Being a pregnant woman is hard. Being a pregnant mom is very hard. When I was pregnant with Quinn, I could
rest when I needed to rest. I fell asleep on the couch almost every day. I was
free to listen to my body and took it easy when it told me to. This time around?
Not so much. A wise friend told me to enjoy my first pregnancy because future
pregnancies would not be as easy. Boy, was she right.
Chasing after a toddler all day while in your third trimester for #2 is
exhausting. Quinn is a great kid, but like most two year-olds, he’s busy and
demands a lot of attention. He runs.
He spins in circles. He drives trucks over my face. And he talks… All. Day. Long. He’s fun,
entertaining, hilarious and adorable… and he wipes me out.
Luckily, Q naps like a champ. He will sleep two, sometimes
three, hours a day, and it’s wonderful. But I don’t feel like I have the luxury
of stopping to rest during those precious nap hours. There is so much to
accomplish and such a short time to do it, so I busy myself with my long list of to-do items that I can’t get done when Q’s awake. I stay up too late after
Quinn goes to bed at night, using that free time to accomplish instead of
sleep. My body (and my husband, and my friends…) is telling me to slow down,
but I shush it, arrogantly thinking I know best.
But recently, my body has started protesting. Several times
a day, I feel weak to the point I cannot stand upright or even lift my arms. If
I try to fight through it, I get dizzy and short of breath, and I am forced to
sit or else I think I’ll pass out. This extreme fatigue is new to me, and I don’t
like it. Not only can I barely accomplish anything, I can’t chase Q around. He’s
been watching a lot more TV lately because I’m too weak and tired to play, and
that’s just not fair to him.
A visit to the doctor confirmed that my iron levels are low
and I’m anemic. Iron is what carries oxygen through the blood stream, which explains why I feel weak all the time. The doc also said my normally healthy, low blood pressure is working against
me right now, so I’m going to feel more tired until it naturally spikes later in my
pregnancy. She put me on iron supplements and said I should start feeling better
in a couple weeks, but until then I need to take it easy. As if I have a choice
anymore.
So until Baby Dragon arrives, I’m going to slow down and
save my energy for my son and Hubs. This will be easier now that my online class is over, Quinn’s
Big Boy Bedroom is finished (more on that next week), my friend’s Very Hungry Caterpillar baby shower was a success, and three of
the major projects I was working on for my client are completed. Whew!
To kick start my period of sort-of-relaxation (as much relaxation as a SAHM/working-mom of a two year-old can realistically get), I took a
weekend off to be all by myself.
I went up to my in-laws’ lake house
and spent a whole weekend in complete solitude.
Quinn and Daddy had a weekend of fun, while I went away to read, write and work
on projects without being limited to Q’s sleeping hours.
I didn’t have to worry about changing diapers, or making up spontaneous stories about trucks
or trains, or feeding anyone except myself. I wrote several blog posts,
finished reading my book, got some sun, enjoyed lunch on a restaurant patio,
worked on a project for Q’s Big Brother Kit (more on that coming up soon, too), and worked on a gift I’m
making for a friend.
But the best part? I
slept. A lot. I didn’t have to stay up late to accomplish anything, so I
was in bed by 9:30 pm, and in the mornings I slept in until 8:00. On Sunday, I
woke up, video chatted with Hubs and Q, ate breakfast, took a shower… and
then went back to bed. I actually napped. For the first time in this pregnancy,
I listened to my body (and my Hubs, and my friends…) and rested when I needed
to rest. It was magical.
Now I feel recharged, as I usually feel after a little bit of alone time. And
I miss Quinn and Hubs very much, and I can’t wait to get back home to my
wonderful, busy, demanding, full life.
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| What do Daddy and Quinn do when a big ol' Amazon box arrives? |
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| They make a giant school bus, of course! Yeah, I think they did just fine on their own. |
