Happy Un-birthday to Me!

I had to laugh when a childhood memory popped into my head one day.

Baby Philip was just that, a baby.  We were at our homeschool group, and one of my mom's friends asked how old he was now.  Mom replied, "Five weeks."

The VERY NEXT DAY, we were at Costco.  A lady came up and asked my mom, "Awww, how old is he?"  And my mom answered, "Six weeks."

I was insanely jealous and outraged over the injustice.  *I* only got birthdays once a year.  And when I tried to sneak in an extra one by proclaiming that I was, in fact, five and a half, the adults would just chuckle at me.  But it seemed like baby Philip got a birthday practically every. single. day.  Next he would be two months, then ten weeks, then three months...and I was stuck being five for an entire year.

And people gave him things too!  Blankets and clothes and stuffed animals and toys.

It just wasn't fair.

The third trimester of pregnancy is kind of like being a baby again.  Before that, you have a few pregnancy milestones: end of first trimester at 14 weeks, the 20-week (halfway!) mark, the 24-week viability point.

But once you hit the third trimester, it's like having a birthday every single week.
28 weeks: baby has a 90% chance of surviving if born now without other complications.
30 weeks: the WOOHOO LESS THAN TEN WEEKS NOW! point
34 weeks: baby is considered "late" pre-term if born now (i.e., probably not a long stay in the NICU)
35 weeks: eight months down, one to go!
36 weeks: doctors stop talking about pre-term labor signs and start talking about the real thing
37 weeks: full-term!
38 weeks: less than two weeks
39 weeks:  HE COULD COME ANY DAY
40 weeks: officially due (a.k.a. I'm going to lose my mind if this baby doesn't come soon)

And then of course there are the other milestones: the "we're in the month of my baby's due date," the "baby has turned head-down/dropped" realization, the various signs that your body is not just growing a baby anymore, but preparing for labor (aching hips, anyone?).  Literally, every week is like a birthday.   Except so much better, because instead of you getting older, it's your baby getting closer.

Have I mentioned I really love the third trimester?

Of course, only other women who are/have been pregnant really know or care about the difference between 35 and 36 weeks.  That doesn't change the fact that when someone asks me how far along I am now, in my mind I'm like that five-year-old, standing up just a little bit straighter and saying, "I'm five... and a half."

Because everyone needs a few more reasons to party every week.  :)

36 Weeks (i.e., no more pre-term labor concerns!)