21 Weeks

As of today, I'm 21 weeks along in my pregnancy.  Wow!  The first half has gone by so quickly!  However, I think that this second half will be quite a bit harder--it's already getting more difficult, for several reasons.

1. Probably about two thirds of the people who ask me when I'm due say, "Oh, you're going to have to go through the Texas summer!"  Insert dread here.  There have already been some days when the heat and humidity have had this odd sapping effect on me as soon as I walk outside. And as soon as I walk back inside, I'm fine.

2. I'm due September 13, but I'll have a C-section sometime during the week before (I was close to having a baby on my birthday, which is September 14!).  So, technically, I have about 18 weeks to go.  However, I am already huge.  And I'm not just saying that because I have some skewed perception of myself because I'm looking with biased eyes.  I truly do have a large pregnant belly.  I remember that when I was at about 20 weeks with Noah, an older lady told me, with popping eyes, that I looked like I was about to deliver.  I was fairly horrified, but that was my first pregnancy, when I was disturbed by all the crazy things happening to my body.  At this point, I am over all of that, and, of course, since this is my third pregnancy, I'm bigger than I was in my first.  Yesterday, I spoke with a woman who clearly thought I was about to have this baby, and I was not offended at all; on the contrary, I find it a bit amusing to tell people that, no, I'm actually only halfway there.  (And then they cover their shock by saying, as you might predict, "Oh no, you'll have to go through the Houston summer!")

3. The thing about having a large baby belly is not so much the spectacle of it but the discomfort of it.  Last weekend, I was very hungry and wanted to eat all the time.  As soon as I realized it, I knew what was happening: I was about to pop some more.  This baby and all those support systems my body has built were growing.  And, sure enough, a couple of days later, I was noticeably larger.  (And, as it turns out, since I unexpectedly had two ultrasounds two weeks apart, I found out that the baby did go from 8 oz. to 12 oz. in that period.  I mean, they do grow fast, but still!  There was definitely a growth spurt in there!)  And as soon as I got that little bit bigger, I suddenly started feeling uncomfortable.  I had trouble putting socks on.  In fact, bending over for any reason got harder.  I still have the same level of energy, thank goodness, but I can tell that I'm going to get pretty huge this round, and I can't say I am looking forward to how I'll be feeling and getting around those last couple of months.  It's one reason to be thankful I'll be having this baby a week early instead of a week late, like the last two!

4. A few weeks ago, I was very sick for about a week.  In the end, it looked like I caught a virus from Noah and Jane, but whereas it only took them down for about 24 hours, it took me down for close to a week.  It was also accompanied by a monster headache, which is what precipitated the early ultrasound--the headache was so severe (even Vicodin + Tylenol didn't eradicate it) that we wanted to make sure the baby was okay.  This doesn't really affect how I'll be feeling for the remainder of my pregnancy, but I actually did feel a bit of shock that I felt so very bad.  This pregnancy had been fairly easy so far--definitely the smoothest of the three--and since no one knew what was wrong with me for several days, and since my symptoms pointed to something that was possibly ongoing and not just my body fighting off a virus and making me feel crummy, it made me feel as if it was the demarcation point from smooth sailing to rougher seas.  Thankfully, there's nothing really wrong with me or the baby, healthwise.  Hopefully, nothing more than a giant belly and a hot summer!