Hello, Friend! Happy Tuesday!
I sincerely hope you’re enjoying this blog! I imagine you’re learning new and insightful things about nutrition, or, at the very least, are entertained by my thoughts! If you would like to help support this newsletter, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $5 per month. This contribution makes a tremendous difference.
If you aren’t already subscribed, or would like to upgrade your subscription, you can do so below. As always, thank you for reading!
I feel like I can’t even today.
Despite the nice and sunny fall-ish day I’ve got in front of me, I’m feeling lethargic, frustrated, tired, and like I don’t really want to do anything.
Part of me feels bad admitting this for fear of judgement. I mean, I’m running my own business and many would say I “should be” hustling, but I’m simultaneously admitting that I don’t really want to do any work at this moment.
At the same time, I don’t imagine we can expect people to be “on” and firing at 100% at all times.
This also doesn’t happen to me very frequently, thankfully, so today, I’m gonna embrace it and do what I can without pushing myself too hard.
It’s funny… just yesterday I was thinking about how surprisingly stable my emotions have been during my pregnancy. Compared to what I’ve heard and read and what I know about myself, I would have expected myself and my emotions to be all over the place, crying regularly, that kind of thing. I guess it’s still early, so maybe all that is still coming, or maybe it’s just starting today! We’ll see.
Anyway, let me take today’s blog post as an opportunity to remind you that things just don’t feel awesome at all times, what I’m doing to try to support myself today, and also give a little bump-date (like update, but make it pregnancy-related!).
Here’s that reminder (written from my personal perspectives):
Sometimes things get hard. And sometimes there’s a reason, and sometimes there’s not. And both are okay. Be gentle with yourself when those moments come up.
However, if those hard days persist, or you feel like you can’t even more than you can, I highly suggest talking to your doctor or meeting with a therapist to get support; you don’t have to, and shouldn’t, go through that alone or without help. xoxo.
Here’s what I’m doing to support myself today:
*Drink my water.
Even mild dehydration has been shown to impact mood, energy levels, and our ability to think clearly. So when I’m feeling this way, I try to prioritize water intake. I also am fully aware that drinking enough water has been challenging so far in my pregnancy due to nausea and wanting to avoid juicy belly, so I’m working on it a little extra today.
*Move.
I’m aiming to workout at 4:30pm today. But even if a full workout doesn’t happen, I’m going to at least go for a walk or do some easy moving. The literal hormonal response from movement is so so so beneficial.
*Water my house plants.
In my experience I have found that doing something simple yet productive, even if it’s as menial as watering plants, feels constructive.
Actually, the more I think about it… those memes about us all just being fancy house plants might be real. To that point, I’m also going to get some sun.
*Do only critical work, adjust schedules to accommodate the rest of it later in the week.
I understand not everyone has this opportunity, but since I do, I’m going to take advantage.
*Listen to sad music and feel my feelings.
This one might sound silly, but I mean it. If we don’t let ourselves feel, and try to stuff down our emotions instead, that shit can backfire. So I’ll probably put on Illenium, or something like that, and feel the feels.
Here’s my Bump-date:
The babe is the size of a pear right now! Approximately 4inches long! The Pear went to it’s first wedding this past weekend, and, gosh, were we tired by the end of the night!
So, how have things been going lately?
Well, I’m experiencing more energy during the day… I only napped one time last week!
But, I’m also experiencing more heartburn lately, too… had to find some emergency Tums yesterday! I’ll take the heartburn over the nausea any day though! Aside from the heartburn issues, all food has been pretty fine, and I’m eating my typical foods again. I’m not really experiencing any cravings or anything, so that’s nice… I’ll ride that train for as long as I can!
Oh, that baby bump is starting to develop now! It’s not really obvious yet, but in tight clothes or if you look closely you can def see it!
We have our Week 16 appointment tomorrow. To be honest, I don’t really know what happens at that one. It seems like the preceding appointments all had a thing, like first ultrasound at 8 weeks, genetic tests at 12 weeks, etc., but I don’t know about this one.
I took the opportunity to order myself a few comfy looking maternity clothing items the other day. I fully believe that I’ll spend most of my time in athletic clothes and sweats, because that’s what I do anyway, and I also hope/imagine that I can get away with continuing to wear a lot of my existing and stretchy clothes. But I figured I might want a few outfits I could wear out or around the upcoming holiday months, so I treated myself!
I also ordered a pregnancy pillow to help me NOT sleep on my back. I’m typically a vampire-style sleeper… fully on my back, basically unmoving for the whole night. So, while I’m not terribly big yet, “they” say you should try to move away from sleeping on your back starting in the second trimester. I’ve tried to do so on my own but always end up on my back again… so, time for some pillow support!
I’ve been working on putting together a registry for the little one, which has been very fun and exciting. I’m also lucky to be getting a lot of hand-me-down items from my sister!
Overall, I’m feeling pretty good, with the exception of this mood dip today. So, I’ll just keep doing my best!
Keep doing your best out there too, my friends. Be gentle with yourself. Drink your water, get some sun. After all, we’re all just fancy house plants.
As always, thank you for reading,
xoxo,
Sara