Routine Changes
This pregnancy is really throwing off some of my routines. It took me 29 years to mature to a point where I could establish and maintain structure and routine, and now they're all out the window.
The first routine that's out the window is my morning coffee/blogging habit. I don't leave for work until 7:15ish. I could wait until 7:30, or even later if I wanted to push it. But I get up between 5:00 and 5:15. I spend a full hour sitting on my bed, drinking coffee, and playing on the innernets. Sometimes I read, sometimes I work on last minute lesson plans, and sometimes I just sit on the bed and stare at the wall and think. Sometimes I pet Pookie while he sleeps peacefully at the foot of the bed, and sometimes I roll him into a Pookie ball so that his asshole is in his face and he can't fight back. That's one of my favorite ways to start the day-- especially if he's been a bastard and woke me up early or something. But however I spend my hour, I always have my coffee. Two to three cups a morning. And the point is that it's MY hour. The one time of the day that nobody's asking me anything or giving me anything to do or telling me any crucial information that I'm probably going to forget.
Now? Well. Now my hour is less fulfilling. I don't get up as early, because I can't have more than one cup of coffee. So it's kinda like my half hour. Except I forget that I only have half an hour, and I end up being half an hour behind because after I finished my one unsatisfying cup of coffee I kept playing for another 30 minutes instead of getting up and getting ready.
My middle-of-the-day routines are about the same. I don't eat cafeteria lunches anymore. Of course there's no sushi or shrimp or motorcycle riding, but those weren't really routines. Just things I enjoy on occasion. Though it is killing me that my bike's coming out of the shop tomorrow and I can't ride it. Or can I? I have heard that you can't ride horses when you're pregnant. Is the same true of motorcycles? It's not as bumpy as a horse. What do y'all think? Pregnant chick on a Harley too risky? Shouldn't it be okay as long as I don't wreck? Isn't it the up and down bouncing on a horse that makes it so dangerous? If I could know that I riding my bike was safe, that'd make me feel much better. I'd have something fun to do. An escape.
I was also enjoying the occasional cigarette before I got pregnant. Yeah, I know. I quit 3 years ago-- why would I dabble? But I was just having like one smoke a day. I had been doing it for about a month, and I don't know why I started doing it, but it was very gratifying. Not anymore. It's probably for the best though. I would've been back to a pack a day before I knew it if I'd kept dabbling.
My evening routine is screwed too. I take a hot bath every night. Of course I take a shower in the morning before work-- I'm one of those people whose hair gets oily in one day, so not washing it isn't an option. But I also take a hot bath almost every single night. It calms me, and gets me in bed mode. But now that I'm pregnant, can I have my hot bath? NNnnnooooooOOOOOooooooo! Because the hot water might boil the baby or something. I don't even know how to take off my makeup or get ready for bed without taking a bath-- that's how used to the evening bath I am. And no, a shower won't do. My hair has to remain dry. I can't sleep on wet hair, and the loud hair dryer sorta undoes the whole relaxation thing you've got going after a bath.
Don't y'all feel horribly sorry for me now?
The first routine that's out the window is my morning coffee/blogging habit. I don't leave for work until 7:15ish. I could wait until 7:30, or even later if I wanted to push it. But I get up between 5:00 and 5:15. I spend a full hour sitting on my bed, drinking coffee, and playing on the innernets. Sometimes I read, sometimes I work on last minute lesson plans, and sometimes I just sit on the bed and stare at the wall and think. Sometimes I pet Pookie while he sleeps peacefully at the foot of the bed, and sometimes I roll him into a Pookie ball so that his asshole is in his face and he can't fight back. That's one of my favorite ways to start the day-- especially if he's been a bastard and woke me up early or something. But however I spend my hour, I always have my coffee. Two to three cups a morning. And the point is that it's MY hour. The one time of the day that nobody's asking me anything or giving me anything to do or telling me any crucial information that I'm probably going to forget.
Now? Well. Now my hour is less fulfilling. I don't get up as early, because I can't have more than one cup of coffee. So it's kinda like my half hour. Except I forget that I only have half an hour, and I end up being half an hour behind because after I finished my one unsatisfying cup of coffee I kept playing for another 30 minutes instead of getting up and getting ready.
My middle-of-the-day routines are about the same. I don't eat cafeteria lunches anymore. Of course there's no sushi or shrimp or motorcycle riding, but those weren't really routines. Just things I enjoy on occasion. Though it is killing me that my bike's coming out of the shop tomorrow and I can't ride it. Or can I? I have heard that you can't ride horses when you're pregnant. Is the same true of motorcycles? It's not as bumpy as a horse. What do y'all think? Pregnant chick on a Harley too risky? Shouldn't it be okay as long as I don't wreck? Isn't it the up and down bouncing on a horse that makes it so dangerous? If I could know that I riding my bike was safe, that'd make me feel much better. I'd have something fun to do. An escape.
I was also enjoying the occasional cigarette before I got pregnant. Yeah, I know. I quit 3 years ago-- why would I dabble? But I was just having like one smoke a day. I had been doing it for about a month, and I don't know why I started doing it, but it was very gratifying. Not anymore. It's probably for the best though. I would've been back to a pack a day before I knew it if I'd kept dabbling.
My evening routine is screwed too. I take a hot bath every night. Of course I take a shower in the morning before work-- I'm one of those people whose hair gets oily in one day, so not washing it isn't an option. But I also take a hot bath almost every single night. It calms me, and gets me in bed mode. But now that I'm pregnant, can I have my hot bath? NNnnnooooooOOOOOooooooo! Because the hot water might boil the baby or something. I don't even know how to take off my makeup or get ready for bed without taking a bath-- that's how used to the evening bath I am. And no, a shower won't do. My hair has to remain dry. I can't sleep on wet hair, and the loud hair dryer sorta undoes the whole relaxation thing you've got going after a bath.
Don't y'all feel horribly sorry for me now?
One of my favorite pregnancy books is "Pregnancy Sucks: What to do when your miracle makes you miserable" by Joanne Kimes. Probably not the most informative medically, but it made me feel less alone in feeling that this shit sucks ass. For the medical stuff, I loved "Great Expectations" by Sandy Jones and Marcie Jones. It read like a pregnancy for dummies manual, which I absolutely needed.
Posted by
Beth |
9:35 AM
Who told you you couldn't take a bath? Just make sure the tub is clean.
Posted by
Anonymous |
1:07 PM