Being pregnant is all about the wait and the anticipation for what is to come. Here I am, pregnant with our third and final baby with just a few days until that long awaited due date. Did I expect to cook her this long? No. I assumed I would be at home now, enjoying the beautiful fall weather on stroller walks alone while my other two children finished out their final week of childcare. But you know what they say about people who assume – joke’s on me people. However, when you step back and think about it, the entire process of being pregnant truly is one huge waiting game. Let’s break this down by trimester.
First Trimester
The waiting begins as you cross off the days on your personal calendar and finally realize you are “late.” You find yourself rushing through the aisles of Target trying to cover up your pregnancy test with items from the dollar bin as you can hardly contain the butterflies in your stomach combined with the feeling that you are about to throw up. The time has come to take that test and there you are waiting once more for the big result. As the much anticipated words appear, confirming what you have been waiting for all month, you jump onto Cloud 9 and can’t help but visualize the nursery colors and schemes as well as start making a list of your favorite names. But a few weeks later, as you are coming down from your initial “I’m Pregnant” high, it begins. The lucky moms know what I’m talking about. The dreaded and most unwelcomed symptom of being pregnant – morning sickness. You spend not just your mornings, but the afternoons and evenings with your head in the toilet and your nose covered up with your shirt to block out any smells that might trigger your gag reflex. All the while thinking, praying, and hoping that you will wake up the next morning and you will miraculously have been cured of this horrible sickness. But until then, you continue to cross off the days and wait until you can meet that lovely 14th week when it usually subsides.
Second Trimester
This is how you envisioned pregnancy. You can finally sleep, move and breathe without feeling like tossing your cookies. Coffee, oh sweet coffee, how you were missed. Your one cup a day can finally be part of your daily routine once again. Each monthly doctor appointment is filled with excitement as you hear that heartbeat and you become giddy once again as you schedule the 20 week anatomy scan where you’ll be able to get a peak at your precious baby and maybe even find out the sex. The weeks leading up to that big appointment feel as long, if not longer, than the weeks you spent dragging yourself out of bed knowing that you’d spend the majority of your morning getting ready next to the trash can. You know that once you finally make this appointment you can explore the aisles of every baby store in town with the scanner gun, going trigger happy for every baby item you have ever heard of or wanted. The homemade chalkboard sign is just waiting for you to make that Gender Reveal announcement that you will share with your family and friends. Yet you are once again stuck waiting and counting down the minutes until that big appointment.
Third Trimester
Thank you Baby Jesus, you have made it to the final 12 weeks of this pregnancy! The beginning of this final trimester is great. You can still breathe comfortably and eat without feeling like a stuffed sausage after three bites. But then you hit about 32 weeks and your maternity clothes are starting to get less comfortable. As much as you wish yoga pants were appropriate work attire, you know your boss would not appreciate it. You dream of putting those skinny jeans back on that don’t require an elastic waist that goes up to your bosom. A few weeks later when you start going for your weekly doctor appointments, you anxiously await for the doctor to tell you that you are dilated, thinned and in active labor. You pack your suitcase and set it at the end of the bed because you are certain this baby will come early since all of your of your friends with similar due dates have already posted pictures of their squishy bundles of joy. But your heart is crushed as the doctor informs you that you show no signs of progression and you will most likely make it to your due date. And then you enter the biggest waiting game of them all – Labor Day.
I won’t even attempt to go there.
This waiting game of pregnancy is a tough one. Your emotions are toyed with and you feel like you are on pins and needles at each and every milestone and event that happens throughout your three trimesters. But in the end, as you hold that sweet precious one in your arms, you forget the trials and tribulations that this little bambino put you through over the past forty weeks. Your heart swells with love and you take in each and every brand new moment with this sweet baby.
So Baby Girl, I know it may be nice and cozy in there but we are waiting for you. And we can’t wait to meet you.
