tired.  With Lucy, I only gained about 25 lbs -tops - and I didn't have gestational diabetes.  So physically I didn't feel as large and weighed down.  But I was chasing Jack so that didn't help with exhaustion.  With Baby 3, I feel like weight is still in the fairly normal range but I look a whole lot bigger than I did with Lucy.  I don't feel like a fat leprechaun (referencing my drivers license picture when I was 8 months preggers) but I do think I'm getting fuller in the face.  And up until this point I felt energetic, somewhat rested, and strangely relaxed even though I was chasing two small children.  There have been times this summer when I look down and remember that, "whoa! I'm pregnant!  Where the hell did this belly come from?!"  It's surprising how well Baby 3 just goes along for the ride.

When I came back from Europe I had a doctor appt the following Wednesday and they did an ultrasound to check on my placenta.  I was so relieved bc I wanted to make sure I hadn't done any harm to this poor kid by hiking all over kingdom come in a foreign country.  Baby 3 checked out perfectly (of course) and my placenta had moved far away from the cervix so that's no longer an issue.  Woohoo!  This was the only face picture she could get which looks a little like a space alien but I still think Baby 3 is darn cute :) However, when she did the measurements, she mentioned that this kid is clocking in 2 weeks ahead of schedule.  Dr. Myers saw the results and even asked if I was ready for the possibility of a 9 lb baby.  At first i panicked about this but then remembered that they thought Jack would be huge based on ultrasounds and he was only 7,4.  Oh well.

But ever since that appt, I have hit a wall.  Exhaustion has hit big time, to the point where I feel Velcroed to the floor, bed, couch, chair, you name it.  And I'm starting to not be able to maneuver quite as well as I used to.  This kid is starting to feel heavy so perhaps the ultrasound tech was right.  I can't complain and won't. Baby 3 has been so considerate so far and has really really gone easy on me.  I think though there's only so much slack this active kid can cut me though when it's oppressively hot, his older siblings demand a TON of attention, and we are not in a normal routine.  Right now we have about 3 weeks of summer left and i really want to enjoy them as much as possible.  Let's just hope that as this third trimester begins, Baby 3 gets more comfortable, the energy returns, and Jack and Lucy slow down a smidge.  Ha!  Yeah, right. :)