It's a chilly 18 degrees out and the windows are mildly frosted up. There's a light dusting of last night's snow sparkling in the sun all across the rooftops. I keep reminding myself that every day gets a little closer to spring, but it doesn't really feel like it. Winter last year went on into April and I fully expect the same again this year.
It was a nice weekend though. On Friday night Greg took me out to dinner at Province -- a restaurant that opened last year and features a highly organic, local and sustainable menu...but in a fashionable way -- and we had a lovely dinner together. And then on Saturday night I took Greg on a date -- to a casual dinner at Uncommon Ground and then an improv show at the iO Theatre in Wrigleyville.
It was pretty fun to take Greg on a date -- it's usually the reverse. He's by far the most thoughtful man I've ever dated, always driving and opening car doors and paying for everything. And so on Saturday I did all those things instead. We kept laughing about how good I have it and he kept saying things like, "Oh, I see. All you have to do is stand around and look cute and wait for me to unlock doors and take out my wallet." Yup, I nodded, isn't it fun? (In retrospect, this whole thing may have been a bad idea as I'll probably have to take him on more dates, now that he knows how great it is!)
Yesterday I went to my favorite prenatal yoga class that I go to every Sunday now. I absolutely adore this class. There are always about 45 pregnant women in the room and all the bellies vary so much in size and shape -- it's mesmerizing to look around at them all. There's a girl who goes every week who I've become friendly with and we chat before class and put our mats together in the back corner. She's pregnant with her second baby and told me lots of fun stories yesterday about the birth of her first.
I'm finally at the stage where I look obviously pregnant and it's pretty fun. Going out to dinner over the weekend, Greg and I both noticed people looking at my belly and on Saturday when I went to get my haircut by a new hairdresser she immediately remarked, "Oh, you're pregnant!" I'm getting a little clumsy with my big belly now too -- bumping into things and feeling a little off balance, but even that's kind of fun. I'm feeling very connected to the baby too. I can feel it moving around all throughout the day and am having a hard time keeping my hands off my belly.
Yesterday afternoon we interviewed a doula and we both loved her and I'm pretty sure we're going to hire her to assist us in the birth. I have a follow up appointment today with the doctor who did my surgery and if she says that all is well then I think I'm going to back to using the midwife group and shoot for giving birth in the alternative birthing center. I had kind of put that idea on hold while I was going through the surgery but now that I'm recovered (and totally feeling great) I'm becoming much more reinvested in the idea of a completely natural birth.
I feel like I have a good week ahead of me. Mondays don't always leave me feeling so inspired but life is feeling a bit more manageable than usual today.
