Half Way There!!!

It seems like an appropriate thing to celebrate, don't you think??? I made it half way through my pregnancy!!!!! WOOT!!! My celebration was intensified by my newly restored ability to eat! REAL FOOD!!!! A WHOLE ACTUAL MEAL!!!! YAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!! I'm finally becoming normal again!!!!!

My Inseparable Connection With Seniors

Things thankfully have calmed down since I last posted. I came up with my own solutions to cut down on the drama, and I am beyond grateful it worked. Now I'm just trying to focus on things that make me happy and trying to stay active so that I at least have some strength. But I've noticed that the more I try to do things, the more I realize that I'm not necessarily as capable as I used to be, which is to be expected. What I didn't expect was that my limitations would place me in the same categories as old ladies. Case in point. I went "running" a few weeks ago. By running I mean I went to a track and walked around it a bunch of times. I felt silly though because I was getting passed by all these people who are my age, and they're huffing and puffing, while I'm leisurely strolling along. It wasn't until an old lady with the typical old lady white-haired perm started walking around the track too that I felt semi-okay with my own performance. I didn't feel as ridiculous being the only one walking, but I still kinda felt silly for doing the same thing as the lady. At that point, I didn't even look prego. I'm sure had I been showing more then, I wouldn't have felt as silly because then the reason for my walking would have been more obvious. I'm showing now though, so when I go back to do it again, I'll prolly have more confidence with the whole ordeal. haha.

Other things that I've noticed which show how I'm inseparably connected with seniors is parking lots. There's the Handicapped parking stalls, the Senior parking stalls and there's Expectant Mothers parking stalls. I still haven't used one. I haven't felt the need to yet, but I'm sure it'll happen soon.

I've also found myself going to malls during the middle of the day just to go for a walk. There's a significant influx of seniors in malls during the day, and they seem to all disappear in the late afternoon and evening. I'm following the same trend... avoiding large crowds and noisy places.

Also, I've recently discovered the art of aquajogging! It's exactly what it sounds like it is. It requires a floaty belt, so you just go in the water and start... well... jogging! haha. The floaty belt keeps your head above water, so you just have to figure out how to move forward. Going with a friend makes it even better because then you can just do it side by side and have a conversation while you're doing your thing.  Aquajogging is mostly geared towards old people because it's a completely non-impact workout and doesn't strain your body or make you move in ways you don't normally move. For me, it's perfect, because I can't really swim laps anymore because my body won't let me. I also LOVE being in water, so this helps me to be able to do more than just sit in the kiddie pool and watch other people do their thing. I've also decided that I need to take my Grandma Olive aquajogging. She has terrible rheumatoid arthritis, and complains about how her feet hurt all the time because of these nodules that have formed on the bottoms of her feet so she always feels like she's walking on big ol' pebbles. In her prime, she used to spend all day at malls in high heels, and her job was working in the Operating Room as an assistant, so her life has been on her feet. Not being able to do that anymore is hard for her to take. My thought with the aquajogging thing is that she'd totally be able to do that for way longer than she could ever walk, and it would help her feel more fulfilled. My task lately has been trying to find a pool that's easily accessible for her. I may have done so, and I'm excited to bring her with me one day soon.

I can't really say I'm embarrassed by all this though. I've loved seniors ever since my mission. My last job was working at a Denture Clinic, so clearly old people were a part of my daily life until just a few months ago. It's only appropriate that my lifestyle now is basically the same as them.

Being well enough to leave the house now is such a ridiculously amazing thing. I've seriously taken my past freedom and mobility for granted. I still have to try to remember that I'm not as agile as I used to be though. I've found that I get really lightheaded sometimes and it puts me at the brink of fainting, so I have to be super careful when I'm out walking around. Just today, I was getting some food and waiting in line to pay, but things started getting fuzzy and I knew that I'd conk out on the ground if I didn't sit down ASAP. So I left my tray of food that I still had to pay for there in the line, and I went to a table and sat down and put my head on the table. It was a close call, and I definitely got some weird looks, but the cashier asked me if I was pregnant when I came back, and she was really nice and understanding. haha. I'm scared that one day I'll have the same experience as my mom did. When she was pregnant with my big brother, she was standing in line at a bank and she fainted, landing on the dividing ropes and taking them down with her. She woke up to a whole bunch of strangers hovering over her... haha... It's definitely an experience I have no desire to recreate. Here's hoping.

The adventures of pregnancy have definitely started now that I'm not bedridden. All of this stuff makes me marvel that the human race has even made it this far. haha...