***Full disclosure: when I started to write this post it actually said "Pregnant: 25 weeks". Case and point that I'm definitely in my second pregnancy***
Things continue to move along with the pregnancy as I round (emphasis on the round) out the end of my 2nd trimester and I'm well into the 3rd trimester now. My midwife told me at my last appointment that I was measuring approximately 3 weeks ahead. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean I'm going to have this baby 3 weeks early, but I'm destined to have another "macrosomal infant". A term that I recently became familiar with on my after visit summaries from my midwife. Bottom line: I make big babies, apparently.
This complex has only been compounded by peoples unsolicited comments when I tell them I have 10 more weeks to go. Listen, no pregnant woman needs to hear how "big" they are looking. Trust me, I already feel huge and it doesn't help that even my maternity shirts give me that fabulous "winnie-the-pooh" belly look. Thank god for maxi dresses this summer. Though the other morning, I was pleasantly surprised while buying a couple Blue Star donuts (no judgement please), a man simply said "congratulations" and "what number is this for you?" So pleasant and appropriate. You see it is possible to not be an a**hole while having a conversation with a pregnant woman.
Present complaining aside, I have to say this has been a rather smooth, and dare I say enjoyable, pregnancy. Baby boy #2 is very active and I love feeling all those little kicks and nudges throughout the day. And realizing that I only have 10 weeks, makes me feel like the end is in sight. Not knowing if this will be my last pregnancy also makes me want to try to savor all these fleeting feelings. With my previous pregnancy, by the end, I really experienced this cognitive dissonance about pregnancy ending. I actually thought I would just continue to exist in a pregnant state for the foreseeable future. Then when it ended, I was one of those women that kind of missed being pregnant. So, this time around I'm trying to remain present to the fact that pregnancy most definitely will end and I will likely look back on this time with great fondness.
What has been a lovely compliment to this pregnancy has been doing my prenatal yoga teacher training. Not only has it forced me to do prenatal specific yoga, but I have also gained so much more knowledge about optimal fetal position, female anatomy, particularly the pelvic floor, pain coping and childbirth in general. While it has been difficult to spend weekends away from my precious family time, it has been so exciting to get back into the world of prenatal, postpartum and women's health care. It makes me feel super inspired to be working with women during this sacred, challenging and complex time in their lives.
Inspired my one of favorite local bloggers on motherhood and as this pregnancy too quickly passes by, I'm feel like its important to acknowledge and celebrate the little things. Life is truly precious. And perhaps what has taken me so long to provide a pregnancy update has been the fact that it feels overwhelming (and I'm even getting a little tearful writing this) to try to capture the raw emotion and beauty of the day to day moments which fly by before my eyes. From the moments of Henry singing songs (take me out the ball game is his current favorite), running the bases together at the park, to feeling those sweet little baby hiccups, these are the moments that I live for and what make life beautiful. And indeed, the days can be long, but the years are very short.
And for those are curious...here is the pregnancy photo update with comparison to pregnancy #1.
Things continue to move along with the pregnancy as I round (emphasis on the round) out the end of my 2nd trimester and I'm well into the 3rd trimester now. My midwife told me at my last appointment that I was measuring approximately 3 weeks ahead. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean I'm going to have this baby 3 weeks early, but I'm destined to have another "macrosomal infant". A term that I recently became familiar with on my after visit summaries from my midwife. Bottom line: I make big babies, apparently.
This complex has only been compounded by peoples unsolicited comments when I tell them I have 10 more weeks to go. Listen, no pregnant woman needs to hear how "big" they are looking. Trust me, I already feel huge and it doesn't help that even my maternity shirts give me that fabulous "winnie-the-pooh" belly look. Thank god for maxi dresses this summer. Though the other morning, I was pleasantly surprised while buying a couple Blue Star donuts (no judgement please), a man simply said "congratulations" and "what number is this for you?" So pleasant and appropriate. You see it is possible to not be an a**hole while having a conversation with a pregnant woman.
Present complaining aside, I have to say this has been a rather smooth, and dare I say enjoyable, pregnancy. Baby boy #2 is very active and I love feeling all those little kicks and nudges throughout the day. And realizing that I only have 10 weeks, makes me feel like the end is in sight. Not knowing if this will be my last pregnancy also makes me want to try to savor all these fleeting feelings. With my previous pregnancy, by the end, I really experienced this cognitive dissonance about pregnancy ending. I actually thought I would just continue to exist in a pregnant state for the foreseeable future. Then when it ended, I was one of those women that kind of missed being pregnant. So, this time around I'm trying to remain present to the fact that pregnancy most definitely will end and I will likely look back on this time with great fondness.
What has been a lovely compliment to this pregnancy has been doing my prenatal yoga teacher training. Not only has it forced me to do prenatal specific yoga, but I have also gained so much more knowledge about optimal fetal position, female anatomy, particularly the pelvic floor, pain coping and childbirth in general. While it has been difficult to spend weekends away from my precious family time, it has been so exciting to get back into the world of prenatal, postpartum and women's health care. It makes me feel super inspired to be working with women during this sacred, challenging and complex time in their lives.
Inspired my one of favorite local bloggers on motherhood and as this pregnancy too quickly passes by, I'm feel like its important to acknowledge and celebrate the little things. Life is truly precious. And perhaps what has taken me so long to provide a pregnancy update has been the fact that it feels overwhelming (and I'm even getting a little tearful writing this) to try to capture the raw emotion and beauty of the day to day moments which fly by before my eyes. From the moments of Henry singing songs (take me out the ball game is his current favorite), running the bases together at the park, to feeling those sweet little baby hiccups, these are the moments that I live for and what make life beautiful. And indeed, the days can be long, but the years are very short.
And for those are curious...here is the pregnancy photo update with comparison to pregnancy #1.
And then this is how I actually feel. Thank you Venus of Willendorf for the accurate depiction.
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