How ya feelin'?

Besides that other inevitable question, "When's the baby due?", this is probably the question I get the most in a typical day/week. Usually I find it best to say "I'm doin' fine" and move on. But here's the real deal on what the third trimester feels like on most days (at least for me--pregnancy is a highly individual experience, your own results may vary considerably).

Fatigue: For the most part this means, I'm just kinda out of it due to the lack of sleep (I haven't had a night of uninterrupted sleep in about a million years (preview of coming attractions?). This means that my brain is usually a bit sluggish, and probably contributes to the crabbiness I'm feeling about half of the time. I am finding it harder to walk long distances or climb stairs, but for the most part, if I'm doing "normal" stuff, I feel pretty "normal". The fatigue really comes into play at the end of the day, and by 8pm, going to bed is sounding mighty attractive. And you better believe I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity to get a head start on some sleep.

Back pain: I was actually having more problems with this at the beginning of the third trimester (a few months ago) than I am now that I've hit the home stretch. Now I feel like my body has adjusted somewhat to carrying around the extra load, and thanks to preventative measures (abdominal support belt, comfortable cushions), I usually am not as troubled with back aches.

Hemorrhoids and constipation: I've definitely dealt with this a few times, and it's about as fun as it sounds. ;)

Heartburn: The less pleasant aspect of having a nearly-done baby sharing (taking over?) your abdominal cavity is that it leaves little room for your digestive system to do its magic. Truth be told, I can't eat anything after about 5-6pm anymore, and those evening meals have to be pretty bland to stay put--but even that precaution is no guarantee of success. I can't drink most of my favorite juices anymore (too acidic), and carbonation is totally out. If I want to eat anything even remotely adventurous, I have to do it at lunch time. (Incidentally, if you are wondering where to invest your money, I'd recommend GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Tums. I'm definitely doing my part to keep them in business...and I figure the extra calcium ain't hurtin' things either.)

Breathing difficulty: This goes under the category of "existing tendencies", and my whole theory that pregnancy just tends to exacerbate whatever tendencies you already have. Just as my entire digestive system has been compressed into smaller digs, the baby's also moved in on my rib cage/lungs. There's feet up there pressing on my ribs much of the time. While it doesn't exactly hurt (since there's no kicking involved--just a bit of stretching/pushing), it's not a comfortable sensation either. Now I get real out of breath from doing totally normal things because, well, there's just not much room for my lungs to do their thing any more...not that they were ever the most effective of respiratory organs. What this means is I huff and puff my way up the stairs (I'm glad I'm not subbing at Jeff this year), and even climbing in and out of bed tends to get me a bit winded.

The other thing that makes it harder to breathe is the "pregnancy rhinitis" which I've had for months. In case you ever wondered, it's like having inflamed sinuses that you can't alleviate in any of the usual ways. Imagine having a stuffy nose for several months that you can't simply throw some Sudafed at and forget for awhile...yeah, and the nosebleeds are a real good time as well.

Difficulty sleeping: The main impediment is finding a comfortable position. That is pretty hard from the get-go, but by the third trimester it takes some real skill and ingenuity to find something that works. The real dilemma for me is while you're not supposed to sleep on your back, laying on either side just aggravates the heartburn and almost assures that I'll be laying on my back anyway (so that the things I ate hours ago will stay where they should, and not spend all night partying in my esophagus). They say in nearly every publication devoted to the pregnancy-experience NOT to sleep on your back because it interferes with blood circulation, but you know what? When I wake up 2 or 3 times in the middle of the night to shuffle to the bathroom, guess what position I usually wake up in? The same one I slept in for most of my life--on my back. Sleeping on your side sounds great in theory, but I find it just makes me toss and turn, and I can't maintain it forever. Honestly, I'm not too inclined to "lose sleep" over this issue...I figure if my circulation gets cut off, the discomfort and ensuing numbness will wake me up.

Ironically, even though the baby is really active at night (it often feels like I've got Dance Dance Revolution going on in my abdominal cavity), it really doesn't keep me awake, or wake me up if I've been already asleep. This of course is fine with me.

The thing that DOES keep me awake, I'll mention next...

Frequent urination: Now that baby's down in the blast-off position (and thankfully seems to be staying there (in spite of those nocturnal acrobatics), I feel like I could easily go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I'm really grateful that my school schedule is compatible with this reality (I can usually run to the bathroom anytime I need to). The baby's head is currently parked right over my bladder, but it hasn't officially "dropped" yet. I told one of my colleagues the other day, when that happens, you might as well just insert the catheter and be done with it.

So that's the scoop on what the third trimester "feels like", at least for me. An assortment of vague discomforts that aren't really bad enough to merit my continual attention, but these things all contribute to my desire to do as little as possible. Besides going to work (and doing my thing there, which keeps me busy and sufficiently distracted from thinking about any of the above for 7.5 hours a day), I tend to humor my reclusive tendencies at all other times. And while all of these things are inconvenient and at times, annoying, there's still the "coolness factor" of having a tiny human wiggling around inside of you. That part is harder to explain, but it's a very intimate and personal experience that makes up for a lot of the discomforts that you have to put up with.