Ahhh, Friday. There is something psychologically nice about having my pregnancy weeks line up with Fridays. I think I’m experiencing what people reference as the second trimester honeymoon. My body feels good, my emotions feel good, the baby doesn’t feel so close that I’m freaking out, but close enough that I’m kind of excited, etc.

I can feel the baby kick a lot now and pretty consistently. It goes gaga for orange juice, and kicks up a storm once I lay in bed for the night. I tried to get R to feel it yesterday but I guess it’s too early to feel it from the outside. Whenever I’ve been telling people that pregnancy has been pretty easy so far, they always follow-up with something like “wait and see”, often followed by an evil cackle. I find that so strange — why not allow people to enjoy pregnancy if and when it’s easy for them, and then support them when it’s more difficult?

I’ve been reading a ton about postpartum and specifically the idea of the fourth trimester and lying in. Basically, I’ve been trying to figure out what support I want to proactively plan for in the weeks immediately post-labor. Pregnancy and labor I don’t feel too concerned about, but the period after and transitioning to a completely new life stage does feel emotionally overwhelming.

My mom, who used to practice as a Certified Nurse Midwife, suggested R and I move into their house for the first 2-4 weeks post-baby, so we could learn baby skills but also have support of family to cook and clean and generally do everything non-baby related while we figure out baby. I was resistant to this idea at first but literally every book I read about the topic says this is what we are missing in modern society, and that it’s a very helpful and traditional thing to assist new mothers in transitioning to their new life. So definitely something we are thinking about.

Otherwise, life has felt good. I’m like obsessively into R right now which I find kind of funny, but also looking forward to spending this weekend home alone and doing whatever I want. And one of my oldest and dearest friends who recently moved away is visiting and I can’t wait to see her 🙂