Butternut Squash

I love how all of these baby apps compare the "little guy" to food as  he grows. Last week it was a Chinese cabbage and this week you guessed it butternut squash.
I am officially in my third trimester and I've been thinking back over the past 7 months wondering if pregnancy is what I thought it would be, if all those stereo types were true. Have I had crazy cravings, wild mood swings, sickness, nesting, swelling, felt gross and unattractive?

Yes, some have happened but I gather that every pregnancy is absolutely unique and I don't know how to classify the "norms" because the whole process is off the charts miraculous and I think it's a sacred thing for each couple that goes through it.  But yes, I would say I have cravings but I would say this is a mixed subject. In the beginning I wouldn't say they were cravings - more it's what food you can stand to think of that doesn't stir up the sense of nausea. This is when you'll eat that same item until something else comes along that doesn't create the feelings mentioned above. Later in pregnancy I would say that I did have cravings. I would go on two week kicks eating each item a couple times daily namely:
Tomato soup
canned corn
salt and vinegar chips
grilled cheese
cinnamon life cereal
cheese and mustard sandwiches -to name a few

Wild mood swings I guess you would have to ask poor Derek or any of my in-laws who witnessed an emotional breakdown at a McDonald's over hamburgers... and I guess I answered the sickness question when talking about food cravings but more than being sick I wasn't prepared for how EXHAUSTING baby bakin' is. I slept for weeks on our couch without showering which I think even repelled the dog.

Nesting is a big one and also a fun one. I am going crazy over doing a baby room right now but surprisingly Derek also has been doing is fair share of nesting. This was not something I expected guys to do but he has been crazed about fixing and organizing all sorts of little things. He has been a man possessed organizing storage rooms, holiday decor, closets, kitchen cupboards,  really the list goes on and I have to say it has been EXTREMELY NICE!

Physically I must say since being pregnant I've never felt so attractive. Maybe when I start to swell in the next few months or I get those dreaded stretch marks- I am having much anxiety about that- shudder. But I don't feel fat and gross like I thought I would as the scale numbers climb up and my clothes selection goes down.

Is it what I thought it would be after hearing all the stories from aunts, moms, and friends? I would have to say no it is better than I expected.
I am not saying it's not hard when your sciatic nerve decides to ache for hours but I think all you focus on when you hear people talk pregnancy is the hardships. But what you don't take in with all those stories is how much wonder you will be in at your body. That feeling a baby squirm, wiggle, and twist is absolutely the most supernatural event you will experience and each movement makes me simply feel fortunate- I don't know how else to say it. They are the quiet moments a mom experiences, silent bonding, over the hours you can spend pushing and poking your stomach and getting poked back. How in the middle of conversations and everyday life you receive these little Morse Code kicks that no one else is aware of. These things make the aches and pains of it all seem insignificant with everything else that's miraculously happening.
I didn't realize I had so  much to say and I am not sure that it all came out making any sense but since this post is getting long to end I want to leave you this quote I came across.

The Beauty of my body is not measured by the clothes it can fit into, but by the stories that it tells. I have a belly and hips that say, "We grew a child in here" and breasts that say, "we nourished life." My hands, with bitten nails and writer's callus say, "We created amazing things."

-Sarah from I am Beautiful: A celebration of women in their own words