26 Weeks

Do I look 6 months pregnant?


I think so











N and I just joined a local gym. Because of the morning sickness, I was barely able to eat or be on the move much for months and as a result lost weight and lots of muscle. I had become so weak that it was scaring me. When it comes to exercise, I have always been the one to happily exercise along with a DVD in my own home. I have never made a concerted effort to exercise at a gym even when I had the opportunity at college for free. I knew that DVDs were there if I needed them, but to me getting in shape was more important than ever because my daughter’s health is now involved in what I do and because I was so drastically out of shape. So, we joined a gym just as the countdown to baby neared 100 days. The best part is doing it together- as a family of three :) It really seems like going out for a date when we are off to the gym. I love being able to do the cardio machines at all different levels but still be able to be right next to each other. I am especially enjoying this time together because when baby comes we will not be able to go together. We also finally took the time to take some belly pictures. I hope you enjoy and that we keep up with them.

Growing More than Just My Belly

Neither N nor I have ever been devoted gardeners, yet growing plants really does bring me joy. So this first summer of ours in our own place, I really wanted to grow something. Growing tomatoes came more naturally than other plants because both of our families grew tomatoes, and I LOVE them so. We bought three small plants. Two of which grew cherry tomatoes and the other grew another small variety. I was not sure if they would ever bear fruit because we were growing them on our small balcony which never gets direct sunlight. My goal was not to amass a bountiful crop but simply to be a gardener. Our three little tomato plants were far more helpful to me those first three months of pregnancy than I ever had anticipated. For at least 5 minutes out of the day I was forced to feel well- well enough to care for them. Care for them I did- not perfectly at all yet they grew. Their scent was very helpful to me. Everyone speaks of the wonders of mint, yet I was also growing mint but it was the scent of the tomato plants that calmed me. I am curious if a healing property was in the scent of it or if the memory of the scent was what I found healing. I knew I would be going away to Europe for three weeks, and I was disappointed at the thought of their producing fruit without my being there to share in it with them. I eagerly looked for my first tomato before I left, and I found the tiniest green tomato perhaps a millimeter wide engulfed in its yellow flower. I was delight to have caught sight of the first fruit. By the end of the season I was quite surprised with how much fruit could grow from such a small pot getting next to none direct sunlight. And I also remembered that I really do not care for the taste of cherry tomatoes. At most I personally ate a dozen, yet I had completed the task I set out for myself- to garden.