33 weeks

33 weeks pregnant - 5/5/12

Top 5 reasons why parents should periodically go on trips without their children:

#5 - Your days won't revolve around anyone else's schedule/needs/whims but, instead, your own - how NOVEL!

How did we take advantage of this?  We went shopping, ate at nice restaurants at the time of day that appealed to us, went on walks without having to take a stroller, went on a hike, spent an entire day at a spa, read, went to a beer festival, listened to music, went Contra Dancing (!), and made impulse decisions.  It.Was.Awesome.

Me contra dancing at 32 weeks pregnant

#4 - Bedtime and waketimes can be determined by how tired you are rather than the particular sleep pattern of your child.

We got ample sleep though I would recommend also taking these trips outside of pregnancy bc a baby inside you can also determine your sleep patterns.  Cushiony, king size bed at the Hilton was comfortable enough for both Cora and I to forget our pregnant state, but double bed at our Victorian B&B was not as much a success.

#3 - You can eat leisurely at restaurants, have meaningful conversations with your partner, and if you get lonely for a child, you can just look at the tables that do have children and remember again why eating without children is so relaxing.

Jacob would have been fine with a 2 meal a day plan; Cora and I requested the full 3 meal plan and enjoyed it!


#2 - When your days aren't revolving around a little person, you can actually focus in on your partner and reconnect.  You find them cuter, nicer, funnier, and more interesting in this light :)

It's so easy to just want to hand off your child to the other parent at the end of a long day to get some much needed alone time OR to want to do things as a family, but that leaves quality time for just the two of you happening infrequently.  A few days alone with Jacob easily reminded me why we fell in love and how much he is my best friend.  

Post walk at Furman University, my alma mater

#1 - Everything wonderful about your child will still be there when you pick them up and take them home, but you'll be re-energized as a mother/father and more in sync as a couple/parenting team.

I was entirely convinced that it was healthy for us to take a trip before the big arrival of baby Cora.  Thank you to my parents for making it so easy for us to leave Jack.  He seriously had a blast and hardly missed us.  They also saved us from a sleepless night when Jack came down with a bad cold and my dad even got to run out to a 24 hour drugstore to get medicine - I'm sure they are enjoying their rest now!

Week Thirty-Three Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 33 weeks: My main complaint right now is that it is hard to sleep comfortably.  I'm so stiff when I wake up, especially in my back and I wake up a lot!  During the day, I'm still feeling good for the most part.  My back is definitely my main issue.  Still having about 20 contractions a day though I'm no longer counting them

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did): 
 
 1) Finish reading Bradley book and do Bradley exercises 4 days (almost finished reading and did Bradley exercises some, but could have done more)

2) Do relaxation exercises 2 times (Does my massage count?  I went back to prenatal yoga this week and we did some relaxation there, but otherwise, still no.)

3) Finish making my plan on how to roll out first LLL meeting in June (Yes, now I need to distribute flyers and start spreading the word - June 5 at 7:00 at Zuka Baby for any locals that are interested)

4) Don't have the baby while on vacation :) (Check!)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Finish reading Bradley book and do Bradley exercises 4 days

2)  Do Bradley relaxation exercises 2 times

3) Midwife appointment on Tuesday

4) Try to make the return to cooking fun by coming up with 3 healthy meals