This child is already accomplishing some strange/amazing things in our life. I already explained that the act of conception alone demonstrates this child's intrinsic strength. That tradition of undeniably making his/her presence known continues now, less than 2 months into his/her existence.
The primary example of this ability to effect crazy change is that I am officially now a morning person.
Anyone who has ever lived with me knows that I am prone toward night owl habits. In high school, I complied with my mother's regulation of my schedule, but ached to be freed to a dorm. Once in Room 333 at Albright dorm on the Queens College campus, I gave my night lust free reign. I rarely even went out or did anything significant during the late hours. I just liked that I could stay up until 4 am and read or use the computer or plan my future with Heather on the swing beneath the magnificent trees. These trends continued to the home I shared with Leann at ECU, where we regularly enjoyed later hours for all things from studying to chatting. While crossing the threshold into a more full adulthood has moderated these hours, I still enjoy that I have a flexible work schedule so that I can stay up a bit later and start work a bit later. Since our marriage, Nathaniel and I were averaging midnight for bed, with our morning routine (breakfast, shower, coffee, etc) completed before the 9 am start to a work day.
In addition to my late propensities, I am NOT a morning person. When I lived at home, my mother regularly thought I was mean in the mornings, as I generally choose not to speak for the first hour of consciousness each day. Also, I canNOT eat before 10 am. The thought of putting anything in my mouth except for the sweet elixir of life, espresso, generally sends me into sensory-aversion fits.
However, in keeping with his/her story, this child is changing me.
I now wake up religiously slightly after 7 am (before the 7:30 alarm goes off - sorry to all my teacher friends who consider that hour "sleeping in"). When I wake up, while I am not terribly social, I am incredibly goal oriented. I am ready to make Nathaniel's breakfast, clean whatever is dirty, rearrange whatever is messy, check the work email, personal email, school email, facebook, pregnancy newsletter from parents magazine and blog. I take the dog out and play with him a bit. I make mental lists in my head of the shopping that needs to be done, the clients I need to contact, assessments I need to complete, intakes I need to schedule, and questions I have for the doctor. All of these things occur before Nathaniel gets out of bed, generally.
While other people (hi, Mom) wake up like this everyday of their lives and accomplish 30 additional things in half the time, this is a COMPLETE revamping of my traditional schedule. I usually don't "get into a groove" until noon! Now, my days are started off with organization and initiative! While I still relish those last moments of feeling the pillow case on my cheek each morning, I get up and feel motivated to be efficient and effective as I move through my day from the moment I'm awake.
Sadly, this means I am not able to maintain my late hours. I miss the quiet of night, when the world calms and my mind continues into the darkness. Last night, I fell asleep at my parents house BEFORE 10 PM, watching a new episode of "Bridezillas." Most of you know I spend my "Bridezilla" time very engaged: diagnosing the subjects, screaming empowerment to their defeated bridal party/family, and critiquing the decor/aesthetics of the weddings. For me to fall asleep during that show means Piccolino is calling shots over which I have very little control.
This morning, I woke up, made an iced latte, took Hector out, put away the clean laundry and started Nathaniel's breakfast in the space of 35 minutes. I'm thankful for the burst of energy that lasts me at least 15 hours - especially during a period of pregnancy marked usually by extreme exhaustion and nausea in other women. I'm hoping this trend continues. Health and efficiency are the plan for the rest of the pregnancy. Of course, I am clearly not as in control of things as I would like to think I am - so, we'll see about those best laid plans of mice and men.
We have a doctor's appointment today. At 1:30, we will have the THIRD ultrasound of this child's life, complete with heartbeat detection, and due date determination. I told the doctor at the last appointment that I wanted a note to exempt me from full body scanning at the airports during our upcoming trip to Utah. He laughed and said "the terrorists trying to avoid the scanners can't get TSA to accept their doctor's note... I'm not sure they'll listen to my note!" I enjoy a doctor with a sarcastic sense of humor. Hopefully, we'll be able to give a good report later today, and I'll have a few more fears allayed.
Until then, I'm going to take advantage of this energy burst and clean the bathroom before work!
No comments:
Post a Comment