Taking it Easy

Well yesterday marks one month until my due date.  Crazy, right?  I can't believe how fast time is flying by.  As I enter into my 8th month of pregnancy I've started to notice all the common pregnancy complaints I've always heard - exhaustion, sore back, heartburn, a hard time finding a comfortable position, constantly peeing (most annoyingly all through the night).  As such, the past couple of weeks I have been doing my best to take it easy.   (I honestly don't know how people work right up to the very end - there have been days when getting off the couch seems impossible!).


I do get out of the house a bit, though.  Gotta try to avoid going stir crazy!  I have started seeing a chiropractor quite regularly to try to get my back under control - I've suffered with a bad back for years and being pregnant has only exacerbated the issue; the chiropractor has always been a great help and making sure my hips are in alignment before going into labor is a top priority for me right now!  In order to get to my appointments I usually take the bus since Jay is at work.  Thankfully, the bus is super easy, clean and free (for all military and their families).  There is a bus stop just a few minutes walk down the road from our house and as it's the first/last stop of the line, it is meticulously on schedule, leaving every 15 minutes from 6:30am to 9pm.  And the view from where the bus sits is gorgeous:

Europa Point Lighthouse - the view from my Bus Stop

The ride into town is quick - only 10 minutes to the of town, 15 if you're going to the other end (which is where my chiropractor is).  Some days after my appointment I just hop on the bus and head on back, and others I hang out in town and enjoy a smoothie or a bit of shopping - not a bad deal.

An interesting thing I've noticed since moving here is that I don't seem to be the only one taking it easy.  In general, people here tend to be quite relaxed and easy-going.  No one seems to be in rush.  From traffic getting backed up because someone left their car blocking a major road to run in somewhere to people chatting casually to the cashier at the grocery store even though the line behind them is growing.  A huge plus to this is that every doctor, nurse and midwife I've met with has always made me feel like they have all the time in the world to answer my questions.  I've yet to feel rushed out of an appointment or like I'm wasting someone's time.

It's been a bit of an adjustment for me, though.  I've always been a bit of a go-go-go kind of person, constantly busy and rushing from one thing to the next.  Not only have I stopped working and nearly run out of projects around the house, but I've found I'm having to get used to waiting for things.  And patience is not my strong suit. I don't have data on my cell phone here - I could get it, but it's expensive, and I spend most of my time at home where I have WiFi so it didn't seem necessary.  This means when I'm waiting for the bus, riding the bus, or waiting in line at the store or at an appointment, I don't whip out my phone to check Facebook or my email or the news like I used to.  Instead, I just sit and wait.  I watch people, I enjoy the views (doesn't hurt that they're often of the sea), and I think.  I usually carry a book with me, but I find I don't feel the need to pull it out that often.  It felt really strange at first, but I'm starting to get used it.  In fact, I'm actually starting to enjoy it.  It's nice to be disconnected for chunks of time and it's really helped me to relax.

Also, though there are a lot of shops here in town, most are small (and rather expensive) and not all categories are covered.  There's a decent sized grocery store (Morrison's) but there's nothing like a Target or Asda.  No one-stop, inexpensive spot to grab the basics.  So I find I shop on Amazon...a lot.  Which is super convenient since I can do my shopping in my PJs on the couch, but it also means that I have to wait a while to get items I want.  Because we're at a BFPO address, items take a little longer to ship here (though we do get our tax refunded back - whoohoo!), so I've had to learn quite a bit of patience.  For example, we haven't been able to finish decorating the nursery yet because the last frames and command strips for hanging them (the walls here are solid - nails are not worth it) haven't been delivered yet.  So sadly, no nursery pics yet - soon, though, I promise!.

However, I did take some bump photos to share.  These are some classy selfies - I keep forgetting to ask Jay to snap a couple when he's at home in the evening (and when I do remember it tends to be at the end of a lazy day when I'm still in my PJs and haven't showered lol).  So please excuse the awkward angles, blurriness and weird arm placements.

And because it's not fair that I keep posting pics of myself and none of Jay, here's a couple of Jay in his new Mess Dress (the special uniform he wears for formal functions now that he's a Sergeant) from his Mess Dinner last week: 

 I promise another post soon with some nursery pics and a baby update!