If you want to, you can ask a random stranger on the internet about their pregnancy experience. Or you can ask me. I've realized at this point that every single pregnancy is different for every single woman. No surprise, really, considering that all babies are also different. For instance, as I'm writing this, my baby thinks it's cool to punch me repeatedly in the bladder. Please excuse me while I go pee for the fifth time since I started writing this.
Okay, now that that's taken care of....This post is for all three of those people who want to know how the baby's doing, but aren't really sure how to ask. I've realized that a lot of people (male coworkers in particular) have literally no idea how babies work. Thus, I'll get the same guy repeatedly asking, "Can you, like, really feel it moving? Is it moving right now? What does that feel like?" I've also had one guy offer several times to give me his sister's leftover folic acid, which is really nice and all, but I haven't need folic acid supplements since the first trimester.
I've also had a few comments that make me laugh, not because they are funny, but because they're the kind of comment that a completely clueless person would make when they are trying to say something nice but have no idea how. For example, "Wow, you know, I heard that most pregnant women are crazy hormonal, but you're really normal and not crazy!" Also, "Theresa, you're so amazing. You're working even though you're pregnant!" (Because being pregnant makes it impossible to teach?) Again, not that these people are dumb, but they just don't know.
So how is pregnancy? You often hear all sorts of horror stories about every little thing that could possibly go wrong. And...none of that has happened to me. I almost feel sorry for my doctor. She orders all these tests, and they always come back negative. She has nothing to do! Well, until this past week. This past week (I'm now at 38 weeks, which is considered full term. If the baby were born tomorrow, he would be perfectly healthy!), she discovered that I'm anemic. In other words, I have a shortage of iron in my blood. At once, my awesome doctor jumped into action! I now have to take extra IRON supplements, eat more IRON-rich food, and get an IV of IRON once a week.
So how about the rest of it? Now that my stomach is so large that it knocks things over and prevents me from having good posture, it's hard to recollect those early weeks and months. I remember a few mornings of nausea, and having to wear a face mask every time I left my house because my sense of smell had become much too powerful. Everywhere I went, I was assaulted by the stench of soju, rotting garbage, cigarettes, and vomit. Soju smell was especially bad because literally every man on public transit smells like soju. It was at times like these that I desperately regretted living in a city with a population of 10 million.
Then there were the days when I had irresistible cravings. There was one week when all I wanted/all I could stomach was tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. After that, I moved on to pizza. Then there was Mexican food, a brief flirtation with pickles (during which I made my own dill pickles because Korea only has sweet pickles, which are an abomination), a few ice cream binges, and the one time I went out to eat duck at a fancy restaurant with Park's family, but was only interested in the roasted sweet potatoes. In fact, this whole pregnancy, I haven't wanted Korean bbq at all, a fact that has made Park very sad and his father very confused. (Park's father is the kind of man who considers bbq parties to be the highest good in the universe) Early in my pregnancy, when we weren't sure if our baby was a boy or a girl, I had a sudden craving for fruit, especially Korean plums. Park's family took this as a sign that the baby was a girl, and they were delighted. Finally, a girl! The Park family curse of nothing but boys was finally lifted! In celebration, they bought me box after box of plums and peaches, until I was so sick of them that I still would rather eat just about any fruit except a plum. Alas, their hope was short-lived. A few weeks later, ultrasound revealed that this baby is most definitely a boy.
Second trimester was awesome. I quickly resolved that if this is how all of my pregnancies will feel, I am super okay with having a lot of babies. My hormones were leveled-out, I now had a very clear baby bump so people knew I wasn't just fat, and I had endless amounts of energy. Park took me shopping for maternity clothing and waited patiently while I gleefully tried on dresses that actually fit me. At work, I was bouncing off the walls, planning stuff and volunteering for conferences just because I could. I was ravenously hungry all the time, and each new dish was a delight to consume.
Third trimester has been a lot like second trimester, except that I'm a lot fatter now. I need help putting my shoes on. My lap is completely inaccessible to affection-hungry cats (Did I mention we now have three?). I have sudden, strong urges to consume large quantities of chocolate. I can't get out of bed. I just sort of roll out. My stomach is massive. Planet-sized really. And the baby, who we affectionately call Chewbacca, has become increasingly active.
We have been incredibly blessed. This has been an incredibly easy pregnancy, and, most importantly, our baby is perfectly healthy. Now here's hoping for an easy delivery!
