Third trimester

Well, pregnancy fatigue was real. It was so real that I never “got around” to writing about the 3^rd trimester before she was born so I’ll do a quickie recap here before I post about her birth.

The third trimester was a mixed bag of tricks. It started out great, following along with the ease of the second trimester. It went well until around 30 weeks. I thought surely something was wrong with me. I was so sore and it hurt to walk around. It felt like I had ridden a horse for 30 days straight or went to the gym and used every machine in there 1000 times. I was also super busy at work prepping for my maternity leave – scheduling clients with other supervisors, making job duty descriptions of everything I do every day and assigning those to the staff we have, etc. I wanted everything to be taken care of plenty of time in case I went out early. I tried to plan for the unplanned. I was all kinds of worn out. I also learned that a "donut" was not just something that I had been overindulging in as a pregnancy craving....

Overall, the best part of the third trimester was the belly. I didn’t love the discomfort but I loved my bump. I was always in awe of how the woman’s body changes during pregnancy and the bond that I felt with the baby. She was then so “real” and we were slowly getting closer to meeting her. The curiosity and amazement were exhilarating. It was also the only time I could stop sucking in my paunch and wear tight clothes and embrace such a belly.

Bump pictures:

People kept asking if I was taking time off before the baby. My standard answer was that I would work until “she fell out” or when my water broke which may mean driving myself from work to Mercy Hospital (which is exactly what happened). I had never realized that short term disability coverage is not standard for everyone on maternity leave as it was in California. I was used to people being off before the baby and then receiving a portion of her salary during her maternity leave while on short term disability for 3 months after. Sadly, I learned only a few states in the USA offer this. This may or may not have caused a few days of mental breakdowns. I miss you California. Three months of unpaid leave with a promise to keep my job – get on board America. How are we so developed in some ways and so behind in basic care like this?! Anyway, that’s a post for another day.

By 35 weeks, we were pretty much ready (in a practical sense of the word "ready"). I always mentally prepared for going from work to the hospital so I kept my packed hospital bag and the car seat in the trunk. We had the car seat bases installed at the fire house.

 So strange to look back and see a car seat!

Thanks for the sweet helpful guys at the High Ridge Fire Department 

 packing HER bag

packing HIS bag

I had a few surprise showers! My co-workers planned a luncheon/shower which was a total surprise. I also had a surprise book shower with my book club ladies. They all brought Eden “strong women” books to build her library. She has some really, really great books!

   

We planned to have lunch at a new Saudi restaurant. Little did I know I would be the recipient of such generosity!

book club "aunties" 

My sister hosted a baby shower for us and no detail was left unplanned. It was a South African themed/safari shower. I’m not into the “cutesy” cartoon-like safari animals that are in most baby themes and my sister did a fabulous job incorporating animals into the theme. Our friend from South Africa, Irene, made the savory food. We had delicious South African influenced treats. My mom came for the shower so that was fun to have her there. We also spent time getting Eden’s room ready (more on her room later!). 

 koeksisters

During my shower, I really missed my California tribe. Not having those girlfriends around has been the hardest part of pregnancy. There are so many things I want to ask them or share with them in person and I definitely felt the absence. Those gems sent me a “shower in a box” – another total surprise. I received a box with gifts, decorations, and shower games for Luba and me to play (this also allowed him to be part of a shower since all the others were women only or co-workers). We had specific instructions on how to play each game and each game came with a prize for the winner. It felt like they were there – all of their personalities came through with each gift and game. The greatest gift they gave was intangible and went far beyond what was in the box. I was elated.

The weekend before Eden came, I got so much stuff done. My mantra was “let’s do it now in case this is our last weekend.” We went on a date to a nice restaurant. I also finished a class (completed 75% of it on Saturday) so that it would be finished “in case I delivered early.” It was a 6-week class through UC Davis that was set to run through my due date.

the 3 of us after dinner 

The Friday before I wound up giving birth, we had a "practice run" to Mercy. I had such severe heartburn, waking up in the early hours barely able to move. I had called in to the exchange at 4am after being up a couple hours and Luba went to CVS at 4 to buy medicine. By 7, it wasn't better so the doctor had me go in to double check that everything was okay due to severe pain. After having a shot of Mylanta laced with Lidocaine, I was back to baseline and on the way home.

Remember before I knew I was even pregnant, I had downloaded an ovulation tracker app. Well, I also downloaded a contraction timer toward the end of the trimester so I could be ready to head to the hospital on time. Again, not needed.

That's a quick run down of the third trimester and some of the biggest highlights. 

More soon, my breast pump is beckoning….

Danielle