Just past the halfway mark!

By Published On: November 1st, 2012

Written by: Z. Briggs October 31 2012 As I sit […]

Written by: Z. Briggs

As I sit and write this I am officially 21 weeks pregnant. It’s a funny thing. Many folks talk about how the time goes by so quickly. But in a sense, I almost feel like this is my existence now, being pregnant. It’s actually hard for me to imagine that there is going to be a time when I am not pregnant. Granted, I was not pregnant for about 33 years, but now this is my reality, and it’s hard for me to truly remember what it really felt like to not be pregnant. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I’m the same way with the seasons of the year. In the Summer when the city is hot, sticky and stinky I try so hard to remember what it was like to have to wear mittens and scarves and hats everywhere and wishing I was toasty and warm. In the Winter I have the hardest time remembering what it really felt like to be way too hot all the time, in tank tops and shorts. I guess I have been blessed and cursed with this “short-term memory” in a sense.

In other news, we continue to slowly get things together for the baby’s nursery. Although lately we haven’t had a huge “clean out the apartment day” like we did early on. We definitely need at least one or two more of those. The baby’s room is close—but there are definitely more of our things that need to leave the space. I realize that this will be a constant challenge for us, especially as the baby gets bigger. In a small apartment, space is always an issue. Our rule of thumb for the last few years was that when something comes in, at least one thing goes out. It’s important that even though our 2 bedroom is small, it at least feels spacious and is not over cluttered. This is definitely a challenge for two puppeteers for whom anything can be useful at some point. The crib right now has become our catch all warehouse for everything baby while we continue to deliberate over things like “can the board games really live in the baby room?” and “yeah, about that shelf—we can’t get rid of those things, but I also can’t tell you where they should go.” I’m banking on my nesting instinct kicking in soon.

I continue to work four days a week at my day job, along with being a puppeteer with my husband on the weekends, and some afternoons. Just yesterday I said to Chad, “no more weekday shows, I just can’t handle it.” I love performing, but going to my desk job in the morning in my puppeteer blacks (my nice black clothes outfit) and then leaving from there to go to perform a birthday part and then going home, it’s just too much. I think for now I need to have only one big job commitment per day if I can help it. Even though I was kind of exhausted, I’m happy to report that yesterday’s show was a success. Lots of happy 4-year olds, and lots of happy parents to boot! And, this was the first show that the parents of the birthday child could tell that I was expecting, and commented on it, which was fun.

Every day continues to be an adventure, and I’m happy to report that I’m feeling the baby move more and more, especially when I’m sitting at my desk—like right now! Which I must say, although it feels kind of weird, it’s also kind of awesome.