Hello Everyone! I remember my OB asking at my 28 week appointment if I could believe I was in my third trimester, and I said yes! I feel like I have been waiting to have this baby forever, and it is so exciting to get closer to my due date! The baby continues to be quite wiggly and active. I will say I’m looking forward to being able to set this baby down– because carrying this little one is feeling heavy and those kicks hurt!
We did a lot in the second trimester to prepare our home– Daniel assembled the dresser, installed blinds, put the crib together, etc. This trimester we have focused on putting finishing touches in the nursery. I washed several loads of my niece August’s baby clothes and pulled out the gender-neutral outfits. I also had fun shopping for some boy clothes, because I really think this baby is a boy (and I tend to think girls can wear any boy clothes without it being weird). Folding those tiny baby clothes was precious– it’s just hard to believe that babies start out so small!
We have enjoyed starting to read books to the baby. A few weeks ago Daniel started laughing really hard as I read a Sandra Boyton book and the baby started kicking– truly it felt like an ideal moment with my little family. I remember someone telling me that becoming a grandparent compounded her love for her children, and these last few months I can relate more and more to the sentiment. In these quiet moments, I have come to see Daniel not just as my husband, but also the father of my child– what a special bond this brings to our relationship.
Socializing in Socially-Distant Times
Thanks to COVID we have pretty much laid low this trimester, although we managed to find a few ways to reconnect after mostly not seeing people since March. We felt like it was important to bring some normalcy back to our lives (before they change all over again!). I really enjoyed going back to church on Sundays. We are fortunate that our church has enforced wearing masks and social distancing inside the worship space. It’s also a real plus that we belong to such a tiny (English-speaking) congregation; most weeks there have been about 15-25 people total. It was fun to show/ tell our pregnancy to our church family.
When the Kickers were finally able to start their season this August, we of course had to go to a few games! Honestly we were kinda surprised the league was able to pull off a season at all thanks to COVID. It was really nice to squeeze my baby bump into my jersey and actually watch the Kickers win a few games. Hopefully next season will be more normal, with the exception of finding ways to entertain a 6-9 month old munchkin during the games!
Showered with Love
We had a lot of fun virtually hanging out with friends and family for a gender guessing party on August 8th. We went through 10 or so Old Wives Tales to solicit guesses for a boy or girl. Daniel remains convinced we are having a little girl. I personally think we’re having a boy– mostly because we were asked to look away an awful lot during the 20 week ultrasound. While I never would have dreamed of zooming with a bunch of friends, aunts, uncles, and siblings to celebrate this baby it was SO fun! In some ways it was neat, because I never would have gotten to see that particular group of people all together– we had family from Florida, Rhode Island, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, and across Virginia. We’re lucky to have such a wonderful support system! Oh, and the guesses leaned slightly towards baby boy– time will tell though!!
Labor Day weekend brought beautiful weather to Richmond (only in the 80s and no rain!) and Jessica and my mom through a beautiful backyard baby shower. It was so nice to get to see several of my Richmond girlfriends and have a family cook-out afterwards. I’m lucky have several friends who are amazing moms– it was nice to have a chance to get some advice and support! 2020 truly has been such a bizarre year– and weird backdrop for this pregnancy–it was nice to have an afternoon of normal fun.
I also was honored (and surprised) to have my coworkers at both offices throw me a baby shower. Being an essential worker in a pandemic has meant I have spent a lot of time with my coworkers and not much time with my family or friends. I have really enjoyed the encouragement and support from the many moms!
Just Waiting for Baby!
I suppose the last trimester has felt like a combination of scrambling to finish our preparations (like anyone is fully prepared to become a parent?), trying to find socially-distant ways to visit with family and friends, looking forward to a break from work (hello maternity leave!), and just waiting for baby! I must say as i write this at 38 weeks, I am definitely looking forward to no longer being pregnant. I would gladly repeat months 1-6 of this pregnancy, but the last couple months have felt like a challenge. It’s going to be magical to hop out of bed in the morning without having to awkwardly roll this baby bump over! And while I will soon be woken by baby in the night, I think that will be a welcome change to having to use the bathroom every 2-3 hours 😉
I can’t wait to share our birth story in the not-too-distant future! Although, truly I hope that post in a couple weeks away. If I can make it to my due date (October 9th) I won’t have to return to work until January and that just seems so much nicer than coming back to work a few weeks before Christmas!
Love,
Kari