Second Trimester

February 6th, 2009

This week marked the beginning of Tori’s second trimester.  Last night I was lying in bed with her, reading Ina May’s book and sharing information I was picking up from this most famous of midwives.  She stopped me at some point and let me know in no uncertain terms that I needed to shut the hell up.  I explained to her that the stack of books on my bedside table was one of the ways I was connecting with the pregnancy right now.  She was sweet and understanding.  I guess what I was trying to do was see which side of the fence she was on regarding numerous labor decisions to be made.  I won’t go into it now, but there are a lot of different ways to go through labor!  

The fact is, I’m a baby geek.  My interest in Linux, banjos, LOLcats and pirating music has waned as I’m learning about this wild ride we’re on.  I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for information.  With that in mind, here’s my current snapshot of where she’s at.

• The first trimester sucked.  Tired, gaggy, gassy, bloaty, gaggy.  Food was never Tori’s friend.  She didn’t really ever vomit, but was on the verge of vomiting almost all the time.  I will never forget her plate when we ate Christmas dinner in NY.  One tablespoon of  ten different foods.  She almost finished it.  Somewhere in there she craved rice for three days straight.  The look of wonder and amazement in Target when she discovered their rice section…
• We crossed into the second trimester last week, but her first trimester symptoms have faded for a couple of weeks now.  Food may now be consumed without the threat of vomiting.  Not only has that threat passed, but food actually tastes good for her!  Last weekends trip to the farmers market was productive.
• Peeing has become even more frequent.  My wife got up in the middle of the night to pee before the pregnancy, now it’s just ridiculous.  The good news, I suppose, is that this means she’s not dehydrated.  But it is frustrating for her.  It now takes us about 70 minutes to watch LOST without commercials, due to the jog upstairs to pee every fifteen minutes.
• Itchy.  This is a common symptom of pregnancy, but the frigid winter spell we’re having isn’t helping.  Oatmeal baths and medicated lotion are.
• Yoga continues.  She is taking a class she found through CHOICE.  It’s nice and easy on her, but she’s already feeling better from it.  She’s in love with her instructor and the old building it’s in.
• She’s showing.  At least to me.  You would be hard pressed to notice it in public, but it’s obvious when she undresses that there is someone growing in her belly.  Her uterus is pushing out, and it’s a hard little bump.  That’s pretty fucking cool.
• Baby attended it’s  first roots music concert.  The ears aren’t developed enough to hear yet, but it’s still a pretty big milestone for me.
• We have our birthing class scheduled, as well as an initial chat with CHOICE about their doula programs.  It felt good to get those crossed of the list.

I’m forgetting stuff, I know.  But the truth is that most of the amazing things that are happening are developmental right now.  I suppose the biggest milestone is that the second trimester brings with it an amazingly low chance of miscarriage.  This is really going to happen, and we’re both no less amazed and excited than we were when we saw the digital PREGNANT on the pee stick.  I’ve noticed that the time really is flying by.  This baby is going to be here soon, and we’re enjoying the ride.

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