Looking Good

Well, I'm 30 weeks down with 10 more to go. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm growing by the day and things that are routine, daily activities are becoming harder. I walk to the UT gym on my lunch break and that is becoming a task! The other day I was on the elliptical for only 20 minutes because my legs were tired. I have a feeling that it will all be worth it in the end.

During pregnancy, you should always do things to make yourself look and feel better. I got my hair cut yesterday and it's really cute. I had her cut more layers into it and I like it. I have $350 in gift certificates to Milk and Honey Spa so on Wednesday I'm headed there for an eyebrow wax and a Lux Mani/Pedi combo. I've been thinking about a prenatal massage, too, but I'm also contemplating saving the remaining money and doing a package after I give birth. I'm just worried that I won't be able to find the time to go. But it would give Cody a chance to have some quality father/daughter time!

I went to a prenatal yoga class last Sunday at YogaYoga. I never do prenatal yoga so it was interesting. For starters, I was freezing. I haven't practiced at a heated studio since I've been pregnant, but I'm still used to at least a little heat in my practice. I put my legs up the wall at the end of class and just wanted some socks because my feet were so cold. There were probably 30 women in there and most of them were hot so I get it. I wasn't totally bored and I can see the benefits of prenatal yoga, but I couldn't do it four times week. I'll stick with Flow and Anusara for now.

Take notes

Things you should never say to a pregnant woman:

Early in the pregnancy
"You're starting to show. I mean, I'm not sure how that's possible."

Non-pregnant person: "How far along are you now, about four months?" Pregnant woman: "Actually, only about three months." Non-pregnant person, in a surprised tone: "Seriously??"

Later in the pregnancy
Big man: "I don't see how you still do yoga. I mean, you're bigger than I am!"

"My niece is due in April, too, and she's barely showing."

And finally, anytime during the pregnancy
Non-pregnant person: "When are you due?" Pregnant woman: "April." Non-pregnant person: "Wow! Are you having twins?"

All of these things have been said to me during my pregnancy, except for the second one, which was a conversation my friend, who is currently 13 weeks pregnant, had with her neighbor. Do people have no common sense?

Ready?

Once again, Christmas has come and gone. This year was different for me since I'm pregnant and unable to drink copious amounts of wine and bourbon. (Although I did have one glass of wine on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas. Shhhhh.) The reality that this will be my last Christmas without a child has sunk in and I have suddenly become aware that not only will I have a child, but the child will also have me. The idea that someone is ever ready to be a parent is ludicrous to me. How can you be really ready to take care of another human being for the next 18 years of your life? I'll be almost 50 by then. This entire experience is a journey that I can't wrap my head around entirely and I'm not sure if I ever will.

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I'm still in Monroe at my parents' house. Before we left, our hot water heater broke and leaked under our floors. Yesterday morning, Cody told me that he really felt like he needed to go back home and work on them. I have to stay because my friends are giving me a baby shower today so he took Phoebe, our dog, and left and my mom is taking me back to Austin on Monday. I miss him. I miss my dog, too. I think Sam, my parents' dog, misses Phoebe, too. But I do love being at my parents' house. I'm sure I've said this before, but I find a comfort in it that I can not put into words. I didn't really grow up in this house because we moved here when I was 15 and I only lived here off and on during college, but I get this feeling of coziness when I'm here. If the house weren't located in Monroe, LA, I'd buy it in a heart beat!

Checking up and in

To put it simply, I don't feel like blogging but it's been two weeks so I feel I must. I'm tired. Our hot water heater broke yesterday and leaked under our floors. We will need to replace a portion of them. Cody pulled up some of the flooring and the house is a mess right now. To top it all off, he's catering a Christmas party tonight, working tomorrow and Tuesday and then we leave for Louisiana for five days on Wednesday. It could have been much worse. I keep telling myself that.

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Yesterday, I went to my regular Saturday morning yoga class with Jenn at Yoga Yoga. She's been very helpful with modifications during my pregnancy. She wasn't teaching, instead Matt Borer was subbing for her. I have been wanting to take one of his classes for a while but I didn't realize the first time I would get to would be when I'm six months pregnant. It was hard, but definitely doable. Nothing too crazy. I enjoyed myself.

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I get to go to the doctor for my 24-week check up tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to getting on the scale.

Lonely existence exists again

Cody lost his job the week before Thanksgiving. He got "laid off" which is a strange term for a small, local restaurant, but it's the truth. They can parcel out his duties to other people without replacing him so he got one month's severance and was sent on his way. Shitty timing with the holidays and you know, that bun in my oven named Mia. Just to prove how good he is at his job, he received two really good job offers within two weeks of being let go. This week, he accepted a position as the head chef of an Italian restaurant called Corvina that will open in Round Rock in March. In the meantime, he is working at 219 West, a restaurant/bar in downtown Austin that is owned by the same guys who are opening Corvina.

He has been at Vespaio for the last six years, the last five of which he held a very cush schedule for a chef. He worked Mondays through Fridays from about 6:00 or 6:30 a.m. until he was finished. Sometimes that wasn't until 5:00 in the evening but often it was earlier. And regardless, he was home at night. This is no longer the case. It's 7:30 p.m. and I have yet to hear from him. He went in at 9:00 this morning. This sucks. And after Corvina opens, it will be even worse because he will be the head chef of a new restaurant and we will have a new baby in April. And yes, I will be going back to work so this will be hard for me for the first few months at least. And did I mention that Cody does all of the cooking in our household? I'm starving.

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Mia is moving around quite a bit in there. It feels really weird.

Pink, pink, and more pink

Well, it's a girl! Her name is Mia Rose Krause and I'm pretty sure she's the cutest thing I've ever seen even inside the womb. Her growth is right on track for an April 15 due date and we're super excited. I've posted the latest ultrasound pictures. I love the one of her playing with her feet.

Babies and stuff

I have not been faithful about blogging during my pregnancy. Next week, I'll be half-way there and we're finding out the sex on Monday. A lot of people say that it's more fun not to find out because it's so exciting when the baby actually comes, but we both really want to know so we're doing it. I don't have a feeling about what it is although others do. I'm getting bigger by the minute and the fact that I have eaten cheese enchiladas for lunch two days in a row doesn't help. I'm continuing to practice yoga and exercise but I'm definitely more lax with my eating. Hell, it's the only vice I have. I'm scared to death that I'm going to gain fifty pounds. It frightens the shit out of me. I just saw a picture of a girl who was 33 weeks along and I look more pregnant than she does!

I went to the John Friend workshop this weekend which totally kicked my pregnant ass. It was the most intense yoga I've done in a while. The Sunday afternoon practice was especially difficult for me because I was incredibly sore and really tired. Plus my stomach is starting to get in the way of forward bends and we did a lot of them.

There is another really stressful thing going on in my life right now but I'm not ready to talk about it. Soon, though.