T3

Somewhere in the archives, TexasMommy wrote about the upsides of the third trimester of pregnancy. I am at 33 weeks now, so I want to share my thoughts on the subject. Be prepared, they will get whinier as the weeks progress:

1) I am now so visibly pregnant that many strangers comment. I am really glad to be pregnant and excited to meet my baby, so I am finding that it is actually fun to talk to strangers about when he is due, etc. However, when they ask if this is my first, I am tempted to just say yes so we can move on without the hysterics of how young I look to have five other children. This usually leads to them asking how old I am. Do I have to tell? Old enough to have wrinkles means you shouldn't really ask my age, right? Also, visibly pregnant = seats on buses, doors held, general kindness from strangers, which I am cherishing.

2) 4 year old John, who is not a cuddler generally, has taken to hugging and kissing the baby (and therefore me).

3) Nesting. You should see my closet, it is clean and beautiful. This will not help the baby in any way, but I have learned to channel my nesting energy into other productive areas, since I don't really have to set up a nursery. Although sometime after Halloween I am going to wash and organize all the tiny nightgowns, and that will be super fun.

4) Leg cramps and heartburn. Okay, here is my positive spin on leg cramps...right now I am a little bit scared of labor, but over the course of the next seven weeks my leg cramps will becoming increasingly painful and more frequent, to the point where I would happily endure natural childbirth just to get this whole pregnancy over with. I am dead serious about this, I think it is a healthy part of the whole cycle, I will be begging for labor come December, and that is a good thing. Also, I am supposed to help the leg cramps by having a glass of milk before bed. It doesn't work at all, but it does give me a good excuse to eat a cookie.