26 Weeks

Good morning!

(Hang on, I didn't sleep much last night... must groggily search for coffee to reheat...)

*Signs of the Coming of the Third Trimester*

1) I am so Big now that it doesn't seem possible to me that anyone could fail to notice I'm pregnant. (Although I haven't yet had a stranger ask "When are you due?", which maybe doesn't happen until you go from being Big to Very Big to Ginourmous, right?)

2) My back has actually been doing better but now my rib cage is hurting. Poor posture? The inevitable results of rapidly expanding midsection? *CENSORED: [Need a bigger bra (again)?] <\CENSORED>* Note that I can still mention this complaint because it is not YET the third trimester and thus not time to launch the Complaint-Free Third Trimester Initiative. (Incidentally, though- is[n't] there a difference between *stating* in a very factual and objective way that some part of you hurts and actually *complaining* about said ailment? Like, if I just TELL you that my rib cage hurts, that doesn't necessarily constitute a complaint, does it...?)

3) Contractions and kicking are on the increase. I have seen my stomach visibly move(!!!)

*intermission: time to make scrambled eggs. The baby is hungry*

4) Weight gain! Threatened to be exponential, until today, when I got on the scale and realized that yesterday's salad menu must have knocked off whatever weight I gained over the weekend eating 17 desserts at my parents' house. (Do you think I am exaggerating for comic effect when I mention that I ate 17 desserts over the weekend? Ha!) My scale must have had deja vu this morning because it registered exactly what I weighed a week ago, 151.2. The baby is gaining something like half a pound a week now (she's currently about 2 lbs) so there likely won't be many more weeks like that.

*WARNING: MEDICALLY GRAPHIC/EMBARRASING/SENSITIVE INFORMATION*
*SQUEAMISH/SENSITIVE READERS: SCROLL TO POINT 6*

5) When I sneeze or cough hard, I, um... "leak" a little bit! AAUUGGHH!!

*END WARNING*

6) Last round of bloodwork planned for Friday this week! To check for anemia, syphillis (I would have asked to skip that one except that it was already checked off on the paperwork), thyroid problems, and gestational diabetes. Can I emphasize how excited I am about drinking The Disgusting Icky Orange Drink?!? Yeah! At least it isn't carbonated, according to the sources I've consulted. [Reminder to self: CUT DOWN on desserts 24 hours before test. No more than 6 or 7. If you fail the first round of testing, I've heard the second round is pretty bad.]

7) I am increasingly thinking: 1) "Need to 'prepare' for childbirth [whatever that means]. Note to self: discuss with Jordana." 2) Must have The Talk with OB sometime in the next couple of months. Although I can't say I'm looking forward to it- sort of have bad vibes about what his viewpoint might be on the issue. [However, based on the way my prenatal appointments have gone so far, I *seriously* doubt he will be in any way directly involved with the birth of my baby. Instead, Miss Perky (Physician's Assistant) will actually be present when the baby comes out, and then once everything is done, she'll say Dr. Namewithheld wants to come in and say hi! And then thirty minutes later he will pop in, chuckle a little bit, shake hands with Nate, say something abstruse and confusing, and then pat me on the back with a hearty "Congratulations, Nancy!" on the way out the door. I'm serious!] 3) Need to prepare for breastfeeding...? Somehow? Read a book about it? 4) And after writing the Baby Stuff checklist, which was a lot of fun, I realized: this is kind of like wedding planning. When you plan a wedding, it's easy to get caught up in the details of registering and orchestrating arrangements and so forth while forgetting that it's really so much more important to be preparing for the Marriage, which will last a lifetime. So while it's important to make lists of what we need and do things like write a Birth Plan, I think it's probably even more important to be putting some thought into Parenting. I have to remind myself that there's no rush to try to Figure Everything Out Now: I am told that when the Invader first arrives all she will really need is food and sleep and diaper changes and cuddling. But it wouldn't hurt to do some reading or put some thought into things like Bonding and
how to handle sleep issues and things like that. And- are there habits we want to start early? Right now every night before we go to bed, Nate prays for her (usually something like "Please may the baby not bounce around too much," which I think is Nate-speak for "help her grow strong and healthy and safe"), and I would like to keep doing that after she's born.

Okay, I have now been on the internet Way Too Long, but in closing I will just mention: last week I was informed that my grading position for the summer would have to be changed and possibly canceled because the course was being reassigned to a grad student (and grad students don't have the luxury of a grader- they have to grade their own students' papers.) And I was pretty disappointed, because we need the money(!!) But then there was Good News: I would get a new position, after all! But then there was the Bad News: not only is the new assignment still with Professor Horrific (the prof I TAed for last fall!!! AAUUGGHH!!), but instead of Easy Calculus the course is Baby Real Analysis. Which lasts all summer, and will likely be much harder to grade. But still I am very glad to have the job... this afternoon I'm going in to pick up the textbook at start reading it and meet with Her to see if she has anything for me to grade yet.

Okay, time to get off and start getting things done.

Love, Neb