Mercedes' Birth Story, part one

My entire pregnancy I assumed I'd give birth well past my due date. One, because I'm a first time mom and two, I figured it was karma. I was born 17 days late (sorry, Mom), so it'd only be fair if my pregnancy went late, too, right? Thankfully, towards the end of my pregnancy I wasn't a miserable mess for weeks on end as I hear many women are. But come a few days before my due date, I started to feel really awful — exhausted, uncomfortable, emotional, nauseous and dizzy. Dread started to set in as I imagined an extra two weeks of this state. Little did I know, our baby girl would be one of the few actually born on her due date.

I was due on Aug. 13, a Wednesday, and Sunday was when the "awful" kicked on. Monday morning I felt a few minor contractions and tried to fight any excitement — I knew irregular contractions could come and go for days on end before the real deal set in. Tuesday morning, around 7 a.m., I woke up after a measly four hours of sleep (thank you, tiny bladder and uncomfortable pregnant body) to the same irregular contractions. Since I couldn't sleep, I crawled into the bathtub to try and relax and started timing my contractions. Though the timing was still sporadic, sometimes 20 minutes apart, sometimes eight or closer, they were coming consistently and slowly getting closer and closer. 

Screenshot from timing my contractions. Every time I had a contraction in the tub my belly would get lopsided and I'd be able to see the outline of baby.

Showing, part 2

It took me a long while to look really, obviously pregnant, even with an almost 50-pound weight gain. But I did get there and it's so fun to look back at pictures and see my belly, and baby, grow.

At 31 weeks

Third Trimester Pregnancy Symptoms

My third trimester of pregnancy was a relatively smooth experience. My biggest complaint was insomnia and fatigue. Most nights I probably slept 4-6 hours, even with the use of Benadryl. I either couldn't get comfortable in bed or had to pee a thousand times thanks to a tiny, pregnant bladder. Thankfully, I wasn't horribly uncomfortable physically until literally just days before giving birth.

The strangest symptom I had during my third trimester was seeing white stars. There were two instances where I wasn't able to see for a few minutes. It was incredibly unnerving, but everything was fine. The doctor said it was just one of those weird, normal things. Pregnancy is something else!

And, naturally, the best part of the third trimester was feeling this sweet girl roll, move and kick around — even when it meant getting jabbed in the ribs!

Other third trimester symptoms included: leaking breasts, seeing stars, fatigue, headaches, nausea, insomnia, dizziness, rapid heart rate (related to dehydration), more belly stretch marks, occasional swelling (though I think that's more related to the heat), back ache (once or twice), feeling baby and change in movements towards the end.

Always,

She's here!

Our beautiful baby girl, Mercedes, made her appearance into the world at 1:05 p.m. August 13 at 7 lb. 1 oz., 21 inches long. She is a mild-mannered, skinny-legged little lady and we just love her to pieces!