Friday, January 19, 2018

Currently: January

Yay! We are over half-way through the month of January, which is probably my least favorite month since it's just so cold here! Here's what's currently going on in my world. 

Reading: Bonfire by Krysten Ritter. This is another book of the month club. In this book, the protagonist, an environmental attorney, goes back to her home town to research whether a local plastics plant has contaminated the water. The protagonist had an awful experience in high school so it's kind of painful for her to be back in her old stomping grounds. I also had a pretty crappy experience in high school so I can relate to how the character feels. 

Loving:  the warmer weather that arrived yesterday. It's going to be in the 20s-40s over the next week which feels tropical after many days of sub-zero weather. It's funny how 'cold' is such a relative term depending on where you live and the time of year. 40 feels cold in the fall but tropical in January!

Feeling: all the pregnancy body changes. I've definitely started to 'feel' the weight gain. My weight gain has been really healthy but I'm at a much higher weight that I am used to and it just kind of adds to the fatigue. I'm also feeling the effects of the compression of my lungs due to the growing baby. Of course it's a good thing that the baby is growing and pushing up against my lungs, but I get winded so easily. For instance, I got winded just putting on my winter boots before work yesterday!

Thinking: about how lucky I am to work for a company/have a boss that is so understanding about alllll the doctor appointments I have to go to. Between seeing my OB, the endocrinologist, my rheumatologist, and now the pediatric urologist, I have so many appointments! My boss and coworkers have been so understanding. 

Frustrated: by my body. After a nice 3-week break from flares, I've had weekly flares for the last 2 weeks. When I get flares, I have to increase my prednisone dosage, which makes my blood sugar higher. This, in turn, makes me even more sensitive to carbs so it's even harder to manage my blood sugars. Gah. It's just frustrating all around.

Anticipating: the massage I'm getting this weekend. The max time for a prenatal massage the spa I go to is 55 minutes. I wish they would do a 90 minute massage because there are so many areas of my body that need attention right now! I've been trying to get monthly massages but I think I will splurge and get them every 2 weeks for the remainder of the pregnancy. 

Watching: very little tv, besides the news. We don't get cable and Phil and I haven't found a new Netflix or Prime series that we both like to watch, so I spend a lot of time in the evenings reading

Grateful: for the amazing family and friends I have. The baby and I felt so very showered by love last weekend. Everyone is so excited for us which just adds to the excitement and anticipation of baby S's arrival!

Working: on preparing my coworkers for my absence during maternity leave. I will be gone over 2 quarter ends, which are the busiest times of the year for us. I'm trying to document everything as much as possible so they can cover for me when I'm out but it's a lot of work to do that! 

Listening: to the podcast, "Slow Burn" which is about Watergate. Shout out to Stephany for recommending it! I wasn't alive during Watergate so don't know much about it. It's been interesting to learn more about what happened and how Nixon came to resign. Each episode is about 30 minutes long and something is covered in every episode that makes you think - 'are you kidding me? This actually happened?' 

Wishing: that the warmer weather we've been having will stick around! Chances are we will dip back down to below zero before long, but in my dream world, it would stay in the 20-40s for the rest of winter. A girl can dream, right?

What are you loving, anticipating and wishing?

8 comments:

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

That podcast sounds really interesting! I have not been having good luck with audio books lately; for some reason I just can't get into them and have been wasting precious listening time listening to Eminem. I've tried and "put down" two audio books this year already! Sometimes I think the time commitment gets to me; for instance, if you see that it is 14 hours of listening and you are not getting excited about the first half and hour, it's easy to quit. But a half an hour podcast is always a lot less commitment!

I hope your flares subside soon! It sounds like a very tenuous balancing act with all of the different things you have going on! I think you are quite the trooper!!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Yes, you are very lucky to have such an understanding boss and coworkers. That's wonderful!

The one Netflix show that Christopher and I both is Scandal. We also love watching the BBC Earth specials, and all the documentaries. I am into This is Us, but Christopher doesn't like it as much as I do. Not sure what American Netflix has, but if you haven't seen Six Feet Under, I think that is one of my all time favourite shows. The characters are just so good in it (especially the mom).

Loving - That it is nice out! We have had plus temperatures this week, and I am enjoying it so much.

Anticipating - Booking an Easter trip later today or tomorrow!

Wishing - That this weekend will draaaaaaag on :-) (I think all weekends should be three days).

katielookingforward said...

Totally splurge on massages! Especially with the pain you're experiencing, if massage can bring you some relief, i say its worth it!

Charbelle said...

I absolutely think the massages are necessary! With everything that has been going on this is one way you can take care of yourself! I just saved that book as I think I would enjoy it. I was home Wednesday from work and I read 3 books, I got hooked on a series by Catherine Bybee, easy reading and somewhat predictable but I enjoy them. I've now read all of her books (in the month of January) and pre-ordered 2 more. I think Michael gets kind of annoyed at times that I am constantly reading but they are SO fun to read! I also discovered that running is better when you have a good audiobook but those get kind of expensive on audible so I think I'm going to have to start trying out podcasts that y'all are always talking about. I have discovered that I concentrate more on what is being said and I am more easily distracted from the run.

Jeanie said...

i like your check ins. I say if they can't do more than 55 min. on full body, see if you could add time with hands and feet. That's so relaxing! Nice to get in a lot of reading time this winter. And wasn't the weather good? It looks like it's going to chill up again -- rain and snow for here, but not as cold. You're lucky with your boss. Very!

Stephany said...

I'm glad that you're loving Slow Burn! I'm recommending it to everyone, especially after last week's episode that had me going CRAZY. So many similarities to what we're experiencing today!

Your "thinking" got me thinking (ha) about how everything happens for a reason. Like, I know you hoped and prayed for a family for so long, but it didn't happen until now and now you have this great job with understanding colleagues who don't make you feel bad about all your appointments. It's all meant to happen at this time. :)

Marlys said...

I am glad you are getting messages every two weeks! That should help for many reasons! I've never had one but hear they are divine!
We just finished watching the BBC series, "Bleak House" on Amazon Prime, and it was really good! The book was written by Charles Dickens, and now I would like to read it as I'm sure there are many details that weren't included!

San said...

I am so glad you have an amazing work environment that accomodates your absence due to all the doctor's appointments. I mean, I'd like to emphasize that this should be the norm, but I am sure it's not like that everywhere.

I am hoping that when the pregancy is over, your flares will leave you alone for a while!