Where'd March Go?

Well, here we are at the end of March. My goodness. Time really does fly!

--Michaela is cooing like crazy! We have been Skype-ing with the family a lot. They all think she's adorable (and rightly so). Her little personality is really starting to come out.

--I got to see my dad interact with Michaela yesterday. He loves her so much. It really warms my heart.

--I think we're going to see if my mom would be willing to watch Michaela one day a week. It would help us out tremendously. I think she'd like to in theory, but Michaela is getting heavy and it's a little hard on my mom physically.

--Mike and I are doing okay. We had a doozy of a fight last week but are back to talking to each other after three days of silence. You might think it'd be hard to give someone the silent treatment for so long when you live together and both work at home, but we are very stubborn people.

--I've started training for a 5k. Have I mentioned that here? I'm not one to run, but so far, it's going okay. A friend is doing it with me and we are enjoying it. Or I am, at least.

--I am feeling less resentful of pumping. It depends on the day, of course. But Michaela is only 2 weeks away from being 4 months, and I figure that means I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal.

--We're talking about implementing a serious budget starting in April. I'd like to go back to saving, if only so we can think about moving to the suburbs where Michaela would be able to be friends with kids who speak English, to have a yard, to go to a good school, etc. Funny how things change when you have a kid.

--Michaela is sleeping pretty well. She's not sleeping through the night every night, but she is going for long stretches pretty regularly. Last night, she slept 12 hours (very unlike her), though I had to get up twice to pump. Still, I'll take it!

I constantly think of things I want to write about, but then I don't get to it and when I sit down to write updates like these, I can't think of half the things I wanted to write. I'll have to start jotting down notes to myself.

Friends, babies, and exercise

Last night, I continued my "friends with babies" tour and hung out with another friend from college, his wife and their 7 month old daughter. (I think I wrote that last weekend, I saw another friend from college, his wife, and their 20 month old daughter.) It was really fun to get to meet this little girl, and also nice to introduce them to Michaela. It's amazing how many of my friends have kids now! It makes me feel old, in some ways, but at the same time, I feel like I'm young to have a baby. I mean, I'm not, of course, but I look at myself in the mirror and think, "I don't look like a mom!" Except I look like me, and I am a mom, so I guess I do look like a mom.

How's that for a deep thought?

I reached out to a friend from high school last night. We have a complicated history, but I was thinking yesterday about something she did for me in high school that was very kind, and it made me want to reach out to her. She is excited to meet Michaela, and even wants me to bring her by her mom's house so her mom can meet the baby, too. I am reminded how loved I am, and how loved Michaela is.

Have I mentioned that I started a training program? C25k. Couch to 5k. I ran once this week, need to do another 2 times before Monday. I guess that leaves today, Saturday, or Sunday. Oy. But it's good for me. I'm back up, weight-wise, and I don't like it. And while I know running won't get rid of the disgusting flap of skin on my belly, it would help to lose weight before I tackle situps. Maybe I should start a fitness blog. ;)

Latest and greatest

Another round up post!

Michaela has started cooing! It's so cute. She is awake a lot more and is bright eyed and bushy tailed.

She's grown a lot. She is already outgrowing some of her 3 month clothes. It turns out that Carter's clothes run small.

We have been taking a lot of walks. Well, we've walked the last three days. Monday, we walked to the dog park. Tuesday, we walked to the post office. Today, we walked to Seaport Village. It's nice for all of us to go on little trips like that, not to mention that it's good for mommy's weight loss!

I am getting tired of pumping. It's scary to think that I have 9 more months to go, if I'm going to make it a full year. My boobs are tired, I'm tired of waking up in the middle of the night. Oy!

Mike's grandpa died. We Skyped with him the day before he (unexpectedly) died, which I'm very thankful for. As much as I am sad about Mike's grandpa passing-- and I really, really am-- I am more sad that it makes me think about my parents, or Mike's parents, dying. It's also now taken on a whole new dimension, which is it makes me really sad to think about Michaela having to lose her grandparents.

The other night, we stopped by my dad's house, and it was so cute to see my dad with the baby. He just loves her SO MUCH! He was making all these silly noises and faces to make Michaela smile. We finally had to tell him we needed to leave; I swear, he could have done that all day.

Pooped

Lately, I've been feeling really fatigued again. I go to bed but have a hard time sleeping, then finally fall asleep (getting up a few times each night to pee). When it's time to wake up in the morning, I feel pooped, and by the end of the day, all I want to do is lay in bed. Walking around or doing any sort of activity-- sometimes even just standing for a few minutes-- tires me out to no end. I don't like it. I've been taking my prenatal vitamins, so I'm not sure what it might be. Have a doctor's appointment on Friday, so I'll ask my OB then.

One thing I've definitely decided is that if I had this to do again, I would start exercising at the beginning of pregnancy. I think building up my stamina and developing my lung capacity and muscles would be really helpful in carrying a child. I guess that's a lesson for next time (if there is a next time, that is).