Pregnancy Transition – From the Second to the Third Trimester

If you asked what the most unexpected thing about pregnancy has been thus far, I would without question say how quickly it flies by.  As I sit here and type up this post, I’m in disbelief that my third trimester is less than a week away.  I’ll be 28 weeks next Wednesday!  I should clarify that my disbelief is only mental in nature and not physical.  I totally feel the third trimester quickly approaching!  More on that in a minute.

All my mom friends told me that the second trimester would be the best – you have more energy, you finally look pregnant, your hair/skin/nails are strong/healthy/glowing, you start to feel the baby kick, etc.  And I couldn’t agree more.  My second trimester has been, dare I say, pretty easy.  As I like to tell Vishnu, “This little guy sure loves his momma!”

The biggest highlight of the past few months was undoubtedly finding out the sex of the baby (FYI…we’re having a boy!).  Other highlights include sharing said news with loved ones, feeling the baby kick, my emerging baby bump, attending our first (of three) baby class, etc.

And yes, while we’ve experienced so many highs, there have been a few ‘lows’ as well – lack of quality sleep, lower back pain, swollen ankles, and super painful middle of the night leg cramps.  All for a wonderful cause though!

Now that the third trimester is almost here, I’m anticipating things will get…interesting.  I was just telling Vishnu that sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with everything we still have left to do, and he admitted he feels the same way.  Let’s be honest, it’s probably just our upcoming move in Mid-May that has both of us on edge. Thankfully, we have some fun stuff on the horizon too – two showers (which I’m SO excited about), our babymoon in Scottsdale (SUPER excited about this as well), and a coworker’s wedding (on July 3rd).  Admittedly, I think I just need carve out time to organize the next few months.  Just writing out everything that needs to happen before the baby’s arrival should help me (and ultimately Vishnu) feel better.  Fingers crossed!

And finally, like I said earlier, my body is a little further along than my mind at this point!  What I mean by this is that in my mind I’m invincible Par who can do all the things my pre-pregnancy self did.  But in reality, I’m clearly not, and my body reminds of this every day!  Especially in the last week or so.  By the time 7 pm rolls around, I’m EXHAUSTED!

Something one of my coworkers said to me today really resonated in terms of trying to be a pregnant superwoman.  She said, “If you can’t be kind to yourself, be kind to your baby.”  SO TRUE!  It’s hard for me to accept the fact that I can’t do all the things I used to…at least not at the same pace.  But for the sake of the baby, I have to.  He needs his momma to calm down and relax!

What does this mean?  Well for starters, it means I literally need to slow down and not rush around from here to there.  For example, I realized on my walk to and from work the other day that I power walk when I don’t need to.  No one cares if I get to the office at 8:10 versus 8:00.  I’m also giving up on the idea of cooking new/unique meals most nights of the week.  We’ll still be eating healthy meals at home, but I’m going to rely on leftovers and super easy crock pot recipes until July…and likely afterwards!  I want to make more time for myself as well – reading books, watching TV/movies, sleeping in (when possible), etc.  And finally, I’m going to stop stressing about things that are out of my control (this one is mostly related to work). Work is extremely busy right now, and while that’s great, I need to keep things in perspective.  There’s no point in overthinking things or stretching myself too thin…work will always be there!

Third trimester preggo Par is learning to slow down, go with the flow, and say f*** it!  It may take a few practice rounds, but I’ll get there!

And that, my friends, is my transition from the second to the third trimester in a nut shell.  Wish me luck!