Today marks the first day of my third trimester.

I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but as I gaze down at my tummy, it feels like it grew exponentially overnight. As my tummy grows, a quick study of my navel reveals that my perfect innie is fast approaching outie status. I wonder if my belly button can survive the next three months without completely popping out?

After attending the Prepared Childbirth class last night, I discovered that I have work to do — and soon! Here are a few items I’ve added to my To-Do List:

1. Schedule a hospital tour. Did that today and will be touring Queens Medical Center in a few weeks.

2. Start doing kegels regularly. After the instructor covered the potential problems that come with having weak pelvic floor muscles, I am convinced that kegels are extremely important. In addition to half a dozen other maladies, she told us about her mother who had a prolapsed uterus due to weak pelvic floor muscles and her cervix would literally fall out — and she’d push it back in. (ACK!) This condition resulted in her having to get a hysterectomy. If that doesn’t scare the bejeebers out of you, I don’t know what will.

3. Find a pediatrician. I’ve been having trouble with this. I’ve been asking friends for their recommendations and making phone calls. So far, all of them except ONE are not taking new patients! So, we have one interview scheduled for next week. I’m still seeking recommendations, so if you have a pediatrician that you like, please drop me a comment or use the Contact Form to send me an email. Much appreciated!

4. Pack a bag. My friend Steph actually recommended this previously (thanks, Steph!), and the instructor suggested that it’s not too early to pack a bag to keep handy because you never know when those contractions might start!

5. Register with the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank. We are opting not to bank our baby’s cord blood for ourselves, but have decided to donate it to the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank.

84 days and counting.