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May 13, 2003
27 Weeks
I went out to the Municipality that I am doing my thesis for, and for whom I have worked for two summers, this week. I was there to deal with the survey that they are mailing out for the purpose of my thesis, but all the same it was really wonderful to see everybody there. It is a really nice office to work for and everyone who I saw remembered me and wished me, Simon and the Little One well :-) I had the chance to have a couple of chats with those who I had become a little more friendly with over the course of the two summers, which was really nice, as I had not had any contact with most of them since I left at the end of last August. All in all it was a really lovely day, despite having to put together a mail-out for 168 addresses – labelling, folding, stuffing etc was a little hard on my back, but they are paying for the survey and also doing it under Municipal letterhead so I don’t have to deal with the horror that is the ethics committee here at the school, so I can’t truly be upset.
I LOVE wearing my new maternity clothes. My belly is SO happy with things that fit over it, it is really great! It also makes me look more pregnant now, which of course I really, really love :-) because the clothes are cut and designed to showcase this beautiful belly of mine. Much, much better than my previous attire! The shirts are quite roomy still, making me wonder if I bought too large a size, but I guess I will find out soon enough when the Little One really starts to fill out in my belly, huh? What is most surprising, and most wonderful, is that the jeans that I ordered, actually fit! I am, with my height and proportions, almost impossible to fit into a pair of jeans, and so when I tried them on I did not have very high expectations that I would look great in them, I just wanted to look okay. But I put them on, wiggled a bit to get them to fit right and went to look in the mirror to find that I looked GREAT in them! :-) How absolutely awesome is that? And they are the perfect length as well, just below my heels. I am just beyond thrilled, can you tell at all? LOL
This week I also did a little ‘local’ maternity shopping. I think I have mentioned that I have a couple of dresses from this wonderfully feminine store called La Cache – the purple one that I wear in my Belly Photos is from that store. Well, I went out to try to find two more dresses, so that I would have a really nice selection of them, lord knows that they might just turn out to be a uniform this summer for me, and I didn’t want to seem like, oh, there is Laura wearing that dress again, just like the previous three times I have seen her. So, I whirled through the store picking out dress after dress and found three that I liked when I tried them on. I also found a pair of overalls that will be just divine in the fall after the arrival of the Little One :-) I already have a pair from this store, the ones that I have bought are this lovely French lavender colour and I just know that I will get a ton of use from them. What usually happens when I shop at this store is that I find a couple of dresses, take them home and model them for Simon. He then gets veto power on them, as I absolutely trust his opinion of what I look good or bad in. I then keep whichever ones he likes :-) It’s a good system and works really well. I still get a dress and what is more, I know that I look good in it. He ended up only liking one of the dresses this time, so I returned the other two, but I will hopefully be back for their last summer sale around Canada Day before I give birth.
Yoga was great, as always! The funniest thing was my teacher’s reaction to my belly, because I have had a big growth spurt this week, the baby has been growing up a storm! Anyway, the difference from last week to this week was really noticeable to her, and also to the other ladies I usually chat with :-) I also noticed when I was doing a couple of the poses that it was really getting in the way of where I was supposed to be… visions of me in a few more weeks kept dancing through my head where I would really have to modify the pose to get into it. I can’t wait! *Grin*
The best part about this week was that we were able to sneak away for a few days. I booked a couple of nights at a Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage on the wild Chignecto coast, we packed up and headed out. What was really wonderful about this trip was that we were able to take the kids, the fellow operating the cottage and its restaurant okayed Brook, and I just didn’t ask about Miss Scarlett. Who would mind a 7.5 pound cat after a 65 pound puppy? The trip went rather well, all things considered. Brook lately has been getting a little carsick (just excessive drooling) when we take her places in the car, but only our car. She appears to be fine in other people’s cars, which did throw us for a loop. We figured out that it was most likely because of the engine in our car. We have a Subaru Outback, which uses a boxer style engine where the pistons and valves are horizontal, making for a different kind of vibration than most other cars, and it was this that must have been setting Brook off. So, we decided to give children’s Gravol a try for this trip, using it as an experiment for trips we will take in the future. She did fairly well, but we think that the dosage may have been too low, so we will try a slightly higher dosage on the return trip and see how she does! Poor puppy dog.
The lighthouse was absolutely amazing. It is located right on the tip of land that juts out in between the two forks at the head of the Bay of Fundy, so the tides and current is just incredible. Local fishermen say that they get some of the biggest lobster right off the coast of this lighthouse because of these currents. The cottage had four rooms and a common room, we settled in and I unpacked while Brook and Miss Scarlett explored all the new smells – Brook outside and Miss Scarlett inside :-) We were told by the manager about a great walk and headed out after I changed into something that I could manoeuvre in better than jeans. The walk took us out over the very rocky headlands before we would arrive down at the beach, and it was not long before I realized that there was no way that I could do the walk. My balance, while never great before the pregnancy because of my height and my knee’s tendency to not do what I’d like, has deteriorated badly. I was trying to be careful, but it was still difficult and so Simon and Brook went forward while I just found a nice spot to sit and watch them.
I have to say that Brook was absolutely hilarious during this walk. Having never encountered this type of terrain before, she was a little unsure of how exactly to walk on it, but at the same time, her desire to be with her Dad at all times was slightly overwhelming. When Simon climbed down for the first time into the crevices and up the other side, Brook was almost at a loss at what to do. She paced up and down the side of the ‘cliff,’ while Simon and I urged her on, she finally figured out that she could indeed climb down and up the other side, but it was still quite funny! The other thing that happened on this little jaunt was that Simon walked down on of the crevices to the end where there were just loose beach rocks, Brook happily trotting beside him. He tossed a rock into the ocean, Brook apparently got really excited and slipped on the seaweed right into the water! This was her first swim in the ocean, and I missed it! Once the coldness of the water hit her, she quickly tried to get back onto the rock that she slipped from, but with it coated in seaweed, it wasn’t really going to happen – she did find her way over to where Simon was standing and walked out, but what I would have done to see her expression when she slipped into the water! :-) Her journey back to me was more successful, she was gaining confidence on the rocky terrain quickly, her eyes gleaming and her ears perked with excitement about this great walk we were on. A walk the next day proved to us how smart she was, because she wasn’t a puppy anymore, but a mountain goat! She was just fine jumping over and around rocks, finding her own way and following her Dad – too cute. The photo on the website of her and Simon was taken that second day – doesn’t she look utterly comfortable on those rocks? :-)
We spent most of our time either reading or going for drives in the area, both activities that we really enjoy. The second night we were there the weather kicked up a bit and the fog horn started, completely freaking out both of the kids, but at the same time, really neat for Simon and I. It was really loud, only being 250 metres away and at a decibel that would seriously injure your eardrums if you were standing near to it when it went off, but still really reminded us that this is a working lighthouse and that it plays an important role in the lives of those who make their living on the sea. The fog, wind and rain also made the night a little romantic because we were all sort of snuggled in for the night.
I think that the most touching thing about the whole trip was how completely protective Brook was of me. She was always coming back to check on me on the walks we went on, if I was sitting in the common room and she was in our bedroom, but most astonishingly, she slept, for both nights, on my side of the bed. Never has she slept the night on my side, she has her mat by Simon’s side at home and always sleeps there. But I guess that she wanted to protect me from the big bad fog horn the second night, and just make sure I was alright in the strange surroundings on the first night, so she slept beside me – how adorable and sweet is that? The only problem was when I had to get up in the middle of the night, as pregnant women are prone to do, to go to the washroom. She also got up because she sleeps very lightly, to make sure that I was only going to the washroom and wouldn’t settle down to sleep until I was all tucked into the bed again :-)
We left this morning, more towards the noon hour and drove back home. Brook did much better on this drive back, but she was still a little drooly. Unpacking was quick as it was such a short trip and we are just going to enjoy a nice quiet evening back home. Tomorrow, bright and early we’ll start back to work on our theses, but I hope that the trip has provided enough of a break from them so that we feel fresh tomorrow morning and ready to tackle them again. It was getting a little tedious working day in and day out on them from 8:30am to 4:00pm. Both of us are blessed with quite a lot of self-discipline, but after a few weeks of this it does start to wear on you. We are absolutely exhausted at the end of the day mentally, but our bodies are not yet tired. So, this was a really nice break away from the work.
Symptoms: Belly growth galore! :-) This week I have really popped it seems in the belly growth department. I run my hands over this protruding belly, amazed that the Little One inside of it is the sole reason why it is growing and growing. It is such a physical manifestation of the Little One’s health, really, just a lovely sensation to sit and think about it all. There is no doubt about it now too, I am definitely pregnant, and revelling in it too! :-) It’s still a smaller sized belly, but at the same time, it’s all mine. Well, mine and Simon’s? I’m not sure about calling it ‘mine’ or not… it took two to make the Little One, right?! It just makes me anxious for when I have a really huge belly, I honestly am getting a little impatient waiting for this little person to grow that much! I think that this makes it two or three ‘noticeable’ growth spurts so far, I can’t wait for more! One thing that I have noticed about this larger belly is that moving around at night in bed has definitely been affected. It takes much more effort to roll from one side to the other now that I have this little bit of extra ‘mass’ on my front :-) I make little noises as I move and Simon goes “What? Is something wrong?” I just reply that I am moving, and to please be quiet about the noise that I now make when I’m doing it! LOL
**Talk to Me**
How did you feel once you were exclusively wearing maternity clothes? Did it make you feel as I did?
When was the last time you were able to get away from it all as just the two of you before the arrival of your Little Person? What did you do while you were away?
How many ‘growth’ stages did you go through during your pregnancy?
Namaste, Laura and the Little One
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