Ups
1. Morning sickness is pretty much a non-issue for me at this point and my energy levels are back up. I have a full social calender for the weekend, which feels great. I went with my friend Kelly to the ballet last night and as little as two weeks ago, a darkened theater and classical music would have put me to sleep long before the end of the first act. But with much more energy, I made it to nearly the end of the show. In all fairness though, Kelly thought it could have ended an act earlier and been just as good of a performance.
I'm off tonight to celebrate a friend's birthday (Happy Birthday Justin!) and the Persian New Year tomorrow. All my foreign friends are fabulous cooks and, thus, I'm happy to have my appetite back.
2. A near total stranger asked me out last week, which I found very flattering. I'd had a five-minute conversation with the colleague of a grad school friend during a break at a conference and was shocked to receive an e-mail from him the next day. I've been bemoaning my changing figure for a few weeks now and although Chris has been nothing but supportive, and I haven't been seeking confirmation from anyone else, it's nice to know I've still got it...even if just for a few more weeks. A friend suggested I write back, "Sorry, I'm busy until October having my husband's child. Perhaps we could all have dinner together after that." I did write him back and told him delicately that I'm married,(didn't he notice the ring?!) but decided it's probably difficult enough to work up the guts to ask someone out only to find out she's married. To learn she's also pregnant might have been too much. The incident was admittedly a boost to my ego and relaying the story to Chris had the added side effect of keeping him on his toes.
Downs
1. Chris, normally pretty calm, called me at work this week sounding agitated. Andersen Windows announced it would continue shutting down the entire plant one Friday each pay period for another ten weeks. Chris had taken the first announcement in stride. His five Fridays off would coincide with mine and two of the Fridays fell during planned vacations, so he was saving two - albeit, unpaid - vacation days. We also didn't know yet that I was pregnant. The financial hit he was taking seemed minor at the time, especially in exchange for some much needed days off given how much he's been working lately.
The announcement also came just a few days after Chris bought a new (well, used) car. Despite how much we're trying to trim costs and the fact that his former car was paid off, the car was requiring a lot of expensive repairs. We decided that buying a used car in good condition with low mileage would end up being a better investment. Now we have a newer car and an older car and won't be replacing two cars at once. And the new car is a four-door, which Chris realized would be a near necessity a couple of months from now when he's wrestling a car seat in and out of the car.
In the end, we realize the furlough days won't mean financial ruin. With ten percent of all workers in the U.S. subjected to mandatory furloughs, and another 11 percent being encouraged to take voluntary unpaid time off (as I did in February), Andersen is probably handling it the best by spreading the time out of pay periods and thus paychecks.
Kiera, Matteo, Oliver and Soren
Showing posts with label Ups and Downs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ups and Downs. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Week 10: Ups and Downs
Ups
1. I've been feeling a lot better this past week. What little morning sickness I had should really have been called evening sickness. It would start on the way home from work, when I assumed my body was possibly just worn down from the day and in need of dinner. While food helped, I still never felt spectacular and often ate a piece of toast to keep something in my stomach until morning and went to bed early. Finally, I feel a lot more like myself. I have moments, where such as when you're getting over something like food poisoning and the sight or smell of a certain food gives you flashbacks or makes you wonder whether you're really over the illness or just being paranoid, but for the most part, I feel good and my energy is back up again too.
Downs
1. Being pregnant isn't the only culprit behind my complaint that I wish my social life were more active. Getting married, moving to the suburbs and working longer days at work (although, those longer days do give me every other Friday off) were slowly contributing to the decline in my social life long before I became pregnant.
I had to quit my soccer team, Hansa, mid-season, which aside from losing out on great exercise, (when an opponent is running towards my goal with the ball is the only time you'll see my otherwise slow stride pick it up a notch, or two, or three) meant I also lost a weekly social opportunity. I've been playing with some of these folks for five years and now that we're getting older and have added relationships, demanding jobs, mortgages in far-flung neighborhoods or towns to our list of responsibilities, the weekly soccer match is the one time we reliably get together.
Living in Stillwater so far away from my friends has also made having an active social life difficult. Some of my friends probably thought I was pregnant long before I actually was because I rarely drank since I'm no longer in walking or biking distance of friends' places or the bar or restaurant where we've met up. But with some advanced planning, I was able to make it work. But that took a lot of energy to always be on the go and that's been in short supply the last few weeks. When it's 8:00 p.m. and I'd rather be in bed, I haven't even been trying to make plans with friends, even on weekends. When I get to work at 7 a.m., post-work plans are also difficult because by the end of the work day, I'm desperate for a proper meal and some downtime to reenergize.
I hope though that now that I've been feeling better, I'll have more energy. The coming of spring will also help, since once the weather turns warmer, the sun begins to provide a desperately needed dose of vitamin D and the trees begin to bud, (which won't be until May) Minnesotans tend to burst out of hibernation and we become more cheerful and physically active and wonder why we would want to live anywhere else.
1. I've been feeling a lot better this past week. What little morning sickness I had should really have been called evening sickness. It would start on the way home from work, when I assumed my body was possibly just worn down from the day and in need of dinner. While food helped, I still never felt spectacular and often ate a piece of toast to keep something in my stomach until morning and went to bed early. Finally, I feel a lot more like myself. I have moments, where such as when you're getting over something like food poisoning and the sight or smell of a certain food gives you flashbacks or makes you wonder whether you're really over the illness or just being paranoid, but for the most part, I feel good and my energy is back up again too.
Downs
1. Being pregnant isn't the only culprit behind my complaint that I wish my social life were more active. Getting married, moving to the suburbs and working longer days at work (although, those longer days do give me every other Friday off) were slowly contributing to the decline in my social life long before I became pregnant.
I had to quit my soccer team, Hansa, mid-season, which aside from losing out on great exercise, (when an opponent is running towards my goal with the ball is the only time you'll see my otherwise slow stride pick it up a notch, or two, or three) meant I also lost a weekly social opportunity. I've been playing with some of these folks for five years and now that we're getting older and have added relationships, demanding jobs, mortgages in far-flung neighborhoods or towns to our list of responsibilities, the weekly soccer match is the one time we reliably get together.
Living in Stillwater so far away from my friends has also made having an active social life difficult. Some of my friends probably thought I was pregnant long before I actually was because I rarely drank since I'm no longer in walking or biking distance of friends' places or the bar or restaurant where we've met up. But with some advanced planning, I was able to make it work. But that took a lot of energy to always be on the go and that's been in short supply the last few weeks. When it's 8:00 p.m. and I'd rather be in bed, I haven't even been trying to make plans with friends, even on weekends. When I get to work at 7 a.m., post-work plans are also difficult because by the end of the work day, I'm desperate for a proper meal and some downtime to reenergize.
I hope though that now that I've been feeling better, I'll have more energy. The coming of spring will also help, since once the weather turns warmer, the sun begins to provide a desperately needed dose of vitamin D and the trees begin to bud, (which won't be until May) Minnesotans tend to burst out of hibernation and we become more cheerful and physically active and wonder why we would want to live anywhere else.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Week 9: Ups and Downs
Ups
1. A soccer teammate told me that elephants gestate for 22 months - the longest gestation period for any animal. Their babies also average 260 lbs. At least I can be thankful I'm not an elephant. And as for playing soccer again soon, my teammate pointed out, "You’ll be back in business by this time next year. Imagine a pregnant elephant sitting on the sidelines, season after season - poor pachyderms!"
Chris, who probably imagines that the misery of pregnancy-related woes, like morning sickness and mood swings, is compounded by the duration of the pregnancy and the size of the baby, is also thankful we're not elephants.
2. Chris and I have some friends experiencing difficult circumstances with no easy or right solution, which is difficult for us, because it's a natural instinct to want to jump in and help a friend fix the problem and make him or her happy again. While watching friends deal with such circumstances isn't the most uplifting, we have both expressed our thankfulness that we have each other and our relationship is solid. There will undoubtedly be great periods of stress in the coming months, (and years) but it's a lot less overwhelming since we know we have each other. We find it comforting that we will be making decisions and dealing with life's hurdles as a team.
Downs
1. With no news on my pregnancy, things have been kind of boring lately. I don't know if I was expecting nine months of excitement, but well, sometimes life is just business as usual. I've run out of things to write about in this blog, so I'm looking forward to next Tuesday's doctor's appointment, for many reasons, one of them being that I'll have something to report on.
1. A soccer teammate told me that elephants gestate for 22 months - the longest gestation period for any animal. Their babies also average 260 lbs. At least I can be thankful I'm not an elephant. And as for playing soccer again soon, my teammate pointed out, "You’ll be back in business by this time next year. Imagine a pregnant elephant sitting on the sidelines, season after season - poor pachyderms!"
Chris, who probably imagines that the misery of pregnancy-related woes, like morning sickness and mood swings, is compounded by the duration of the pregnancy and the size of the baby, is also thankful we're not elephants.
2. Chris and I have some friends experiencing difficult circumstances with no easy or right solution, which is difficult for us, because it's a natural instinct to want to jump in and help a friend fix the problem and make him or her happy again. While watching friends deal with such circumstances isn't the most uplifting, we have both expressed our thankfulness that we have each other and our relationship is solid. There will undoubtedly be great periods of stress in the coming months, (and years) but it's a lot less overwhelming since we know we have each other. We find it comforting that we will be making decisions and dealing with life's hurdles as a team.
Downs
1. With no news on my pregnancy, things have been kind of boring lately. I don't know if I was expecting nine months of excitement, but well, sometimes life is just business as usual. I've run out of things to write about in this blog, so I'm looking forward to next Tuesday's doctor's appointment, for many reasons, one of them being that I'll have something to report on.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Week 8: Ups and Downs
On each Pregtastic episode, the podcasters start the show with two ups and two downs, and I thought it would be a good way to summarize how each week has been going.
Ups:
1. Everyone asks how I'm doing and has been very concerned about morning sickness. The good news is that I haven't really had any morning sickness. I've heard that the simple things in life - adequate sleep, food and exercise - help, so whether that's what's working for me, I'm not sure.
2. It's been fun witnessing how excited Chris is about the pregnancy and his support has been comforting. I have my indecisive moments, but when I know what I want or what I need to do, I go after it. Since I'm the one actually carrying the baby, I started out looking as pregnancy as something that I had to do, but when I slowed down for a second, I realized that Chris is continuously by side.
Downs:
1. Although morning sickness has thankfully been a negligible issue for me, I have been dealing with what I'll refer to as mild food issues. I seem to be a constant state of mild unease (not quite nausea), intermixed with either having an appetite, feeling full or not feeling satisfied no matter what I eat. Often I have a combination of conflicting signals from my stomach. I can be nauseous and feel full even though I haven't eaten in hours, and be uninterested in food, even though, as I stated in one of my ups for the week, I think it makes me actually feel better. So I find myself eating just to keep my stomach settled, and worry every time I feel any sense of hunger come on that I'll start to feel nauseous again.
2. After talking about my issues with food and the abandonment of my typical eating patterns, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm gaining weight. I know it's not a new complaint and is rather ironic that a pregnant woman would complain about weight gain since it is inevitable, but it's not the baby weight I'm anxious about. It's the weight I'm gaining because my eating patterns have drastically changed (for the worse) and the fear that I won't take it off afterwards. I've learned that it's a myth that pregnant women can eat whatever they want, and in reality, it's very easy to gain too much weight. After losing 15% of my body weight a few years ago through lifestyle changes, it's an adjustment for me to abandon a lot of the good habits I had worked so hard to make a natural part of my everyday life.
Excessive weight gain is also a concern for me since I'm not as active anymore. Soccer ceased as soon as I found out I was pregnant and a nagging knee injury has dampened my enthusiasm for running. I get my money's worth out of my gym membership, but yesterday's post-workday workout was the first one I had to quit early because I was growing too exhausted and too hungry to continue. That may lead me to join Chris's gym in Stillwater, just so I can come home to eat and relax and regain my energy for more physical activity. His gym also has a pool and when I'm eight months pregnant and desperate for exercise, you may find me engaged in one sport I never though I'd willingly participate in - swimming. To try to end a drawn-out "down" on a positive note, I guess it's just going to be a matter of me finding a new rhythm for a healthy lifestyle.
Ups:
1. Everyone asks how I'm doing and has been very concerned about morning sickness. The good news is that I haven't really had any morning sickness. I've heard that the simple things in life - adequate sleep, food and exercise - help, so whether that's what's working for me, I'm not sure.
2. It's been fun witnessing how excited Chris is about the pregnancy and his support has been comforting. I have my indecisive moments, but when I know what I want or what I need to do, I go after it. Since I'm the one actually carrying the baby, I started out looking as pregnancy as something that I had to do, but when I slowed down for a second, I realized that Chris is continuously by side.
Downs:
1. Although morning sickness has thankfully been a negligible issue for me, I have been dealing with what I'll refer to as mild food issues. I seem to be a constant state of mild unease (not quite nausea), intermixed with either having an appetite, feeling full or not feeling satisfied no matter what I eat. Often I have a combination of conflicting signals from my stomach. I can be nauseous and feel full even though I haven't eaten in hours, and be uninterested in food, even though, as I stated in one of my ups for the week, I think it makes me actually feel better. So I find myself eating just to keep my stomach settled, and worry every time I feel any sense of hunger come on that I'll start to feel nauseous again.
2. After talking about my issues with food and the abandonment of my typical eating patterns, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm gaining weight. I know it's not a new complaint and is rather ironic that a pregnant woman would complain about weight gain since it is inevitable, but it's not the baby weight I'm anxious about. It's the weight I'm gaining because my eating patterns have drastically changed (for the worse) and the fear that I won't take it off afterwards. I've learned that it's a myth that pregnant women can eat whatever they want, and in reality, it's very easy to gain too much weight. After losing 15% of my body weight a few years ago through lifestyle changes, it's an adjustment for me to abandon a lot of the good habits I had worked so hard to make a natural part of my everyday life.
Excessive weight gain is also a concern for me since I'm not as active anymore. Soccer ceased as soon as I found out I was pregnant and a nagging knee injury has dampened my enthusiasm for running. I get my money's worth out of my gym membership, but yesterday's post-workday workout was the first one I had to quit early because I was growing too exhausted and too hungry to continue. That may lead me to join Chris's gym in Stillwater, just so I can come home to eat and relax and regain my energy for more physical activity. His gym also has a pool and when I'm eight months pregnant and desperate for exercise, you may find me engaged in one sport I never though I'd willingly participate in - swimming. To try to end a drawn-out "down" on a positive note, I guess it's just going to be a matter of me finding a new rhythm for a healthy lifestyle.
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