My third trimester went faster than the previous two. Not literally, but it sure felt that way. I had returned to work as a School Counselor and was very busy preparing for my maternity leave right at the beginning. I also was completing the finishing touches on my dissertation and getting ready to defend, so life for me was pretty hectic.
Despite the craziness of work and school, I tried really hard to take subtle moments to love on my growing baby bump. Baby Q was very, very active in the womb so we seemed to talk to each other all day long. I continued to exercise into my third trimester, but cycling had to stop at week 28. Every time I pulled up on the crank, I kneed myself in the stomach… oof! I was fairly certain during this time that I would likely not be pregnant again, so I relished in every minute of it. Luckily, I wasn’t sick at all nor was I very uncomfortable. I didn’t have any back pain as I grew and I continued to get great sleep. The first trimester I though being pregnant was awful, but by the last few months I started being sad about it almost being over. I learned to absolutely love that bump. I was amazed by my body just doing everything it should, completely out of my control.
7 Months
8 Months
At the beginning of my 8th month of pregnancy, I actually defended my dissertation. It was such a long journey to this day. From the time I started my doctorate in Counseling Education, I had moved, changed careers, got married, bought a house, traveled to 6 different countries, and went through 2 years of unexplained infertility. To say that getting a PhD is difficult is an understatement and everyone’s journey is completely different. There will be a whole post dedicated to that in the future! Thank goodness I had a great support system to get me through the trials of it. It was nail biting up until the end, but on October 26th, 2019, I successfully defended my dissertation and became a doctor.
9 Months
10 Months
I’m not sure if you knew this, but 40 weeks means women are actually supposed to be pregnant for 10 months! My sweet baby came right on time. The above picture was Thanksgiving night at Art Canyon. I was lucky enough to have both my parents and in-laws together for Thanksgiving, knowing that this was Aaron’s and my last as a family of two. I’ll share the details of sweet Quincy’s arrival next time. Below is the last picture I took for my weekly bumpdate, on my due date just hours from his arrival. What a day it was!
