Surviving the Third Trimester

One of the reasons why it’s taken me so long to write this post is because my life has been quite frenzied the past two months. It was filled with pre-natal autumn blues, proposal-writing dilemma and chaos of house chores. These petty-like hindrances may seem insignificant but they have made it impossible for me to sit back and relax.

Today, however, everything’s changed. I am now able to stop and smell the roses. Yup! It all happened the moment I submitted my proposal to the College admin office two hours ago. I feel like a free woman now and I can just concentrate on being pregnant. That in itself is not an easy task to do. I’m now in my third trimester, approaching the 31st week of pregnancy and things couldn’t be more uncomfortable. The baby’s every movement is anything but subtle and most of the time, I feel like I have a little gymnast in my belly. I was told by my midwife last week that Braxton-Hick contractions are part and parcel of the second half of pregnancy and lucky for me, become more frequent during the third trimester. This has made sleeping a conscious and laborious effort for me at night and when I wake up in the morning, a sleep-deprived face greets me in the mirror. The only consolation I have is, this will soon be over in 8 week’s time and all I can do now is just suck it and endure the heartburn and lower back pain as much as I can.

Physically, I can’t wait to pop just to be able to feel in-charge of my own body. At the same time, part of me wants to prolong this moment we have with Alden, as a family of three. Now, it’s just Mama, Dada and Alden. By end of June, it’ll be Mama, Dada, Alden and Baby X. It’s a big change especially for Alden and at the tender age of three, I wouldn’t want him to feel neglected or less-loved when his little sister (hopefully) enters his world. So far, Alden has been such a good sport about having a sister, though I doubt he understands what it really means. Every night, he’d say hello to Baby X and kiss my belly lovingly. Then when I ask him whether he’d like to have “adik” (referring to cousin Demita) he’d say “NO”. Hehe..I guess this Baby X will definitely rock Alden’s world in more ways than one. Just like how Alden has rocked my world upside down the moment he was born. Though I’m excited to meet Baby X, I’m just as excited to see how Alden would react the first time he’s introduced to his little sister.