During the last part of our trip, I officially entered my third trimester and quite drastically began to feel a diminishing ability to press on as usual. Some of this is most likely mental since I realized that my baby now would have high chances of survival if she was born today. She is about the size of an eggplant, somewhere around 15 inches long and 3 pounds. Of course, we hope and expect that she will not be making any early appearances, but it is mindboggling to think that there is a tiny person inside of me who with her first breath will change our lives forever.

I can also tell that I have entered a new stage physically. I find myself looking at other pregnant women and thinking, “How can you just stand there when you have a tiny person relentlessly kicking and punching your insides?!” I have to control myself so that I am not constantly holding my belly in fascination, since I think others might find this creepy. I had my first set of Braxton-Hicks contractions on our already foreboding walk to a glacier (see Babymoon post), which have appeared continually over the past few weeks. Sleep is becoming more difficult and my feet have decided to painfully cramp with no warning.  Generally, I just feel large and slow.  Otherwise, my pregnancy continues to be quite easy, however, I am thankful that my Alaskan adventures happened when they did, since I do not think I could manage the trip today.

By the way, can I admit that I am little tempted to buy an eggplant just to see what it feels like to hold?  Strange, I know.