Interview with 8-month pregnant Liz

1. How many weeks do you have left?
Eternity. I'm in week 34, which means I have about 6 weeks left before I hit 40 weeks. OMG. How is it possible that 6 weeks needs to lapse before this baby comes out? I feel like I've been pregnant my entire life and others have expressed that too. Haha!

2. First things first, are you the same weight as your husband now?
Well I'm glad you're thinking about how much weight I've gained too. Important things. If this side-by-side is any indicator, you're in luck. This morning, I officially weigh more than husband and I managed to break the 160lb threshold. It's a strange feeling to weigh the most I've ever weighed and to simultaneously feel "eh" about it at the same time.

3. And is your belly button a pancake yet?
Here's the latest. What do you think: Have I achieved pancake status yet? 

(Yeah, I didn't think so either.) Anyone else notice how round my belly is?! Note to self: Belly selfies really brings out the weird. 

4. Are you still nauseous?
Okay, during a little more than half of this past month, I was still so nauseous. I even had one day where I was brushing my teeth (I'VE HATED BRUSHING MY TEETH WHILE PREGNANT), and I saw one tiny hair that fell from husband's head onto the toilet seat and seeing it launched me into a gag fest. I keeled over on the bed and proceeded to pass out because that was the only way to make it go away. 

BUT BUT BUT...

I finally started taking Diclegis almost two weeks ago and I've been less nauseous and gaggy and haven't vomited since! Holy Moly. I have enough pills to last me through the rest of my pregnancy and believe me, I will not be missing a single dose. (Shoot, that reminds me...)

5. What's (only) one annoying thing about pregnancy at this stage?
First it was having to pee immediately after I was done peeing. Now, it's how my pelvis feels so tight all the time. I now have this transition period from sitting to walking where I'm like, "ow ow." 

6. What strange bodily sensations have you been experiencing?
A tiny human being hiccuping inside me is quite strange. It's just this metronome-like rhythm from inside my uterus that consistently beats sporadically throughout the day. Baby seems to get them quite frequently! Someone teach it how to hold it's breath and drink amniotic fluid while swimming upside down. Wait. It already does all that.

7. Any newly arising fears as you approach parenthood?
This one's been brewing since month six-ish. I fear I'm going to get bored being a parent. There is some part of me that feels like the monotony of feeding, changing, cleaning, sleeping and that relentless cycle of raising a baby is going to get boring in a hurry. Creatively, I also wonder if I'm going to be bored to death. But not just creatively speaking...I often wonder what kind of impact I want to make in this world (still struggling to figure this one out), and if it will be possible with a kid in tow. I know that theoretically the answer is yes, but I think because I've felt the life drained out of me through pregnancy, this fear keeps lingering. I hope I'm wildly wrong.

8. What was your worst meal day this month?
On Tuesday, October 18th, I consumed the following food:
Breakfast: Two small pancakes with maple syrup. (Seriously, they were the size of my palm; hardly big enough.)
Elevensies: Leftover stir fry with rice and a lot of sriracha
Tea: Ginger tea with way too much sugar
Lunch: Costco polish dog plus ketchup, mustard, relish, and onions with some pepsi
Snacks to tide me over to dinner: Banana, persimmon, chocolate chip cookie + milk
Dinner: Half a frozen pizza with previously frozen tater tots
Dinner, part II: Small bowl of salad (Read: redemption)
Post-dinner eats to hold me over until morning: cereal

Yes, I felt pretty gross at the end of the day. Is this why I'm 160lbs now? :-\ Lessons learned. 

9. Do you ever wear high heels?
I wonder that too. I manage to put on heels on average 0-1x/year. I own one pair that I bought for my wedding three years ago. On October 12th, I decided to wear them for our 3 year anniversary dinner. In fact, I paired it with a dress - the only dress that fits me because it's made out of pure elastic. My feet hurt, but I felt kinda sexy (b/c a dress and heels has that kind of magical effect) even though I was nauseous through the entire 5:30pm dinner. Immediately after dinner, I went to the bathroom and threw up. So yes, I occasionally where high heels. 

10. Got it. Heels = touchy topic. So what's this about a house? 
To our surprise, we happened upon a house in September and liked it so much we decided to buy it. It's our very first one, built in 1994 with the most annoying bullnose corners someone building a home in the 90s would've chosen. (It's only annoying because it requires special baseboard corners.) It needs work, it's not perfect, but it's ours. We imagine raising our kid(s) here; growing fruit trees, vegetables, and animals; and hosting friends and family to rest and play. We hope you'll come and visit. :)

11. Let's end on a note of gratitude, especially since we don't know the fate of the US after election day. What have you been grateful for this past month?
There are so many things. Truly. I've continually felt the love and support of all these women and mamas in my life. From being sent this incredible book of poetry and a handmade quilt, to a massive kimchi mailing (mouth watering!), to women asking me if they can host a mama shower for me, to a patient husband who loves me through all of my ups and downs, to a new home to raise our baby, to elastic dresses and persimmons sent to me with the utmost love. There is a lot to be grateful for. Thanks for being part of my journey.

xo