Third Trimester: Large

Oh, what a whirlwind the third trimester has been. I've had highs and lows filled with belly laughs that led to snorts along with tough days where I cried to myself. Weeks 28-40 have felt long but in a way, it's also gone by fast. It's crazy to think that in a matter of days, we'll soon meet our little Elijah.

Sleep
Sleep is harder to come by comfortably when you've got a big ol' belly in your way. Pregnancy pillows became annoying and in the way, my hips seemed to become weak holding up all the extra weight, and I often have to use sleeping Jeremy as leverage to help me turn over from side to side. It's been an adjustment, that's for sure. Oh, and evidently I snore now. Oops. Some nights I get a full 8 hours of sleep and others I wake up consistently every 2-3 hours...sometimes not being able to get back to sleep. You just never know. Awkward positions also threw my neck out at week 36 making it an uncomfortable 3 days until it finally got back to normal.

Icing my neck and being pitiful

Maternity Classes
Some classes were more overwhelming than others but in the end, Jeremy and I are glad that we took the time to take 8 classes to prepare us (as much as possible) for birth and bringing baby home. We had some great teachers and couldn't help but giggle and sometimes cringe at certain examples. We did, however, manage to take excellent care of our fake, and very ethnic, baby.

Baby Showers
We spend as much time with our co-workers as we do each other and were overwhelmed with love when our friends surprised us with not one, not two, but THREE work-showers!

MetLife threw us a Where the Wild Things Are baby shower where I had a few surprise guests like Jeremy, my sister and a few co-workers from my previous job in Retail at MetLife.

Jeremy's YMCA crew threw us a nice little get-together where we caught up and laughed over bacon-wrapped watermelon rhine (it was really good!), cupcakes and Indonesian BBQ.

Last, but not least, the teachers at Carmel Christian put together a footbal-themed diaper shower in honor of the upcoming arrival of Elijah. It was great to meet Jeremy's fellow teachers and co-workers and eating, of course.

Exercises
I mentioned in my Goals blog that the only thing to make me calm about labor was to do something about it. That means doing exercises to open up my hips for labor. I came across Tracy Anderson's The Pregnancy Project and have been doing key exercises exclusive for months 8 and 9.

Strategically hiding the stretch marks and rolls

Nesting
I was beginning to think that we would run out of time getting the nursery together, but the past few weeks I have cleaned, organized and finalized Elijah's nursery with a big sigh of relief. (Blog post coming soon) Bottles, bibs and clothes are washed as I try to keep the house in tip-top shape knowing that he could come any day now.

Uncertainty
The thing that has upset me the most during the third trimester would be that at 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant, I was told that my position would no longer be effective starting February 28th; two days before Elijah's arrival. That's right, I, along with all of Creative Service teams across MetLife, got laid off. I've worked for two large corporate companies and have seen layoffs year to year but have never experienced it myself. It's something I never wanted to experience, ESPECIALLY this far into pregnancy, but it was a bullet I couldn't dodge and it was a rough two weeks of sadness, shame and embarrassment for myself. Although Jeremy and I have been put into a situation that is not ideal, we have faith in God that it will work out in the end. It is in His hands.

Relax
The explanation above has definitely put some stress on me but I've tried to relax through it all. Jeremy booked me a prenatal massage at the Ballantyne Spa that was all kinds of heaven from the moment I walked in. I wish I could afford one every week!

Fat Feet (and hands and face and neck)

The combination of the last few weeks of pregnancy and the freakishly rise in temperature has got my hands and feet into a puffy state.

Clumsy Thumbsy
Now that it's hard to bend over, I seem to drop EVERYTHING. Most days I just look at what I dropped longingly. If Jeremy or others are around, they will gladly pick it up. Otherwise, I give myself a pep talk and go for it OR simply leave it for later.

Or drop something...

Only 6 more days until the due date but I've still got a few more things to check off the To Do list. Things like write two more blogs, update my resume + portfolio and get those hospital bags together. Those Braxton Hicks contractions are starting to make their appearance on a regular occasion leading me to think that in a matter of days, we'll soon meet our little Elijah. We can't wait!