Skippy Says: 27 Weeks (Pregnancy Journal)

27 Weeks

Dear baby girl,

Today marks the beginning of us moving into the third trimester. In truth, there are loads of different opinions about when the third trimester starts, ranging anywhere from 26 to 29 weeks, but I've heard 27 weeks the most so I'm going with it. Especially because it means it starts now. And patience is not my virtue. Hopefully you'll get daddy's end of the stick with that one.

You welcomed the third trimester with your very first case of the hiccups. Daddy's eyes bugged out as he stared at my belly, jiggling at regular intervals for a few moments as you hiccuped away. I have to say, picturing you hiccuping is pretty much the cutest image ever. In my head, you look much like our puppy, Ryder, when he gets the hiccups: wide-eyed, confused, and eyebrows furrowed as if to ask what the hell is going on. Except, you know, you're not all furry. I don't think. Though I promise I'll love you either way. Maybe even more if you are furry. I love furry beings. Especially furry beings with smushy faces. But I digress.

To start the third trimester off on the right foot, I did something I've never done before- prenatal yoga! My doula is a yoga instructor, and as part of our package she offers a private prenatal yoga class. Good thing I still went to the gym earlier in the day, because a good workout it was not. But a wonderfully relaxing and bonding experience? Yes. Much more so than I anticipated. I'm not a yoga person generally. I tend to (perhaps unfairly) write it off because it just doesn't do for me what I want exercise to do. A.k.a I don't leave with a bright red face, wild hair jutting out of my used-to-be-neat-when-I-started-the-workout bun, and sweat pouring out of every orifice of my body including my nostrils. What can I say? I like to look sexy after my workouts. But none of that mattered. Because the second I closed my eyes and started breathing deeply, you started kicking to let me know we were doing this together. Because as I lay in child's pose, I felt you move inside me more deeply than I've ever felt before. Because my doula reminded me that with each breath I took, I was giving that breath to you and nourishing you with it. And because for that hour, I felt more excited about becoming your mama than I've felt anytime in the last six months.

Love,

Mama