24 Weeks, 34, and New Perspectives

Happy Birthday to me.  Thirty-four years old, and 24 weeks pregnant.  I kinda wish those numbers were flip-flopped.  Except for the part about me having a baby at 24.  Yeesh.  I was in no condition to have a baby at 24, so maybe we better leave those numbers where they are. 

 

I can see now why this great universe of ours gives us 10 months of pregnancy.  Through the advice I've received (solicited and unsolicited), talks with my midwife, watching friends finish their pregnancies, and my own research in the past 24 weeks, so many of my perspectives on pregnancy, birth, and raising a child have changed. 

 

I spent the first few weeks of my pregnancy obsessed with birth.  Reading about birth, watching videos, asking people about their birth stories in an attempt to figure out the exact birth I wanted.  At some point I came across a piece of advice, and consequently, my intensity surrounding my birth ceased- "birth is one (maybe two) days.  The important thing is to focus on the 18+ years that follow that day."  Right?  I mean, I was spending a lot of time focusing on this event, and in reality, there are so many other things that came along with a newborn.  I began broadening my research to include sleep training techniques, breastfeeding, and general baby- raising things.

 

Recently 2 good friends of mine have had their pregnancies come to an end, and the next chapter of newborn alien invasion has begun.  I think I have learned so much from their experiences, and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful friends tell me things that only one pregnant person can tell another pregnant person.  I've enjoyed the days leading up to their births, their birth stories, and the days immediately after birth immensley.  Once again, I had a huge shift in my thinking regarding birth, and coincidentally came across a great piece of advice in the current book I'm reading.  "You may not have the birth you want, but you will have the birth that you need."  Isn't that true of everything in life though?  When I think back on my life, all the times I have thought I wanted something, or even pushed for something only to have it backfire or not workout, whatever took its place ended up being exactly what I needed. 

 

Today, I'm taking comfort in the fact that I feel amazing these days, and whatever needs to happen will happen.  I've been sleeping well.  My workouts have been great, and making me feel great (155# front squats the other day for dayz made my hips/back/core feel amazing!).  I've been eating such good food, and my general disposition/mood is sunny.  (that might make some people that know me irl laff a little).  But seriously, it is true what they say about the 2nd trimester- it is the golden phase of pregnancy.