Ladies and gentlemen, we are in trimester three. More precisely, we are three days into the third trimester. The baby is 15 inches long, a little less than three pounds and his activity is visible through Marie’s t-shirt when she’s reclining. The baby is the size of a head of lettuce.
We can’t believe how real this is getting.
Gone are the days when Marie said, “I think he’s moving.” Nowadays, Marie will suddenly jolt and announce, “Baby boy is awake.” When we see a bulge in her belly, we can’t tell if it’s a fist, foot, knee or elbow, but sometimes we can determine exactly what he’s doing. Marie’s belly will flatten and her sides will expand, and we’ll know that our son is stretching himself out as far as his lengthening body and Marie’s uterus will permit. Marie recently listened to a podcast of women discussing their third trimesters. One of them compared the sensation to having a sack of snakes in her womb. Marie finds the metaphor apt.
This is going to sound profoundly stupid and obvious, but the baby has substance. It’s a recent or at least recently noticeable development. When I would touch Marie’s belly a few weeks ago, it was soft. My hand was feeling amniotic fluid encased in skin. The baby was basically swimming in a pool. Today, the pool is roughly the same size, but the baby isn’t swimming anymore. When I rest my hand there, I’m no longer feeling fluid. It’s developing but firm human tissue. The boy is occupying so much capacity that he’s nearly constantly leaning against Marie’s navel.
Speaking of my wife’s navel, Marie is dreading the development of a protruding umbilicus — aka an outie belly-button. It doesn’t happen to every pregnant woman, but it’s fairly common, beginning around week 26. And we’re in week 28. Marie could wake up with an outie any day now. Not that it matters. Even if it occurs, it’s likely to return to normal after delivery. Worst case scenario, it can be fixed surgically. But the fact that my wife cares is interesting because it may represent the final, clung-to morsel of vanity. Not that she’s vain. She’s just losing the last remnants of her pre-motherhood perception of herself. She is now obviously pregnant. The obviousness was reinforced on Friday by a Streetwise salesman whom we see daily on our afternoon walks through Lincoln Park. He shouted his congratulations at Marie as we passed him. That guy has seen and greeted us almost every day for the past seven months, but yesterday was the first time he offered his congratulations. Evidently, Marie has reached a tipping point.
It’s a bit of a relief, really. Previously, Marie had been worried that people were thinking that she had just gotten fat. Now that the pregnancy is impossible to miss, Marie feels like she can give herself a little more leeway in diet, self-maintenance and especially dress. None of her clothes fit, and she’s walking outside in sartorial choices that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
Behold!
You might notice our realtor’s sign in the background. We had an open-house yesterday, and it went pretty well. Four couples showed up. We’re hopeful. But even if we get an offer tomorrow, we will be moving in month eight of Marie’s pregnancy. Also, Marie is preparing her department at work for her post-delivery departure. Also, she’s constantly cleaning our house to keep it show-ready for potential buyers. Also, she’s trying to figure out financing for the purchase of our next home, just in case we sell our current home. And she’s getting exhausted because the creature inside her has doubled in size in the past three weeks and will triple in size in the next three months. And she’s peeing at least four times an hour. And she has a smartass husband who keeps taking candid photos of her.
And somehow, my amazing wife is still smiling.
I dress a little nicer for date nights 🤣
Amazing .. the two of you!!!