Now Entering Parenthood...

I am now officially into my third trimester. This is it, the final stretch, and stretching is exactly what is going to happen to just about every part of my body… stretching, snapping, breaking, aching. I was mid sentence in a meeting last week and one of the muscles in my belly snapped like a rubber band taking my breath away.

Little Gilroy is sure getting big. Apparently he is now the size of a Chinese cabbage (which reminds me of some awful Anne Geddes photo) and is close to 15 inches long. If I gave birth tomorrow, there is fairly good chance he would survive although would need a lot of medical help with his still developing lungs. Other parts of his body are working just fine. His eyes are fully formed with hundreds of lashes and the neurons in his brain are in the billions. The next three months is dedicated a great deal to “fattening up”, both for mama and baby.

Symptoms:

• Seeing fetal movement? Not quite sure I’m there yet, but there have been a few times where it feels as though my hand has been kicked right off my stomach. Tom has now convinced I’m not making things up as even he can feel the strong movements if he holds my belly.
• Attack of the charlie horses. Luckily the past few nights I have caught it before it has gone into a full blown cramp, but charlie horses are becoming a regular nightly occurrence.
• A new wardrobe. I had to finally give in and purchase two pairs of maternity pants and several winter shirts that will show off my ever expanding waistline. Pretty soon, my lack of balance and back aches will make heels an impossibility, so I’ve already stocked up on fashionable flats.