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.
This baby is baking up nicely, I’m glad I made it to full term, so if I can make it a few more weeks, I will feel very accomplished by making sure that she had the maximum amount of time to grow and be completely ready for this world. Of course I don’t really have a choice, it’s up to her to figure out when she’s ready, but I am grateful that we made it this far, Gus, me, and baby.
