You are here: Home / Archives for Baby

The Third Trimester

by // Leave a Comment

People were not kidding when they said the third trimester was the toughest. Since I had a fairly easy first and second trimester, I thought I could breeze on by with the third, but fat chance! Things didn’t really get uncomfortable until the last month.  Up until then, I felt pretty normal. But in the last month, I feel huge! It’s definitely harder to move around because of sore and swollen joints, and the 90-degree heat is probably not helping things.

I’m glad I took off my wedding ring because if I had left it on, there’s no way it would be able to come off now.  The joints on my fingers have swollen so much that when I wake up in the middle of the night, I can’t even bend them.  During the day, it’s hard to do anything that requires finger-strength, so I guess no thumb wrestling or heavy typing for me.  Is this what arthritis feels like? This must be what getting old feels like.

One good thing about the summer is wearing sandals because now my feet have swollen to the point where I don’t think I can get them into regular shoes.

Yesterday was my guess date, but no sign of the baby yet.  It ticks me off how once you hit the 40-week mark, everyone starts treating you as a time-bomb.  My ob wanted to schedule an induction next week even though I told her I was totally comfortable going up to the 42-week mark before talking about any type of induction.  Of course, she balked at that.  It’s silly how no one bats an eye if a baby comes 3 weeks before a guess date, but once you go a few days over, they start throwing around scare-tactic medical jargon.

Protein Shake

by // 1 Comment

Will has been trying to make me have more protein.  I think we eat fairly healthy already, but I guess one needs extra protein to grow a baby.  In the morning, Will makes this pretty delicious protein shake that contains (in his words):

  • 8 frozen, pitted dates (dates are so sweet that it’s hard to eat as many as you’re supposed to eat in pregnancy)
  • 2-3 med chunks frozen banana
  • ~ 64 g nut butters (I use a combination nut butter or a mix of peanut and almond)
  • 15-20 g hemp protein (few spoonfuls) I find it a little icky and grainy, but put as much in as you can stand the texture of.
  • 10-15 g chia seeds (optional)
  • 21 g blackstrap molasses (for iron / calcium, and additional sweetness)
  • ~ 85 g silken tofu (the kind in aseptic packages), optional
  • 200-350 ml soy milk (depending on whether you’re using yogurt, add more or less)
  • 50-100 g greek yogurt or other high protein yogurt (optional, obviously vegans will omit this or substitute something else)
  • cocoa powder (optional)
  • ice

You can also add some brewers yeast to things to boost their protein and vitamin content.

He throws all of that together our blender and blends till smooth.  I like to have it in a jar with a lid so that I can drink half for breakfast and half in the afternoon.  Sometimes, if I’m super hungry, I may drink the whole thing in one go, but it’s pretty filling.

An Account of the Second Trimester

by // Leave a Comment

Giraffe Curtains

Now that I’m fully out of the second trimester and gearing into the third trimester, I have to agree with everyone who says that the second is the best trimester.  Other than my belly finally getting bigger, I didn’t feel that pregnant at all.  I had a fairly easy first trimester, but even compared to that, the second trimester was a breeze.

It was a strange relief to see my belly getting bigger. The relief part is finally getting out of the “Did she eat too much lunch? Louise got FAT” phase and into the, “Oh, she’s definitely pregnant” phase.  The strange part is looking down and seeing a big belly.  Most of the time, I forget about it if I don’t see it and will still bump into things on the counter with it. It does seem funny that the belly size seems to explode overnight. I’m constantly amazed that there’s room for all the food I eat, my existing internal organs AND a baby?!

I guess it’s true that people think pregnant women are more approachable because some of my neighbors have finally started to talk to me even though I’ve been living here for two years. Unfortunately, that also means I get some verbal diarrhea from some people like the bum who commented that I was “about to pop” any minute and some TMI stories that people have been telling me.

I have been swimming a lot more this summer just because there’s no way I can even play volleyball with the decreased lung capacity and the fact that everyone would probably be scared to play with a visibly pregnant lady.  I would think that swimming would be different because one’s center of gravity change when pregnant would change how a body floats, but it seems pretty normal to me. Maybe I’m just not that good of a swimmer to notice.  It is nice going into the cool water when it’s 85F out.

I had wanted to do most of the work in the baby’s room in the second trimester because I heard the third trimester is when the fatigue comes back, but I didn’t get as much work as planned. Will and my dad painted the room and moved the crib and changing table in. That’s about it.  Last weekend, Will and I made some curtains out of fabric we got online.  I still have a long list of things to do before the baby arrives, but half the time, I’m thinking that as long as there’s somewhere flat for the baby to sleep on, we have diapers, and I have breasts, we’re pretty prepared. Famous last words?

Previously: Pregnancy and inappropriate questions