I'm feeling melancholy or just plain sad. My only grandparent left, Mama Ellen is in the hospital right now with a slew of health problems. I hope she hangs on and waits for me to bring her first great grandchild to meet her in Alabama. I really, really, really want her to see and hold our little angel. I'm going to wait until he's born to book a flight, but you can bet that is at the top of my list of priorities. I know this is the cycle of life, and I am trying to focus on all the positive.
Prenatal yoga is my favorite way to spend time lately. Last week I started my own prenatal yoga challenge. My goal is to go to yoga every day for two weeks. As of today, I've been to nine yoga classes in the past nine days in a row. When I began this conquest, I truly believed that the baby was already dropping and I'd have the baby at the end of the 14 days. But now I'm surrendering to the fact that I may indeed be the first woman to remain pregnant forever and ever. Even though scientific research shows that it is impossible, I may be the first person to break this record.
But hey, I guess no news is good news. And my yoga adventure has turned out to be amazing for unexpected reasons. At the beginning of my yoga stint, Los Angeles turned into a waterfall. The wind was blowing so hard that it blew our potted palm trees over and our rooftop deck turned into a swimming pool. It was pouring down faster than it could drain out. So it was off to the indoors I went for my workouts. As much as I've loved my beachside walks in the sunshine, the rain against the windows of the yoga studio has been incredibly peaceful.
The poses of yoga have also made it easier to breathe and relax. Since I can't get comfortable enough to sleep more than a wink at night, I may as well get a little R&R in during the day, right! Many of my teachers double as doulas and have given me all sorts of fantastic advice about birthing positions that they have found to be useful and various techniques to relieve pain. It is also fun to hang out with all the other pregnant gals. I have met some really genuine people going through exactly the same things as me. It's nice to know that all the other pregnant women are going through the same things I am.
In preparation for the baby, we celebrated Marc's 40th birthday a few weeks early. That might sound a bit strange, but the baby is due Feb. 11 and Marc's birthday is Feb. 15. I'm becoming more exhausted by the minute and didn't want to risk missing Marc's birthday if I was in labor on his special day. So with the advice of some of his guy friends and my dad, I gave him a grill with all the accessories for our rooftop deck. I'm not sure if he likes it yet because with all the rain he hasn't gotten out to set it up. Grills are out of my league and I don't know much about them, but I put a lot of time and effort into getting him something useful. He keeps saying that he hopes our friends will still come by once we have the baby, and cooking out on the grill is a great way to bring people together.
As part of the birthday celebration, Marc wanted to go see Avatar in 3-D. So that's what we did. The previews didn't interest me and I wasn't interested in spending three hours of my time watching a cartoony-looking flick, but low and behold, it was AWESOME! Avatar is now one of my favorite movies. I loved the graphics, the love story, and the beautiful message. James Cameron blew me away with this blockbuster hit and I'm so glad Marc really wanted to see it.
At 35 1/2 weeks pregnant, I got a gig posing for a photographer's book of pregnancy portraits. Rachel Jiraffi is composing a book that is a step by step guide on how to take professional looking pregnancy portraits at home on a budget. She's an incredible photographer and was really enjoyable to work with. Here are a couple of the pictures for her book that will probably be out next year.
As much as I'm tired of being pregnant, things are going really well. I'm counting my blessings every day that I am hanging in there. Yes, I have my weak moments, but that is to be expected. And believe it or not, I still think the first trimester is the hardest. Even though I'm counting the days, I don't feel as emotional as I did in the beginning. I'd rather have chronic back pain, the inability to sleep, and nothing to wear rather than feel the need to cry all the time.So bring on the baby and the sleep deprivation. I'm ready!!!
You are INCREDIBLE and I love you, Lizzy! Bring on the fun...we'll be right there with you!
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