Pregnancy report: Third trimester.
Nov. 17th, 2008 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaSuddenly last week I realized that no matter how you do your counting and dividing, 27 weeks is the third trimester. It was a bit of a shock. I was going along thinking I had plenty of time, and then... my due date is twelve weeks away tomorrow. Whoa.
Just a month ago, I was able to send shock waves through the clinic where I run my research subjects by answering a casual nursing-station question of "When are you going to give her a little brother or sister?" with "February." No one had noticed.
If I had any doubts about how pregnant I look now, they vanished when I got on a crowded light rail train last week. Instead of saying something like "Would you like to sit down?" the guy seated next to me jumped up and said firmly, "Sit down, Miss." It was an order. Then this morning I stopped off at the cafeteria to buy a doughnut and a (sadly, decaf) cup of tea. "Giiiiiirl!" the cashier said. "When did you... when did you..." She seemed to realize then that "when did you get pregnant" is not really a polite question. Instead she turned to the cashier behind her. "Did you know she was pregnant?"
In the third trimester, your condition becomes public property. No one has touched me without permission yet, at least.
I feel really well these days. Oh, I get pretty tired by the end of the day, and sometimes have a sore, aching belly in the evening. I can still feel sick if I don't eat frequently enough. And I'm having some killer heartburn. But for the most part, I feel great. My energy level is fine, I can still walk comfortably (albeit in a swayback waddle), I can usually get up from the floor without help, and I can even still buckle my shoes. I can still pick up Alex, although I can't carry her any distance. I have a decent appetite. My sleep is of fair quality. Niblet's movement and positioning aren't uncomfortable yet. So this is a nice time: gloriously big, without any of the real disadvantages that will probably hit next month.
Alex is being excited and loving about the pregnancy. She likes to pat and stroke my belly. She pushes gently on it and says, "I'm rocking the Niblet." She talks to him. At RE yesterday, we were talking about our families. Alex was eager to volunteer: "I have a baby brother! He's growing inside my Mama." Was there anyone else in her family? She had to be specifically prompted before she came up with Michael and me.
We've told her from the beginning that I'll go to the hospital to have the baby, and Papa will bring her to visit us there. We looked at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fairoriana's hospital pictures together and paid careful attention to what the big brother was doing. And we're talking a lot about her own birth.
A week or so ago, at dinner, she turned to me and said, "I have some sad news. What if the baby comes on a school day?"
"Then you'll be at school," I said, bewildered. "And probably Papa will pick you up after school and bring you to the hospital to see me and the Niblet."
"But who will take me to school?" Oh. We explained that someone will come and stay with her when the baby is born, and if Michael and I are away at nighttime that person will sleep at our house and take her to school in the morning. Which reminds me: we'd better start lining up our childcare.
My plan is to have one main and one backup babysitter on call to come to the house. Then I want to have emergency backups in case we have to leave for the hospital in a big hurry, before a babysitter can get there: a neighborhood family with a kid Alex's age for daytime, and, for nighttime, a neighbor who wouldn't mind listening to the baby monitor until the sitter arrived. I need to start making calls about that.
Other things I need to do: fill the gaps in our baby supplies, figure out where I'm going to put baby gear in the new house, get up the nerve to talk to my boss about maternity leave and my post-leave work schedule, line up a lactation consultant just in case, take some belly pictures and some Alex-talking-to-the-belly pictures.
Tomorrow I'm taking the morning off to go to the hospital for my third trimester labs. Glucose tolerance test, regular bloodwork, and the fun and exciting Rhogam shot. Should be a great day.
Just a month ago, I was able to send shock waves through the clinic where I run my research subjects by answering a casual nursing-station question of "When are you going to give her a little brother or sister?" with "February." No one had noticed.
If I had any doubts about how pregnant I look now, they vanished when I got on a crowded light rail train last week. Instead of saying something like "Would you like to sit down?" the guy seated next to me jumped up and said firmly, "Sit down, Miss." It was an order. Then this morning I stopped off at the cafeteria to buy a doughnut and a (sadly, decaf) cup of tea. "Giiiiiirl!" the cashier said. "When did you... when did you..." She seemed to realize then that "when did you get pregnant" is not really a polite question. Instead she turned to the cashier behind her. "Did you know she was pregnant?"
In the third trimester, your condition becomes public property. No one has touched me without permission yet, at least.
I feel really well these days. Oh, I get pretty tired by the end of the day, and sometimes have a sore, aching belly in the evening. I can still feel sick if I don't eat frequently enough. And I'm having some killer heartburn. But for the most part, I feel great. My energy level is fine, I can still walk comfortably (albeit in a swayback waddle), I can usually get up from the floor without help, and I can even still buckle my shoes. I can still pick up Alex, although I can't carry her any distance. I have a decent appetite. My sleep is of fair quality. Niblet's movement and positioning aren't uncomfortable yet. So this is a nice time: gloriously big, without any of the real disadvantages that will probably hit next month.
Alex is being excited and loving about the pregnancy. She likes to pat and stroke my belly. She pushes gently on it and says, "I'm rocking the Niblet." She talks to him. At RE yesterday, we were talking about our families. Alex was eager to volunteer: "I have a baby brother! He's growing inside my Mama." Was there anyone else in her family? She had to be specifically prompted before she came up with Michael and me.
We've told her from the beginning that I'll go to the hospital to have the baby, and Papa will bring her to visit us there. We looked at
fairoriana's hospital pictures together and paid careful attention to what the big brother was doing. And we're talking a lot about her own birth. A week or so ago, at dinner, she turned to me and said, "I have some sad news. What if the baby comes on a school day?"
"Then you'll be at school," I said, bewildered. "And probably Papa will pick you up after school and bring you to the hospital to see me and the Niblet."
"But who will take me to school?" Oh. We explained that someone will come and stay with her when the baby is born, and if Michael and I are away at nighttime that person will sleep at our house and take her to school in the morning. Which reminds me: we'd better start lining up our childcare.
My plan is to have one main and one backup babysitter on call to come to the house. Then I want to have emergency backups in case we have to leave for the hospital in a big hurry, before a babysitter can get there: a neighborhood family with a kid Alex's age for daytime, and, for nighttime, a neighbor who wouldn't mind listening to the baby monitor until the sitter arrived. I need to start making calls about that.
Other things I need to do: fill the gaps in our baby supplies, figure out where I'm going to put baby gear in the new house, get up the nerve to talk to my boss about maternity leave and my post-leave work schedule, line up a lactation consultant just in case, take some belly pictures and some Alex-talking-to-the-belly pictures.
Tomorrow I'm taking the morning off to go to the hospital for my third trimester labs. Glucose tolerance test, regular bloodwork, and the fun and exciting Rhogam shot. Should be a great day.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 04:32 pm (UTC)My mom asked about you just last night. Yay third trimester!!!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 05:00 pm (UTC)Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2008-11-17 05:20 pm (UTC)I've been reading your lj since before you got pregnant with Alex. Your parenting posts have been really inspiring with more and more frequently I'm telling
Any recommended reading for soon to be new parents with similar philosophies?
Re: Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2008-11-17 05:33 pm (UTC)Heh. That reminds me that I never did get the pre-delivery "nesting" energy burst . . .
Re: Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2008-11-17 11:19 pm (UTC)(That SteelyKid icon has me grinning like a fool, just so you know. She is the cutest!!)
Re: Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2008-11-18 03:53 am (UTC)Re: Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2008-11-18 04:08 am (UTC)Any recommended reading for soon to be new parents with similar philosophies?
I never found a baby book I liked. I think it's useful to have a general reference to consult for health issues (the AAP book is probably fine), but parenting advice books tend to vastly overstate the degree to which we know things for certain, and the degree to which parents are in control.
The advice I gave to
This may need to become a separate, more elaborate post.
Re: Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2008-11-18 02:12 pm (UTC)Re: Parenting Fanboy ;)
Date: 2009-02-04 11:11 pm (UTC)Thank you and good luck!!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 05:24 pm (UTC)I'm impressed that you can get decaf tea; here, it's available in supermarkets but not cafes, usually.
Glad to see Alex has her priorities straight :)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 09:15 pm (UTC)In a regular cafe I would expect to be able to get herbal tea, but not decaf black tea. The hospital cafeteria is stunningly well-equipped at both breakfast and lunch.
I'm afraid Alex will be in for a rude awakening, when the baby actually arrives. But maybe she's old enough and mature enough that it will be okay.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 09:44 pm (UTC)If Alex can mostly sleep through the baby crying, I think you'll all be fine.
(Yes, herbal tea is commonplace here, but not decaf black tea, which is what I assumed you were having. We drink a lot of it at home).
If you're 28 weeks, are you doing antenatal classes or something soon? Some places have refresher courses. I always wanted one but stuck with taking my SPD to bed instead.
(Childcare: our neighbour Iz came to us while Jo was born; Rob went round to their house at 6:30 am or so, and was there when Iz woke up. He dressed her and brought her to our house for breakfast. Jo was born at 10:30 am and we all went to hospital and met her about 4 pm, and then everyone came home and had dinner from our slow cooker in their house, and the kids were in bed by 7. Iz is 7 weeks older than Linnea and Jo is exactly 30 weeks older than Emer.)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 06:59 pm (UTC)Adorable.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-17 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-18 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-18 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-18 02:32 pm (UTC)And (at worst case) if you need emergency child care, give me a ring. It'll take me 30 mins to get to you, unless I'm at work and then it'll be 15, but I volunteer.