Second Tri in Review

Tri as in trimester. Week 27 begins today, and so begins the last week of the second trimester. My due date is 3 months from today! This seems like as good of a time as any to reflect on my pregnancy so far and review my expectations and hopes for the last third of it or so.
First of all, I had a doctor's appointment today. I met with another doctor in the practice group so that I would have met each doctor at least once before delivery, since it's possible that any of them could deliver. He was nice, although I definitely like my doctor better. For the first time, I had my fundal measurements taken, and then I heard the heartbeat again. Everything is normal and he asked me if I had any questions. I started asking about the rest of my appointments and it finally came up from my questions that he thought I was 30 weeks! I said that I'm only 27 weeks and he whipped out that stupid little wheel to figure it out. My due date in the chart looked like 12/6/08 instead of 12/26/08. He finally looks at me and says, "you're definitely measuring large then!" I am not surprised, I'm 5'10" and PJO is 6'2" ... it just confirmed my fears. It also kind of explains why I felt Uno kicking fairly early and very strongly. I know these measurements aren't always accurate but I really hope I don't have a 10+ pounder. I kind of wish I hadn't told him that my due date was the 26th... but I don't want to have bad karma.

So other than the fact that Uno is apparently a gorilla, everything is great! I have completely, totally popped out. 5 weeks ago, I was not even really showing and now I have a big 'ole belly. I have gained approximately 15 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, but haven't noticed it anywhere except in my belly. My appetite has increased, especially in the morning. I basically have two breakfasts and then lunch and dinner. I am constantly thirsty, so I drink a lot of water. I have started to feel tired again and find it harder to wake up in the morning.
This could be because I can't sleep well anymore. I find it hard to fall asleep and then I'm always uncomfortable so I wake up during the night. I usually sleep on my back and hate having to sleep on my side ... I've tried pillows between my legs and I think I hate that even more.
It surprises me how much this belly throws off my balance. I didn't believe all the predictions and I thought, it's just a little belly on my normal body. I was wrong. I also sometimes get backaches when I do certain things now, like wash the dishes for more than 10 minutes at a time. Holding the heavy pots out in front of me is too much weight I guess.
I haven't had much swelling or bloating, except when I've been walking around a lot. I haven't felt any crazy emotional swings or memory loss or any of those kind of symptoms.

Despite how much I physically do not like pregnancy, I am getting better at it I think. I am so excited that in about 3 months, I will get to meet my son! I can't wait to hold him and give him a name and get to know his personality and just be a family.
My first trimester, I was pretty much in denial that pregnancy affected my body at all. and it really didn't. But when I started to get a little thicker around the middle, I was completely disgusted and refused to take pictures or let PJO touch my belly. In the second trimester around the 21st week, we finally told our friends and family that I was pregnant, and my body started showing it almost immediately.
I do NOT like this belly or my body shape in general. I still think it seems very unnatural and unattractive. I don't particularly want to take pictures of myself, but I will because I think I might want to look at them later. I don't like how people can take one look at you and know so much, or how they feel entitled to touch you and comment on your appearance. I don't like how I have to wear ugly clothes and look awkward. And let's face it, I don't like how I can't enjoy some vino at night when I watch TV. But I'm letting my excitement about the baby take over and I try not to focus on the fact that I am, in fact, pregnant.
What really blows my mind about being 6 months pregnant is what that really means is I have 3 months to finish an entire semester of law school and get ready to have a baby. I'm starting to realize that it will be kind of difficult, physically, to be 8.5 months pregnant and taking final exams. I'm still keeping up with my classes, but starting this weekend, I need to start working on papers and presentations that I will need to do in the next month or so. It's going to go by so fast and I am already exhausted by it all. If the rest of my pregnancy goes by as drama-free as it has so far, I will feel lucky. My biggest challenge will be reminding myself to "take it easy" while taking 17 units and maintaining a somewhat respectable GPA. .... I'll try.