As of Aug. 22, I'm officially nine months pregnant. Although I still have four weeks left, I'm definitely staring down my delivery date and getting even more excited to finally meet this little boy. And now that I've hit this milestone, it's time to really slow down.
That includes putting a halt on traveling.
My husband, daughter and I drove back to Illinois over the weekend (with the dog) to celebrate two family events. In all, it's about a four-hour trip. And before you ask, yes, I asked my doctor for clearance to travel and he gave me the green light, but gave these pieces of advice:
- Get out every one-and-a-half to two hours and walk.
- Stay hydrated.
Don't forget to stretch your legs!
This meant our four-hour trip immediately got longer. Normally, stopping at the one-and-a-half-hour mark isn't unusual as we'll take a bathroom or snack break. We are traveling with a pregnant lady and a 5-year-old ... But those breaks were a lot longer so I could get out and walk. I got in about a quarter mile of walking each time.
At one point we were about to the finish line and my husband had to pull over again because my legs were twitching so badly. Our daughter kept asking, "Daddy, why is mommy walking all over the place?"
By the time we arrived to our destination in Illinois, I could easily see why it's best to avoid traveling the further along you get. My legs were cramping and to say I was uncomfortable would be an understatement. My loving husband was so kind to rub my legs and feet to try and alleviate the pain.
So traveling is done unless it's coming to or from work at this point. Thirty minutes doesn't bother me. But it's also a reminder that even at home, I need to get up and move my legs from time to time so I don't end up with tons of leg cramps.
Where else am I slowing down or limiting myself in the ninth month? I'm not even attempting to bend over to get things off the floor. I also can't reach the bottom of our washing machine anymore due to the bump getting in the way so it takes both my husband and I to tackle laundry. I'm not lifting any heavy items and trying not to lift my 5-year-old too much.
It's time to rest, relax and stay stress free: It's only a matter of time until I'm a mom of two!
