Michael & Liz are Bloggable

 With the 3rd trimester well on it's way, I can't help but mark how different each trimester has been. Pregnancy really is perfectly divided into 3 sections, 3 very very different sections. Here is my assessment of how those trimesters have gone.

1st Trimester - The Paranoia Trimester:

The first 90 days are full of paranoia. The baby is incredibly small and vulnerable and almost anything can happen. The end of the first trimester is marked by a significant decrease in risks to the baby. Liz was always sick and tired during that time and we were always analyzing every issue to see if it's something to be concerned about. This first trimester, full of paranoia, is my least favorite. It may contain the excitement of finding out your pregnant, but that's the only thing to be happy about during that time.

2nd Trimester - The Fun Trimester: 

The second 90 days are the most fun. The baby is growing big enough to poke out of Liz's belly. The baby will start kicking for the first time. The exhaustion that occurred in the first 90 days is completely gone and energy returns to a normal level. It also includes the first ultrasound along with the discovery of the baby's sex. Now that you know the sex, you can get right into picking the baby's name. This was definitely the best trimester.

3rd Trimester - The Anxious Trimester: 

Anxious as in, eager and antsy, not anxious as in worried or fearful. While we are barely halfway through the final trimester, it is difficult to handle all the excitement as Liz's belly continues to move around and grows so big. It's as if we already have a baby, we just can't play with him yet. We have a name picked out and we can't tell anyone about it. We have baby clothes, a baby room, and all the baby things ready, and yet no baby to occupy those things. There is a date that used to be far off in the distance, but is increasingly becoming a tangible date on the calendar. Liz, and pregnant women alike, start to get uncomfortable with the size of their belly. An old movie line of "just get this thing out of me", is a phrase that makes a lot of sense to me now.

Yesterday was the first time in the pregnancy where the baby and I interacted. We were in baby class, and he was kicking hard. That's one thing we certainly will remember about the pregnancy, is how active he has been. Liz could feel him kick at 16 weeks and all he does these days is constant somersaults and flailing inside her belly. I like to think he's already starting to develop his soccer skills. Anyway, I found the spot he was kicking, and pushed his limb back in. With an abrupt reaction, he kicked Liz right back to the point where she jolted around in her chair. It was very comical.

We have all the preparations made for life to change, and yet we still have all this time to wait. I almost equate it to having bought a house, moved all the furniture onto the front lawn, but told we won't get the key for another month. So close and yet so far. We also don't have any control over the future either. The baby will arrive when he wants to arrive, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I keep looking at the calendar in March and thinking to myself, which day are you? Which day have we been waiting for? Which day is going to be one of the greatest days in our life? It's so exciting and yet all we can be right now is antsy.

So anxiousness, that's all the 3rd trimester is consumed by. Hopefully March gets here sooner, rather than later. It's starting to get tough to wait.