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Week Twenty-Six
Published 07.15.2008 | Permanent Link | Comments (6)
Your Baby:
- Is almost two pounds. Celebrate this milestone with a two-pound box of chocolates. You know, in order to really get a good VISUAL.
- Remember those early bubbly butterfly kicks? Yeah. Those have been replaced by something akin to a rabid mongoose flippin' out inside a burlap sack.
- If you DO occasionally feel smaller, rhythmic movements in your belly, it's probably your baby hiccuping. Babies actually get hiccups from late in the first trimester on, but most women don't pick on them the second trimester or later.
- All five senses are fully developed. Whoa.
You:
- Are in the last and final week of the second trimester! (At least according to the books I've chosen to listen to -- some mark the beginning of the third trimester as week 27, while some make you wait until week 28. Look, we're all big and lumpy and ridiculously cranky, let's get this final trimester STARTED.)
- Of course, the end of the second trimester also marks the end of the so-called "honeymoon" phase of pregnancy, as the final three months can get awfully uncomfortable. Back and joint pain, swollen ankles, restless nights and Braxton-Hicks contractions, ahoy!
- You'll gain about 1/2 inch in belly/fundal size EVERY WEEK from this point on, oh mah gah. I guess I should stop being so smug about those pre-pregnancy lowrise jeans I've been wearing (with just a little help from my trusty rubber band).
- The books say we've gained about 16-22 pounds, so long as we've been following a "nutritious and sensible diet plan." Bite me, books.
This past week I probably came as close to unabashedly loving pregnancy as I'll ever get. I am obviously, prominently pregnant but not freakishly so. My skin and hair have calmed down and I finally got my first "you're glowing!" compliment. (And it only took six months!) I'm not sleeping very well but I'm blissfully free of the terrible back pain and sciatica that plagued me last time. And I have not vomited in dang near a month, nor are my food and smell aversions as powerful and all-consuming as they've been for far too long.
I've had enough energy to take my son to the playground AND to Target...all in the same day! I've gone out for dinner with friends and finally got my butt to the hair salon. I'm loving the more trendy, form-fitting maternity outfits that I'm so happy I treated myself to recently, second-trimester-I'll-probably-never-wear-this-again be damned. I look pretty good, I feel pretty good...so could I please just quit now while I'm ahead?
This is exactly how a lot of women describe their entire second trimester, and I'm trying not to feel too cheated by the fact that this pregnancy seems to have been one long first trimester (nausea, headaches, peeing, not-ever-looking-as-pregnant-as-I-felt) followed by what will likely be a very short honeymoon period before the messy awkward explosion of the third trimester, the time of the giant belly and grunts and swelling and constant rubs and labor predictions from strangers (last time I couldn't even go to the grocery store without little Russian grandmothers praying over me against my will, since I looked fully cooked and overdue long before I actually was).
When I started pitching and shaping the ideas for this column, I thought it would be pretty fun to keep running comparisons between my pregnancies, but I don't think I was really prepared for HOW VERY VERY DIFFERENT they would be. Sure, I knew better than to ever assume that any two pregnancies would be the same (I learned that lesson early on with my first pregnancy when I tried OTHER PEOPLE'S sure-fire morning sickness remedies with disastrous results), but I guess I still thought that MY pregnancies would at least vaguely resemble each other.
My first pregnancy: 13 weeks or so of unrelenting, incurable all-day sickness. 10 pounds lost followed by textbook pound-a-week weight gain for a total of about 33 pounds. Due date predicted practically down to the hour. Craved chocolate pudding, hot salsa and Indian food. Hair mysteriously stopped shedding for entire duration of pregnancy. Was complete nervous wreck; husband still gets nightmares about "the whole nesting thing."
This time: Five solid months of morning sickness, mostly controllable by constant eating and snacking, provided I could figure out the one acceptable food that wouldn't just make it worse. No weight loss, but also no real weight gain to speak of either -- six or seven pounds, tops. Migraines. Conflicting ultrasounds and no memory of The Momentous Evening (or morning! afternoon delight! it's anyone's guess!) means no real set-in-stone due date. Stubbornly breech baby kicking an entirely different set of organs. Craved black olives, caffeine and cheese. Absolutely disgusted by most meats, especially chicken and fish, but usually could always eat a hot dog or four. Hair is still shedding. Anxiety has mostly been minimal, save for some recurring weird-ass dreams; way more concerned about husband rearranging the dining room furniture than assembling the crib.
Speaking of not-yet-completed nurseries, it's time for this week's registry checklist! Can't you just feel the excitement?
NURSERY GEAR
(I am assuming you know to buy a crib and some type of surface upon which to change diapers. Doesn't necessarily have to be an actual "changing table" or anything, but something flat and at a comfortable height for changing. Sure, sure, some people love to brag about how they just changed their baby's diapers on the floor or couch or bed and never needed a separate table, but I secretly think they're either forgetting or willfully withholding the stories about back strain and projectile poop on the furniture and their pillow and how it's really hard to keep the dog from eating the poopy diaper if you've got nowhere to chuck it except the floor.)
Buy Now:
Buy Later:
Don't forget to visit Amalah's Pregnancy Calendar from Weeks 22, 23, 24, and 25 when she first starts the Baby Registry Discussion.
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About this column
Zero to Forty is a week-by-week guide to the miracle of pregnancy and all the various indignities that come with it. The calendar follows the forty-week model and is complete for now, though the author plans to come back and add some more articles soon.
The follow-up to this column, Bounce Back, is about the postpartum experience -- the good, the bad and the gory. There Amalah is covering everything that happens to your body, mind and circadian rhythms after you have a baby, and (hopefully) help you make sense of the New Normal. You must go read that too!
The column is well-researched but not written by a health care professional. Consider it your internet BFF pregnancy guide. See our legal disclaimer below.
About the author
Amy Corbett Storch, aka Amalah, is a freelance writer and professional blogger from Washington, DC. She has since had this baby. His name is Ezra, he was born in October of 2008 and is delicious. Amy's first son Noah is in preschool and he's pretty edible too. NomNomNom.
Amy also writes Alpha Mom's Advice Smackdown.
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The Zero to Forty masthead and illustrations were created by the artist Brenda Ponnay aka Secret Agent Josephine. Brenda is very talented and these images are copyright-protected. You should hire her!
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Comments (6):
Susanna said:
Ha! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one whose pets are having a territorial war over the nursery. I've had to keep one of our cats downstairs so she and the other cat don't try and mark everything. I am sick of doing laundry and spraying Urine-B-Gone and Feliway everywhere. And, of course, the nursery is the only room in the house they fight over.
This is why I haven't set out any of the actual baby stuff yet. So far, our nursery is still in spare room/potential nursery mode. Anything the baby might actually touch (except for the crib) is packed away in the closet, out of reach of the cats.
Posted on July 16, 2008 08:54
Kimba said:
So I was thinking, would it be possible to get this lovely baby items checklist in one location? Possibly in printable form? Or not, I don't mind copying and pasting, I was just thinking, holy crap, I'm going to need this list eventually (I'm three weeks behind you, lovin' this column!) and it would be lovely to not have to go back to each week's column.
I'm already an insanely organizational freak, and am fearful for when the "nesting phase" fully kicks in. As is my husband. :) One big list would totally help alleviate some of the stress!
Posted on July 16, 2008 12:42
Shaunna said:
Ha! I love the rabid mongoose metaphor!! (Or is it a simile?) I'm only a few days behind you and just this week the movements have become so intense that it kinda weirded me out. It's been impossible for me to come up with the right words to describe this. Yours are perfect!
Posted on July 16, 2008 15:35
Sarah said:
I'm a week behind you with my 1st, and those crazy movements just started here, too! I totally love the mongoose reference - very true. My hubby got a kick (haha, punny) out of it as well. He is highly entertained when I have him feel the bouncing around. And all I can do is stare at my belly. I pause whatever I'm watching on TV and just stare and talk to her when she is active at night. It's all so amazing. :)
Posted on July 16, 2008 19:21
Jenny said:
My son would cry in the car when it got dark. I attached our crib music box to the back of my headrest in the car. All I had to do was reach around and push the big star and the screen would light up and music would play for a few minutes. It got kind of tiring pushing the button several times on long trips but less crying = happy driver.
Posted on July 22, 2008 11:52
Anonymous said:
Wow your second pregnancy sounds just like my first, non stop illness last thing you want to do is eat something to make yourself stop throwing up are you having a boy?
Posted on November 17, 2008 17:04