It’s the final countdown… sort of

Okay, so I still have to get through a bunch more weeks of being pregnant, but it feels like I’ve entered the final phase. Obviously I’m in my third trimester, but more than that, I only have about nine more weeks to go, depending on when Harley decides to make her appearance. On the one hand, that’s sort of a while still – a bunch more evenings spent with my feet up covered in ice packs, unable to drink anything fun and generally just feeling like my body isn’t my own. But, those days are numbered.

I am officially in single digit weeks. I know that seems like a silly thing to be happy about, and I should probably think about it more in terms of the fact that it’s only two more months, but it’s strangely uplifting to realize that there isn’t really that much longer to go. The end is nigh… sort of. Continue Reading

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No, it isn’t magical to be pregnant

Pregnancy is weird. There are beautiful moments, when I see my princess on the scans, or the first time I felt her kick, or when I think about some of the cool things that await once she’s born. With all the people out there who say it’s totally worthwhile and a wonderful experience to be a parent, it can’t just be a giant procreation conspiracy. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t deluding themselves either.

I’ve noticed a lot recently how people seem to be offended when I point out that pregnancy isn’t exactly pleasant. Whether you have an easy or difficult pregnancy, it’s still filled with all sorts of symptoms that most people try to avoid experiencing. My current gripes are: lack of sleep due to getting up throughout the night to go pee/host the dance party Harley is having; heartburn; swollen hands and feet; carpal tunnel; and the giant awkwardness of carrying around an extra tiny human who throws off my center of gravity and hurts my knees and hips after a while. But apparently, I should be focusing on how magical it is. Continue Reading

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Is “be the bigger person” always the best lesson?

Like most people, I learned the lesson growing up that sometimes life wasn’t going to be fair. Things don’t always work out the way that we feel they should, but that it’s more about behaving as a good person that will hopefully make a difference in this world. If we all gave up on being good people, the world would go into decline – someone has to set a good example.

When I was little, my mom used to refer to this as “taking the higher path”. There are always options in life, we can behave in a myriad ways, but it’s by choosing to be a better human that we can do good and hopefully move other people to do the same. It’s important to me that I raise Harley to be a good person, but I’m wondering what that actually means. Continue Reading

2 Comments Parenting, Rambling

Why we aren’t talking about emigrating

In many ways, being a foreigner in South Africa sucks. I’m sure it sucks anywhere in the world, but here is it rather frustrating. I have to just keep waiting for Home Affairs to grant me permanent residency, and until then Dean and I can’t buy a new house. It’s irritating. No, it’s beyond irritating. However, being foreign does have one big benefit – we can pick and move any time we like. It’s just a matter of getting on a plane and we can leave the country without crazy visas and applications. That doesn’t mean we want to do that, though. Emigrating may be an option, but it’s not one we’re thinking about.

Recently, a lot of people have been asking me why Dean and I are still living in South Africa when we could so easily move away. SA is going through a whole bunch of controversy, from the #FeesMustFall protests to the ever tumbling Rand exchange rate, the gravy plane, the issues with the ICC… the list seems sorta unending. People ask why anyone would CHOOSE to live here if they had the option to move overseas, and particularly why we would want to raise our future offspring here. Continue Reading

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Admin complete

I hate admin. I always leave things to the last minute, especially if those things include filling in forms, calling help desks or dealing with admin in general. I just can’t stand it and every time I have to do something along those lines I want to hire a PA for the day. However, today I decided to bite the bullet – with only ten weeks left until Harley is full term, it was time to sort out the admin of her imminent arrival.

It helps that my chosen hospital only does maternity ward tours on a Wednesday. This was a great impetus for me to get my act together – if I didn’t get things sorted today, it would be another week until I had the opportunity again. Surprisingly, it was a completely pleasant experience. Actually no, it was just wonderful. Continue Reading

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