Yesterday was 20 weeks. I'm officially halfway through my pregnancy, which seems like a lot further along than it actually is. If this were a marathon - and it is, in a lot of ways - I'd be at mile 13 (with 13 left to go) and delighted if my toes weren't yet bleeding through my shoes.
Speaking of running... I ran 3 miles this morning, and while I had to walk a block due to the heat, I still averaged 8.2 mins/mile. It's not the fastest I've ever been, but it's also not the slowest (I think my average for the presidential fitness tests in elementary school was 12 minutes...) I've gained a bakers' dozen pounds since becoming pregnant and learned last night at my checkup that my abdominal muscles have separated, so I'm quite content with the fact that I don't appear to have lost much in terms of fitness. My butt still fits in my pre-pregnancy pants; while I need two sports bras to contain my blossoming womanhood on runs, I have a healthy, kicking baby inside of me and that's all that really matters.
Something seems to have clicked into place in terms of feeling connected to this baby in the past few weeks. Perhaps it was the ultrasound, or the fact that I'm now feeling occasional kicks (bebe got in a few solid jabs after a particularly strong braxton - hicks contraction last week, which was the first time I was aware of movement. It was hard to miss - guess he or she doesn't like being squeezed!) Perhaps it's the fact that I've been encountering more babies than usual, which drives home the fact that I will be holding my own tiny squishy human in four months. Or perhaps it's the fact that second trimester has flown by thus far, ushering in the realization that this baby will be here before I know it.
When I was 21 or 22, I told someone that with how quickly the past four years had gone, I fully expected to blink and open my eyes at 35 with a husband and three kids. And now, another four years later, I'm just glad that I got the husband (soon to be anyway!) and kid part without the whole 'missing out on my 20's' thing. I know that parenting flies by even more quickly than does pregnancy, but I'm hoping to make the most of every minute of it.
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