The 3rd Trimester: Practice Parenting for The Partner

It turns out that nature has a plan for the non-pregnant parent as well:

The third trimester.

This has been the tough part of the pregnancy but I think I know why. I believe this is the time where the pregnant one begins to mimic a lot of the behaviors of the impending bundle of joy.

For example, a normal sleeping pattern is no longer possible during the third trimester. On top of the itchy PUPPP rash from hell, The Saint has a belly full of babies who like to do scenes from A Chorus Line at exactly 11:00 pm every night. Their encores usually follow at 2:00 am and again 2-3 hours later. Heads up, co-parents: you do NOT get to sleep in blissful ignorance of this little performance. Our job is to massage, hand hold or simply commiserate. And when 8:00 am rolls around, we let her sleep while we prepare breakfast because that's how it's going to be when the kiddos arrive. Babies don't care if their parents are well rested; they have needs and it's our job to meet them. The (lack of) sleep training in the third trimester is a good bootcamp to prep us for this.

Another development in the third trimester is that going out starts to become a real chore. The Saint is not as mobile now that she is lugging around over 10 pounds and 34 inches of baby. Any trip out requires the type of planning that typically goes into a tactical airstrike. We have to determine how long we will be gone, what to eat before we go, whether or not we need to eat while we are out, etc. We also have to plan for any possible spills, mishaps or accidents that could occur while we are out, depending on what we are doing. No matter where we are going, we now have to bring supplies of some sort. For the third trimester, this means packing Benadryl, hydrocortisone cream, at least one snack, a change of clothes (I am not allowed to explain that one - puzzle it out yourself, Nancy Drew), something to read and a pillow. Ultimately, this means we often just stay at home because it's too big of a hassle to figure this all out. From what I understand, this is parenting in a nutshell.

The third trimester is when the center of my life stopped being me. The Saint has my full time attention now. If life were a prison, I am now her bitch. Perhaps this is the biggest shift of all that preps us co-parents for what is about to happen. Suddenly, giving up my car, forgoing a new iPad, and shifting my priorities no longer seems like a sacrifice. Instead, it means I am about to live the dream.

It means I am becoming a parent.

(Okay, getting rid of the car stings a little but I really am excited for my boys to get here....)


- The 2nd Mommy