I’m feeling a bit like a wilting flower this week; hot and weary I am most definitely on the cusp of the third trimester. My dates tell me that I’m 28 weeks but my body is doing a pretty good job of letting me know, too. The reflux has stepped up a notch, my legs are restless as soon as I lie down and the pressure in my pelvis has me waddling like a fat penguin*.

Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me, with such clarity, of the slow and heavy nature of late pregnancy. I hadn’t slept well the night before so with sleep deprivation and a foggy head I went about my day. Holding a conversation was challenging and focussing was even harder; there was more than one time that I had to explain to the children that I couldn’t do two things at once.

Pregnancy is such a humbling journey; regardless of your expectations it is the ultimate lesson in surrender and gratitude. You’re thrown into this uncontrollable bodily experience that is both marvellous and sometimes, hard to comprehend. How amazing it is that my midwife can measure my belly at 26 weeks pregnant and see 26cm on the measuring tape.

I’m feeling grateful that I can know my body well enough, be so in tune with it’s twinges and aches and realise that they are all begging me to slow down and succumb to this last 12 weeks. “Be present,” they say. “Enjoy this”. Indeed, this pregnancy journey has been so different to the ones that preceded it. And so it should be; I’m carrying a different baby who, at present, is lying breech and tickling/kicking my pelvis. It’s not entirely comfortable but it is comforting. A kicking baby that responds to voices and touch is joy-inducing, for everyone who gets to witness it.

I feel like I’ve really connected with this baby over the past few weeks. I’ve made a conscious effort to sit and just be with him/her. Daniel and the children were swimming a few afternoons ago and as I sat on the beach watching them I closed my eyes, rubbed my belly and just like that…a name. Perhaps it is the right one, perhaps it was just an idea. Regardless, I felt like it came from a good place.

I’m being conscious of what I eat to ensure the reflux doesn’t get worse, I’ve started taking magnesium to ease the restless legs and I’m wearing this incredible singlet or this belly band to support my pelvis – essential in this third pregnancy and third trimester.