Welcome to my Third Trimester (sorta?)

I had thought it had been obvious now to everyone, but found in fact there were a couple of people at work who were still in the dark as to my pregnant state of being. Until today. And it wasn't as a result of witnessing my office door rebounding off my protruding tummy that they became enlightened. One coworker remarked "are you pregnant? I just noticed! I can really see you are" as I walked past her in the hallway. And at lunch the cafeteria lady, who has seen me every day like clockwork for the past year (and knows exactly what I order and how much it will cost, so her powers of observation and memory are quite trustworthy), exclaimed in happy surprise "Oh! You're having a baby!" as she rang up my soup and odwalla bar ($4.20 USD).

All of which just confirms my suspicions that I grew several inches over the course of last night, thus also explaining my sudden inability to find any comfortable sleeping position and my subsequent middle-of-the-night pillow-throwing tantrum. One pillow landed in the cat water dish. Of course I didn't realize that until after I had gotten up, grabbed it off the floor, and flung it back onto the bed (catching Tim in the face with a stream of cat water in the process).

Have I mentioned how completely stoic and supportive and comforting and uncomplaining Tim has been throughout the last 27 weeks? He is truly my hero, and the love of my life.

So... speaking of 27 weeks - depending on who you talk to or what you read, the 3rd trimester starts either week 25, week 26, week 27, week 28, or week 29. I've seen all variations in my pregnancy books and online sources.

Given that it seems to be somewhat up in the air, I've decided arbitrarily that this day, the start of week 28 for me, is also officially the start of my 3rd trimester, since I really need to feel like I've passed some kind of milestone at this point :-)

So - welcome to my third trimester!

What does this mean? What can I expect in the remaining 12 weeks?

According to babycenter.com, "Your baby's growing steadily as she prepares for her grand entrance. This week she weighs almost 2 pounds and measures about 14.4 inches from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. She's acting more like a newborn now, opening and closing her eyes, sleeping and waking at regular intervals, and maybe sucking a finger. She may also be hiccupping, which you'll notice as little rhythmic sensations in your belly. You may start to get leg cramps, especially when you're lying in bed at night. Stretching your calf and flexing your foot should bring some relief."

- Hiccupping - check
- leg cramps - check

Babyzone.com offers me this insight: "Are you terrified? At some point during pregnancy, virtually all pregnant women are. Your fears�of delivery, failure as a parent, changing lives and relationships, finances, pain, and more�are all common."

- fear of failure as a parent - check
- fear of changing lives and relationships - check
- fear of finances - check

plus lets throw in a few more fears for good measure that weren't mentioned, shall we?

- fear that my emotional ups and downs, and my pillow-throwing fits of frustration, and bouts of crankiness will somehow result in a constantly cranky, crying, upset baby that never smiles and is impossible to comfort and that our friends will shun, and never volunteer to babysit, and quietly acknowledge to themselves "I wish she was more like babyX who is so calm and good-natured and always laughing" after we've left their homes for the evening. Check.

- fear of the laws of karma that say "what comes around, goes around", meaning that given how horrible a child and teenager I was for my parents, it is going to come back to me 100-fold over the course of the next 18 years, and I will have deserved every moment of it. Check.

There's plenty more where those came from, but I don't want to completely overwhelm you :-)

Americanbaby.com says "Your frisky fetus is on another growth spurt, shooting up half an inch this week to measure about 14 inches from head to toe. She weighs roughly 2 1/2 pounds, and will gain approximately half a pound each week for the next 10 weeks. The average full-term baby weighs about 7 1/2 pounds and measures from 18 to 20 1/2 inches, but many normal, healthy babies fall outside this range. Unless your practitioner has told you of a potential problem, it's safe to assume that your little one is right on track. Speaking of weight gain, you're probably up 15 to 20 pounds by now, with your uterus banging against the bottom of your rib cage."

- Weight gain: Check. Definitely. No mention of inward swinging doors, which is also a check.

So there you have it folks. The start of the rest of my pregnancy :-)

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