Month 7

by Ashley Weeks Cart

 

I’m in the home stretch. Oh my goodness. The third trimester has arrived!

And for those of you that have experienced pregnancy, you all know that such a statement brings much relief, anticipation, and gas. I’m like a living whoopee cushion. The rumbles from my digestive system are enough to scare the dogs.

And you think I’m exaggerating.

Alas.

I am filled with such joy and excitement at the thought of meeting The Sesame Seed in a handful of weeks, and yet totally overwhelmed at the prospect of having an infant dwelling in our home in so little time.

WE’RE NOT READY!

However, if she made her grand entrance tomorrow, we’d have everything we need to welcome her.

This is the constant push and pull that James and I will experience for the next 8 weeks. The simultaneous enthusiasm and anxiety, joy and dread, hope and fear.

My huge weekend at work is behind me (thank the sweet baby Cheez-its) and we have one final wedding this season, and then we are planting ourselves at home and finally organizing our lives for this newest member. Pulling out the infant tub, and bassinet, and oh those trusty nipple shields (y’all can’t have forgotten about the SUPER NIPPLE (to be pronounced as though it were a super hero, because it totally is)). And the itty bitty onesies that will send my hormones into overdrive weeping about the passage of time as I look at the toddler that once donned such wee apparel. I’ll finally, officially hire my doula. I’ll update my birth plan. I’ll talk to HR about maternity leave.

Ya know, just a handful of minor, er MAJOR, tasks.

The little one is moving more than ever to make her presence known, and while I lament such mobility in the middle of the night, I can’t help but relish experiencing her growth so intimately.

While I do not enjoy being pregnant, I am in awe of it. Daily.

I feel unbelievably fortunate that I have been provided the experience of making life not once, but twice. No matter the complaints, the discomfort, the indigestion, the swollen ankles, the pimple-ridden skin, I am grateful beyond words for this experience. And I’ll even admit that I am getting misty thinking about moving past this stage of my life. I’ll write more about that later, but I plan for this to be my last pregnancy, so as much as it is easy to focus on the frustrations of the final trimester, I am trying to stop and appreciate this time. These moments where I am carrying life with me. Inside me.

It feels like magic. And in many ways, it is.

Easy Cami in Red and Ribbed Racerback Bra in Black by be present

______________________________________________________________________________________

* Do you want to win the Easy Cami that I’m wearing?!? Of course you do! Jump on over to Green Eyed Monster to enter!

**Photos: Courtesy of Kate Drew Miller Photography
As always, I cannot thank Kate enough for taking on this project with me. She rocks. Truly.

***Clothes: Courtesy of be present
Please, head on over to Facebook and ‘like’ the heck out of this awesome company. And if you’re on Twitter, why don’t you give ‘em a follow? And you can check out their whole line and subscribe to their newsletter by heading over to www.bepresent.com.

**** Click to see Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, Month 4, Month 5, Month 6 and deats on my partnership with be present.