36 Weeks in Review: A 3-Trimester Series

"How far along are you?" This is a question I get asked a lot now being a woman with child. Before getting pregnant I was always a little confused when I asked this question to other expectant mothers and they answered "Oh, I'm 17 (23, 32, etc) weeks along.." Weeks? My follow-up was usually, "Wait, so how many months are you?" (because I'm too mathematically lazy and have apparently forgotten how to calculate simple division in my head...) The point being I never really understood why they measured their pregnancy so faithfully in weeks.

Then I got knocked up and without even realizing when I had begun, I found myself measuring and living my life in weekly increments. I had crossed over. I felt like I was a member of an exclusive club or secret society. Like most members-only organizations, the pregnancy club came with certain perks (feeling those first little kicks from your baby, parking spots for expectant mothers), but it also came with what I like to think of as the equivalent to ritual hazing (morning sickness, round ligament pain, when those sweet baby kicks turn into bicycle kicks to your ribs.) It has been a ride to say the least, and with my prego club membership set to expire, or at least to go inactive, in about a month, I thought I'd share with you some of the ups and downs of the past 36 weeks. That's right....weeks.

4 weeks:

"I'm pregnant!" This is what I practically shouted at the woman I passed as I was jogging that morning back in April. That's right-- the first person to know about my pregnancy wasn't my husband, but a complete stranger running along the George Washington Memorial Parkway trail. With 6 months of negative results behind us, I had half-heartedly taken a pregnancy test that morning after Dallin had left for work and was a little stunned when the test along with 2 more all came back positive. Dallin wasn't due back home till that evening, and by the time I started my run, I'd overcome my initial astonishment and was so elated that I couldn't hold my good news in any longer.

6 weeks:

Morning (noon, and night) sickness has started to set in, and I was feeling oh-so-yucky. Little did I know at this point that it would get worse before it got better. Osama bin Laden was killed around this time. I remember we didn't find out about it until the morning after President Obama announced it, as we had both turned in early the night before. I was lying in bed feeling nauseous and in no hurry to get up while Dallin was getting ready for work. He came in and said, "So apparently they killed Osama bin Laden."

"Really?" I mumbled, "Where?...How?"

"A team of Navy Seals raided the compound where he was hiding and shot him in the head."

"Oh..............I wish a team of Navy Seals would storm in right now and shoot ME in the head."

7 Weeks:

My mom and brother, Jeremy, come for a short visit---my mom to commiserate with me and my brother to try out a pizza place in DC that he saw on the Travel channel. Jeremy tells me that my nausea is all in my head. I tell him that if he doesn't shut up, he's going to get b*tch slapped. My language took a turn for the worse during the first trimester.

8 Weeks:

My first Dr. appointment, and I get to see our little raspberry for the first time, fluttering heartbeat and all. Wow!

11 Weeks:

My little sister, Katie, comes for a visit. We have so much fun. We go out to lunch, I throw up, we watch funny movies, I throw up again, we browse around the thrift stores and boutiques in Old Town, I throw up some more. We swim laps at the pool and talk/laugh so obnoxiously loud that I'm sure everyone there is annoyed by us but also secretly wishes they had a close sibling bond like ours. She gave me back rubs, cleaned our apartment, and bought baby clothes. When it came time for her to leave there was a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on my part. I love my sister.

12 Weeks:

Dallin and I go to my 2nd prenatal check-up and are able to hear our wee one's heartbeat. What a wonderful sound! 161 beats/minute. Dr. also does a quick ultrasound, and we see baby's hands and feet waving to us. Lots of somersaults, too. We are amazed and pumped for the next two trimesters.

2nd Trimester Preview: What makes Dallin and Erin feel like adults? also, Erin's appetite returns in a big way.