Ninja by day, student by night

Indoor Kitty (aka billy in Punjabi) is sitting next to me, glad that I’m home and that I have taken the time to pet her this morning. Lately Gus and I have been going to Sunnyside (and Prosser) for work-related travel at least once a week. It’s been fun in some ways because we get to have some much-needed one-on-one time and it also gets me out of the house. We both get a little taste of sunshine and we keep in touch with our eastern Washington work colleagues, friends and family.

Still, it keeps us busy since the drive is approximately 4 hours one way with bathroom and snack breaks. It isn’t too bad because we take turns driving, Gus naps while I drive and when he wakes up, then we switch. Gus seems to think that once I get to 8 months, I won’t want to drive anymore, and maybe he’s right, but at this point I’m still optimistic that I’ll be traveling and getting about like my normal routine.

It isn’t that I am not getting the aches and pains of pregnancy, because I am, but I really dislike the idea that I can’t do the same things I did before I got to the third trimester. I’m really annoyed that I can’t help paint the baby’s room, move boxes and in general do what I normally do without feeling like my uterus is going to fall out. (haha?) I’m not complaining though, I know I’m having a relatively lightweight pregnancy, and I don’t want to jinx myself.

At this point I’m seven months along, which means I have 2 months to go. Mentally I know there’s a baby inside me, she’s kicking a lot on a regular basis, and has a regular routine of squirming, tapping and whacking at my insides throughout the day. Sometimes she gives me weird heart palpitations, which I blame on her, I assume that she’s leaning on some important artery or she’s pushing up on the top of my uterus, thereby squashing the rest of my internal organs into the important ones. Who knows, the doctor doesn’t seem to have any ideas either. This also typically gives me heartburn, but I have it under a modicum of control thanks to my prescription.

My latest symptoms are now the restless leg bit, and some symptoms that only occur when I sit down, such as a sore back and pubic bone. The twitchy, achy leg issue is somewhat easy to manage, I just do some stretches on my legs, and typically if I remember to stretch in the morning or do some leg lifts in the morning, they don’t bother me as much during the day.

Those are my physical symptoms in a nutshell, but the focus is on mental health today. The sun helps a lot, I’ve noticed. I was feeling pretty sad because of my hormones, and it was very hard for me to deal with it because I didn’t have my normal escapist methods available. I think the worst part of being pregnant is not feeling like yourself, and not being able to do normal activities. I miss organizing my stuff, it’s hard to have to wait for Gus to move boxes for me, and I haven’t been able to find my painting supplies or some of my entertainment because they are stuck in boxes somewhere in the garage. Still, I’m doing a lot better, I’ve tried to cook more and that makes me feel good inside, plus I get to eat tasty food that I know how to make. I would eat what my MIL makes but she doesn’t know how to make non-spicy food so it’s up to me to make my own meals. Last night I made fajitas, and earlier in the week I had ravioli mixed with spinach and pesto, minestrone soup with salad and a side of rosemary bread. I haven’t eaten that well when we travel, which is a shame, but it can’t be helped at this point. I wish they had a kitchenette so I could cook, it would be nice to have access to an oven, but then again, I’d probably skip work to make some intricate baking experiment.

So overall I’m doing better, I’ve been playing with the baby by rubbing the areas where she kicks/taps me and enjoying her respond back by kicking or tapping back. She’s not always responsive, but it’s really fun when she is, it’s like she’s a real person, instead of a little blob or an alien growing inside of me.

Gus and I have had some really good conversations about how we want to bring up this little one, and at this point Gus seems to be the strict one and I’m the lenient one. I have a feeling that he’ll be the softie though and I’ll end up getting all strict on her instead. The funny part is that Gus doesn’t really say much about the baby, but one thing I’ve learned is that even though he doesn’t ask about her very often, it isn’t that he isn’t interested, it’s just that he expects me to tell him what’s going on. He’s taking part by doing the physical work that needs to be done, such as getting the baby’s room ready, researching what we need, etc. He’s always really great about listening to the baby’s weekly growth email and is never too busy to listen to me talk about what the baby is up to inside of me.

I think he’s going to be a great dad, I just have to make sure he doesn’t get so nervous that he doesn’t interact enough with her on a daily basis. But who knows, maybe he won’t be nervous, heaven knows I’ll be nervous enough for both of us.

For me, the preparations for having a baby are starting to get closer and it’s hard to imagine that I only have another 2 months to go. The past few months have gone by so quickly! I dislike that I have gained as much weight as I have, but that’s my own fault for not getting my prenatal video right away and exercising regularly. Still, I’m only a little beyond the healthy range so I think I’m doing pretty well for just managing my diet. There’s a lot to do still, I haven’t registered anywhere and with the new regulations coming out for cribs, I think we are going to wait on buying a crib until it gets closer. But that won’t stop us from getting everything else ready, I am dying to tackle the garage. I also need to finish my project at work, soon as I get that done I can take a little break and start working half-time.

Well, I think I completed a small part of my personal goal this week, which is to write about my experiences as first-time pregnant woman. I’m sleepy now though, I think I will try to take a little nap and then get working on real work. Ideally I’d also like to hit up Target to start a registry, and go to the stores to buy some shirts, my belly sticks out so much that my normal shirts are riding up too high and showing off my maternity panel on my jeans. Bras would be nice too, but those are harder to find so no big hopes there.

So in case you didn’t know, we are moving back to Western Washington. We are doing the traditional Punjabi/Sikh tradition (it may also be the same for the rest of the Indian community) of staying with the inlaws for a spell before we move into our own place. From what I have learned, the reason why this tradition prevails is because it helps the new daughter-in-law bond with her new family, and also gives the mother-in-law an opportunity to teach family traditions, recipes and other information that will help her be a good wife to her husband. Basically I’ll learn my husband’s favorite foods, how to make them, and that sort of important information. I already know how to cook pretty well, but I only know how to make a few Indian recipes by myself, and I know they could use some practice to get better with that genre.

It’s been really busy at home because we are preparing to get rid of ‘junk’ and unnecessary items that we don’t need (like old clothing and knick-knacks). It’s actually something I like doing twice a year, but I didn’t do it last fall because I wasn’t feeling well and I was graduating from college in December. So I’m a little behind, but I did manage to get rid of 3 bags of clothing from my closet, and 3 bags from Gus’ home closet. There’s still a lot to whittle down, but I am excited to narrow down my material possessions to the essentials. Most of our things will be in storage so that when we get our own place, we won’t have to rebuy or separate our things from his parent’s possessions. Some items are going to be nearby though, because I want to have fun things to do, so my craft/paint box is essential, as well as my multiple gaming systems and monstrous makeup collection. Most things though, will need to be put away because there just isn’t enough room!

Most people I know, like my boss, family, etc. are a little worried that living with my in-laws will cause strain in our new marriage. I think that could be true in some ways, because having your kids live at home (when they haven’t for a while) is difficult for both parents and kids. I will have new rules to learn, and I will miss some of the freedom I had when we lived on our own. I am also used to living in a peaceful, quiet home, and a Punjabi home life is more active than the average household, so that will be something I will need to get used to, but I also hope that having a daughter-in-law that works on maintaining a stress-free home for her husband is a benefit too, because Gus will be able to work hard and be able to relax when he gets home. He is my priority, after all.

I know that the visit isn’t forever, and overall my in-laws are pretty nice to me, and don’t get mad at me when I make mistakes. This to me is probably the most important part for me. I’m definitely a person who does better with positive reinforcement, negativity tends to discourage me and make me feel like my efforts aren’t worth it.

The one thing I will miss the most (other than what I mentioned before) is one of my favorite hobbies, baking. We don’t have a working oven at the in-law’s house, so no more random baking. They do have a convection oven which is okay for cookies, but is a spectacular FAIL with pies (and I assume other baked goods). I know this because I tried to make my traditional apple pie in it for X-mas and it was awful because it didn’t cook all the way through. I was so embarrassed. Still, I can make cookies, so I won’t be completely bereft of my baking obsession.

I’m not sure how long we will stay at our in-laws, it depends on their health, and whether we are able to save enough to start our own household. Still, it will be nice to enjoy Seattle’s activities and weather this year, I’m pretty sure I will appreciate the mild summer weather this year. Let’s hope that things go well, that our family will have a better year and that we will be able to get on our feet as a family.

Tomorrow I am going to spend time with my mom and learn how to clip my roses for spring! I plan to make a little movie out of it so I can show Gus too, if it turns out well, I will post it here.

Last week (early weekend + Monday) was a super busy one for our family. After my doctor’s appointment, I talked to Gus and he felt it was it a good time for us to share our good news to our close family members. I was very glad about this because it meant that I wouldn’t have to wear baggy clothing and pretend I was “sick” when I didn’t feel well or wanted to take a nap. That also meant I could share my good news with my family as well, so we had to make plans with my brother and my mom (without spilling the beans).

Last Thursday we made a last-minute change to visit my mom that evening, instead of Monday night, because Gus needed to stay in Seattle for an important meeting about our move.

We ended up eating at Famous Dave’s (the bbq restaurant) after picking up my mom. After selecting our drinks and dinner choices, Gus gave me the nod. I was really nervous, so I ended up saying, “We have some exciting news, Gus got his transfer to Seattle!” We ended up talking about that for a bit and then I said, “I also have some good news, we have some wedding photos to show you!” I handed her the photo album and then she opened it, looked at the ultrasound picture, slammed it shut, and looked at me with an incredulous expression. She then said, “Cynthia???? You are pregnant?” And when I said yes, she hugged me and got all excited for me. It was a really great feeling, tbh. I’ve never had her be so pleased with me before, not even when I got into college, or when I got married. I guess making a baby is out of the ordinary, isn’t it? Anyway, I reopened the photo album and showed her the rest of the pictures, she was very amazed and a little teary-eyed. I was really happy about being able to tell her, next up was my in-laws!