39 weeks

This week has been very weird for me. I’m just hitting 39 weeks. my belly is huge. A […]

This week has been very weird for me. I’m just hitting 39 weeks. my belly is huge. A little while back, she changed from feeling like a big waterballoon to feeling like a sack of rocks– I can feel her back, knees and feet fairly easily if either of us moves.

Mostly I feel well, compared to most of this pregnancy. Sure, I’m tired and achy and sleep involves a minimum of 6 pillows, but otherwise well. I continue Yoga which is a godsend and I do sleep. Which I understand is rare. But this week I feel myself idling. It’s hard to work on anything, except bustling around the house, putting away things, washing things. I understand it’s typical of the last week of pregnanacy to do nesting, but I feel unnatural at it while enjoying it, as if I’ve become a stepford robot. I roast chicken for my husband, make homemade soup, bake bread. I do laundry, and waddle around picking things up around the house. I sit at the computer and try to work on the sekrit project which I love more than anything I’ve done for some time, yet my mind just rolls around to the hospital bag in the hallway, or to a way to improve the leek tart recipe.

And now, there seems to be some excitement with UX Matters and B&A and I just feel well. I feel happy UX Matters joins the universe of magazines about our profession, from A List Apart, Digital-Web, Usability News, and many others. I am discomforted that the B&A redesign/CMS is still not live, but considering the changes that have happened this year, it can’t really be so shocking. Erin stepping down, Liz stepping up, establishign a new company and now this, bigger than everything that has gone before. Maybe I shoudln’t be shocked that it is slowly taking over every moment of my waking life (and much of my dreams as well). In a week or two, a little girl will come and she will take over every minute of my day and night for some time.

Maybe we are coded, deep inside our genes, to care about nothing else except the little lives we make. I’ve always been a feminist, always savored my independence so much that the deliciousness of domisticity surprises me.

And if I disappear for more than a handful of days, watch flickr for signs of the little one….

BTW, if anyone out here is just pregnant, here the most useful things I learned
First trimester: preggy pops. You can get them online or at some stores, and they really work on morning sickness, which really does come all day long.
Second trimester: Motherhood, M&M and Old Navy maternity. You will buy more clothes than you wish to. Might as well make them as cheap as possible.
Third trimester: Try to stop working early if you can. Or work at home. Being able to nap, rest, take a bath for aching bones is invaluable.
All trimesters. Yoga. Prenatal yoga helps you avoid the vast bulk of ailments pregnanacy brings on. Plus you meet other women going through what you are… which is great.
And Babycenter. Invaluable resource. Just remember that the forums are not the most trustworthy advice.

4 Comments

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  1. 1
    Donna Maurer

    I remember feeling just the same. Waddling around, picking stuff up. Not being able to concentrate, even on reading simple fiction. Just waiting for it all to happen.

    Mummy-mush-brain happens, and it happens so we stop and calm down and look after the tiny person. If the hormones didn’t do this to us, we’d be racing around trying to be supergirls. Your brain, and passion for cool things will come back. But for the moment, give in and think about her 😉

  2. 2
    Pabini

    Hi Christina

    There seems to be a theme in all of this–birth and rebirth.

    Thanks for welcoming UXmatters to the design universe. 🙂 For a bunch of people who are designers, not developers, giving birth to a Web magazine is not an easy thing. It was a protracted process for UXmatters as well. As we went, I comforted myself that the Boxes and Arrows redesign and reimplementation was taking a long time, too.

    And now I hear that you’ve had a much greater production on the way. Congratulations on your forthcoming motherhood! It really has been a big year of change for you. You’re an amazing person and a inspiration to me.

    I’m really looking forward to the rebirth of Boxes and Arrows. I met Liz at DUX. She has great energy, and I’m sure, together, you’ll create something wonderful. We spoke about opportunities for synergy between our two publications, and I look forward to soon discussing these possibilities with you as well.

  3. 3
    ML

    Everything that happens or I think I feel I usually jump online to verify but of course it’s probably just anxieties. Morning sickness is such a bad term…there’s afternoon, evening and just before going to bed sickness.

    The weirdest thing for me is getting funny look from people when I say I’m a housewife with no children…like I’m some freak.

    Can’t wait to see the pictures…I bet she’s here soon! Take care!

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