Cabbage

I seem to have misplaced the month of June. Anybody know where it went? I remember May really well, but now suddenly, bam!, it's July, and I'm 30 weeks pregnant. Not quite sure how that happened.

I had my 30-week appointment this morning. Dr. M is out of town for another 3 weeks, so I saw a different doctor instead. All systems normal, full steam ahead. Heart rate was good, weight gain was good, measurements were good, urine tests were normal. Feet and ankle swelling is normal. Breathlessness is normal. Blood pressure has dropped even further (explains the recent headaches and dizziness). All good.

I had what I think was my first Braxton-Hicks contraction on Saturday. S and I were eating lunch, and suddenly I felt what I initially thought was a strong stomach cramp, until I realized, "wait, that's not where my stomach is ...." It lasted a good 45 seconds or so, and I was uncomfortable for a good half hour afterwards. I described it to the doctor, he asked a few questions, and then concluded that yep, that was probably my first contraction. And he warned me to start expecting more of them in the weeks to come. Fun fun.

I went back to work this week. Wait, that's not right. I did my bi-annual job swap. My work life is a little ... unorthodox. Basically, I have 3 jobs. (S says that gestating is job #4. Our friends joke that taking care of S is job #5, but that's not completely fair to S. So, let's stick with just the 3 that I get paid for.)

During the academic year, I'm a full-time PhD student (job #1), in addition to working part-time at a private not-for-profit research lab (job #2) and part-time as a consultant of sorts at a technology start-up (job #3). During the summer, I switch my focus so that I'm full-time at the private research lab, still part-time at the start-up, and stopping by the university only once a week or so. Year-round, that adds up to 60+ hours/week. During the academic year, those hours are pretty flexible day-by-day -- I can work from home a lot, and some of those hours can be done at odd times, like 10pm-midnight, when I tend to be really productive. (Feel free to toss that statement back in my face after the baby's here, by the way.) But during the summer, when I'm full-time at the research lab, my time is a bit less flexible and my hours are more regular, since I need to actually be in the office and attending meetings during normal work hours. That's the schedule that I started this week.

My plan is to continue this schedule until either (a) 2 weeks before my due date (where the number "2 weeks" was chosen completely arbitrarily and could change at any time); (b) I go into labor; or (c) the pregnancy starts exhausting me so much that I can't manage the long days any more. Whichever comes first. At which point, I'm taking a break from all 3 jobs, cold turkey. I'll ease back into school starting in January. I'll hopefully add a few hours for the private lab starting in February or March. Whether or not I have the energy to also return to the start-up post-baby remains to be seen.

Last week, of course, I slacked on all 3 jobs. (I desperately needed a bit of a break.) During the week, I managed to all but finish my baby registry; order curtains for the nursery; order the crib mattress, crib sheets, and car seat (note: the mattress and sheets are now on their way, despite the fact that we're still waiting on the back-ordered crib...); interview and choose a pediatrician; and start shopping for a new car. Nice vacation. Now, back to work!