Kicking the Habit

As anyone who knows me well knows, I am a creature of habit. “Spontaneous” and “unpredictable” are not and never will be my middle names – or even remotely associated with me. But 28 weeks and 1 day into this pregnancy, I’m finally realizing that I might have to slow down and change my day-to-day routines.

Part of me wants to keep going at my regular pace and doing all the things I’d normally do because I know I won’t be able to once the baby is here, but the other part of me knows I should just listen to my body and just take it a little easier. After all, I won’t be able to do that once the baby’s born either!

What got me started on this whole line of thinking is how much tougher today was for me than it would have been even a few weeks ago. Sundays are usually pretty busy days for me, and today was no different. Per my usual routine, I woke up around 9, had my coffee and eggs, and sorted through my recipes so I could figure out what to cook for dinner this week and make my grocery list. At 10:30 I left to go for a nice hourlong walk with my sister in the balmy (it was at least 42) spring weather.

I was afraid the stores wouldn’t be open late since it’s Easter, so we walked down to Jewel and I picked up the essentials (onions, apples, lettuce, frozen corn and cheese popcorn) for tonight’s dinner (grilled shrimp over bacon-and-fontina-cheese polenta) and the next couple of days. By the time I got back, I had to jump in the shower to get ready to head over to Andy’s dad’s house for Easter lunch.

We had a nice time over there. It’s so sweet to see how excited his stepmother, Priscilla, is about the baby. She says she’s been trying not to overdo it, but she’s been starting to pick up some cute little outfits here and there and has a special rack going in her closet with the clothes she’s bought. Anyway, we didn’t get home from there until around 5 and I was feeling really tired, probably a combination of the morning’s walk and the fact that I woke up for my first bathroom trip last night at 2 a.m. and was up and down the rest of the night after that.

But I couldn’t sit down and relax because I really needed to start my laundry, since I was pretty much out of underwear that still fits comfortably. It’s not that my butt has actually gotten THAT much bigger, but because of the extreme outward curve of the bottom of my stomach, some of the waistbands can be a little uncomfortable. (TMI? Too bad!) Andy offered to help, but I said I could do it (though I did have him carry the overflowing hamper down the two flights of stairs).

Once the first load was in, it was time to make my salad to take for lunch for the week and start defrosting the shrimp for dinner. Again, Andy sweetly offered to help, and this time I let him. My stomach was starting to feel heavy and sore and I was still really tired, so I let him help throughout the rest of the dinner prep. Working on dinner, tomorrow’s lunch and another load of laundry took us right through 8 o’clock – finally time to eat and relax with a little Sunday night baseball (featuring, a couple innings ago, an amazing, grand-slam-robbing catch over the centerfield fence by Reed Johnson – gotta love baseball being back!!).

So like I said, it was a busy day, but as Andy said to me, a lot of the things I did were things I chose to do, not things I HAVE to do. I can skip my morning walk with Jen (but I really like the exercise and spending time with her!). I could buy my lunch at work this week and have something simpler for dinner (though with it being Passover, it’s a lot harder to grab something quick since sandwiches and pasta are off the table!). I could have put off the laundry or had Andy do it (but he doesn’t know which things go in the dryer and which need to hang!).

As you can see, at the end of the day, it all comes down to me just being a control freak and wanting to do things how I always do them – how I like to do them. But as my belly gets bigger, my back and legs get sorer and my hours of sleep get shorter, I’m going to have to give up the reins a bit and adjust. It will probably be good practice for living P.B. (post baby) – because that, of course, will be the ultimate exercise in giving up control.

Cooking and Stewing

I’ve already spent 5 hours today cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and there’s still plenty to be done. I really enjoy spending all that time in the kitchen, chopping and blanching and baking and simmering, but I have to admit that being pregnant throws a bit of a wrench into the process. While I was finishing up chopping, washing and blanching the chard (one of the biggest pains of all my tasks), my stomach started hurting. I’ve been feeling kind of bloated and full all afternoon (couldn’t have anything to do with the massive pile of spaghetti I had for lunch, could it?) but then it just seemed to get worse.

So I sat down to take a break and do some baby-surfing (as Andy calls it when I spend time online cruising the baby message boards). There have been a few more poor girls in the past few days who have had miscarriages, and reading all about it freaked me out. I don’t begrudge anyone at all their right to post about the tough parts of pregnancy as well as the happy parts-that’s what those forums are for, in my opinion-support in good times and bad. But I should probably keep away from some of the tougher discussions at my more vulnerable times.

Overall I feel like I’ve done pretty well so far not letting my worries get the best of me. But it is scary to realize how common it is to have miscarriages in the first trimester. You hear about the statistics but somehow don’t realize that translates into not really being able to breathe easy for the first 12 or 13 weeks. I also know that they say there’s not much you can do either way if it’s going to happen. But I read this one post today where someone said their sister’s doctor told her, after one miscarriage, that in her next pregnancy if she starts to feel any pain she should sit down and rest. So does that mean then that you can do something about it? It made me worry that I’ve been too active, or that if I start to feel bad at all at any time that I should rest and put my feet up or something. I don’t know. Hearsay isn’t the best way to get advice, I know.

My next doctor’s appointment isn’t until 2 weeks from Friday. Wanna bet on whether there’s a phone call or two between now and then? Hopefully I won’t have reason to. I do feel better now after relaxing for an hour or so. I’m going to have some tasty tacos from Chipotle for dinner, and then instruct Andy on how to make the bechamel for the Swiss chard gratin while I chop some veggies for the chorizo-corn bread stuffing. Yum. I do love Thanksgiving …