I’ve officially passed into the third trimester, and am feeling a heck of a lot better. I promise this post will be a whole lot less of “what the heck is going on?”. Did you get that feeling from the last one? Because that’s totally how I was feeling. Things have since calmed down quite a bit.

26 weeks

Let’s get the major questions out of the way:

• How am I feeling? Fine. Really, I promise I’m fine. Yes, my stomach is a little touchy, it’s always been a little touchy, but really I’m feeling fine and mostly normal, except for the burgeoning stomach part. Also, the last couple weeks of the trimester my lower back started to complain a bit.
• Do I have any cravings? Mostly the same cravings I have when it’s “my time of the month” so it’s not really all that weird. About half way through this trimester I got really into beets, kale apple salad, and creamy pasta, like all in the same meal, not the ideal combo for most, but I did discover that peanut sauce and kale apple salad are bffs.
• Have you felt the baby kick? Yep. CONSTANTLY.
• Do you have names picked out? Nope. Not even a little. Chuck and I can’t agree on anything.
• Are you excited? How do you even answer this question seriously? I mean come on, obviously.
• Have your ankles started swelling? Yep. Errryday.

22 weeks and a model pose

Now for my personal thoughts:

• Wearing clothes is hard: As soon as I figure out what fits, my body changes, and I’m cheap (and really hate shopping) so I’m trying to work as much with what I already have as I can. I broke down and got a few maternity shirts, that I’m hoping will get me through the rest of the time. We will see.
• Everyone’s pregnancy is different: It’s been really enjoyable for me that so many of my real life friends and “internet” friends are pregnant, or recently had kids. It’s really cool to see all the differences in how people and their bodies deal with all the changes.
• What do I actually need to have a baby? This thought keeps rolling through my mind. I feel like in today’s society we are inundated with so many options and so much stuff that to break it down to the basics is hard. It seems like I’m being told that I need so many things that I can’t imagine I would actually use. There are at least 8 different ways to bounce your kid around and you need each and every one. I’m not into this idea at all. I don’t want to be drowning in stuff, I want my family to have the space and money available to experience life not have it crammed with stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff…. I’m starting to hate that word.
• There is a living thing inside me: Still a weird concept. Like he has bones, and fingers and a personality. It’s just mind blowing.
• My skin is finally looking better: I had been struggling with really terribly dry skin all over my body for the first roughly 5 months. It finally started to clear up so I’m feeling really great about that.
• Heartburn: Holy wow heartburn is everywhere these days.

And there you have it, my very deep thoughts on the second trimester. I’m sorry if you were hoping for more, but I’m just not the person to get into all the emotional details of this process. That stuff, to me, is personal, and not at all what this blog is about.

I’m just glad I got to share some bump photos with you.