Travel and gestation.

 

The title pretty much sums up my current experience.  Last week I spent in Ottawa.  I don't have many pictures of that (other than one in my Twitter feed) because I spent my whole time in talks and seminars, and catching up on sleep.  It was pretty awesome.  When I first discovered I would need to go on this trip (for work) I was kind of bummed.  Five days away, more than I've been away from MJ for her entire life  But as the day approached, I realized how exhausted I was, and how much five days away would be appreciated.  And the work aspect was pretty good, too.

8 hours after arriving back in Minnesota, we left for a trip to Madeline Island.  We went with some friends, and really had a nice time.  I planned the trip and convinced others to join, so I felt somewhat responsible for the crappy weather we experienced.  Nothing that could have been predicted, and we still had a nice time, but less outside time than I had hoped.  We have one more trip planned to a friends cabin in a few weeks, and then we hunker down.

31 weeks today.  35 pounds gained.  Although I spent my early pregnancy stressed about weight gain, I have now given up.  I have been active, eating fairly well, but my body just likes to gain weight.  And the thing I was most worried about, becoming incredibly uncomfortable, has not happened.  I still feel very good at 31 weeks.  I can still go for somewhat long walks.  Although I can tell I'm starting to slow down, I'm feeling so much better than I did last pregnancy that I'm just going to roll with the next couple months. 

I did invest in some more maternity clothes.  I realized what a scrub I looked like at work and decided I needed to fix it.  I just didn't even feel good in my own skin.  I tried to invest in things that were non-maternity and which I can wear post-maternity, we'll see if it works like I plan. 

Everything else has been going well.  Movement has been intense.  MJ is still excited, though tonight we had a conversation about the downsides of her future sister.  I pointed out that her sister will sometimes steal her toys and argue with her.  So MJ got down next to my belly and whispered "Please, please don't steal my toys.  Please?  Please?"  She likes to take her sister's pajamas and dress her babies in them. 

After spending the weekend with a (very cute) four-month old we had a healthy reminder of what we're in for.  Going back to feeding and changing round the clock, as well as very little sleep, will be hard.  We're finally getting to a point of independence with MJ (did I mention her dad potty trained her while I was in Ottawa?), and then we go back to square one.  I'm still excited, but I've resolved to really enjoy the next 2 months. 

Edit:  If you hadn't noticed, there are some pictures up there that aren't showing up.  They're on my home computer, so for now you'll just have to hold your horses.  Will repost them soon.